Lower the front suspension: installation of a low suspension kit for Harley

One of the factors that characterizes Custom models in general and Harley-Davidson motorcycles in particular is its reduced distance to the ground.
Thus, many owners of these vehicles would like to emphasize this characteristic even more, and for this purpose the accessories manufacturers have suitable kits for each year and model.
By reducing the distance from the chassis to the ground, we obtain, apart from the aesthetic change, another 3 significant novelties:
When the lowest motorcycle is going, all the elements likely to touch with the ground when we lay down (stribes, platforms, escapes ...) will touch more easily, so we must assess what type of driving we make before modifying the height.
Another important change is that we will obtain a lower center of gravity. This means that it will be easier to balance the motorcycle, it will have more stability, especially at high speeds and will be easier for us to handle.
The third factor to keep in mind is that generally a lower motorcycle, having less suspension route, is also a bit more "hard", so the comfort factor will be slightly reduced. Of course, the look will be impressive ...

Materials
Since we are going to change some suspension components we will take the opportunity to improve them. The original front springs leave a lot to be desired when we demand benefits. Their behavior is very linear, and they sink very easily. We can replace them with progressive docks, which are soft at the beginning of their performance, increasing comfort, and progressively are hardening, adapting their pressure to compression conditions at all times.
One thing to keep in mind is that if we want to conserve the dynamic qualities of chassis design (that is, the motorcycle "rows" as well as it did before) we must install the same recess both in front and behind.
In this practical example we will proceed to reduce the height to the ground of a softl model, installing a Front suspension kit reduced by progressive suspension.

The fork kit incorporates a novelty, since it is of the “drop-in” type, so it is not necessary to completely disassemble the fork bars to install it, so its assembly is fast and simple.

We start the assembly
We start lifting the front of the motorcycle with a easel or similar to decompress the fork and be able to disassemble the wheel and the fender.

Next we have to remove the upper caps from the fork bars, according to the model it may also be necessary to disassemble the handlebar to have access to them.

To loosen these caps we can use the Special tool which appears in the photograph or a glass key of the appropriate size.
We release the scam screws that hold the bars in place

And we slide them out of the motorcycle to hold them with an adequate user on a bank screw,

where we will take the threaded lid (care, have some pressure and can jump) and then the original dock. We take the spring slowly trying not to spill oil outside the fork bar.

We can already install the new (long) spring of the kit inside the fork, with the most closed spirals down, and then the short dock. This short dock has as one of its functions to facilitate the insertion of the threaded fork cap, since it is very easily compressed.

The next step is to cut the PVC tube to the length determined in the instructions (according to the year and the motorcycle model). With this tube we manage to tighten the spring initially, adjusting what is technically known as "preload".

The tube is introduced after the short dock, and after placing the washer supplied in the kit we can already close the fork and mount it on the motorcycle following the reverse order to the disassembly and, very important, the procedures and tightening pairs of the tightening of the Workshop Manual.

After re -installing the wheel and the fenders we already have our front part "Low".
We can already go to the road to perform a driving test, taking into account that now the platforms or stirruras will touch before if we lie too much ...

Frank Burguera

#mecanicaharley