Install Front Lowering Kit on Harley
Harley-Davidson's touring motorcycles have a reputation for a voracious appetite for long-distance rides and are well-equipped to ensure that the rider is comfortable while in the saddle. Unfortunately, the distance from the saddle to the asphalt can intimidate shorter riders, who must stand on the tips of their toes to keep the motorcycle upright at stoplights. Fortunately, Harley-Davidson offers a kit to reduce the height of the bike by an inch, providing a firm footing for the vertically challenged. Installation, however, requires a fair amount of technical aptitude.
Instructions
1. Place the motorcycle onto a lift or stand and remove the front brake caliper(s), fender and wheel. Loosen the pinch bolts on the triple clamp and slide the front forks downward to remove them.
2. Disassemble the forks individually, pulling the fork spring out of the tube and draining the fork oil into a catch basin or container.
3. Reinsert the spring into the fork tube and place the fork, upside-down, onto a rag or towel. Press downward and maintain pressure to compress the fork spring. Remove the retaining screw from the bottom of the lower fork leg and release the compression on the spring. Pull the spring, blow valve, and damper tube from the fork tube. Remove the rebound spring from the damper rod. You may now discard the spring and damper rod.
4. Split the fork tube and lower fork leg by removing the retaining ring that joins them. Remove the fork oil seal, seal spacer, bushing, and oil lock stop. Discard everything except for the seal spacer and oil lock stop.
5. Install the rebound spring on the new damper tube. Slide the damper tube and the oil lock stop into the fork tube. Insert the fork tube into the lower fork leg. Slide a new bushing, followed by the spacer seal and fork oil seal, down the tube and into the lower fork leg.
6. Drive the fork oil seal into the fork tube until the retaining clip groove is visible on the inside lip of the lower fork leg. Slide the retaining clip down the fork tube and install it into the groove in the lower fork leg.
7. Slide the blow valve into the fork tube and install the spring over it, inserting the heavily coiled end of the spring into the tube first. Place the fork, upside-down, onto a rag or towel. Press downward and maintain pressure to compress the fork spring. Install a new retaining screw into the hole on the bottom of the lower fork leg.
8. Turn the fork right-side up and pull the spring out of the tube. Fill the fork tube with fork oil, adding 11.2 ounces of oil through the top of the fork tube. Reinstall the fork spring, heavily coiled end first, and screw the fork plug onto the fork tube.
9. Repeat on second fork and reinstall onto the motorcycle. Reinstall the front wheel, fender, and brake caliper(s).
Tags: fork tube, lower fork, fork spring, into fork, into fork tube, damper tube
