Over the weekend I took the plunge and traded in my Iron and picked up a new Denim Black Fat Bob. The bike is great and fits me like a glove. (I'm 6'2" 220lbs) I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to trade in my Iron, but after getting out on the old back roads with my new FB I'm glad to say that they were still as fun as usual and that I made the right choice. I was amazed at how well these tires grip those fast curves. I was sad to let the Iron go, but I didn't want to have two bikes in the stable and the FB is a great all-around choice.

Now for the questions...I have two issues with the bike, and I hope that they have easy fixes:

1. Shifter peg - the peg on the forwards is set too high for me, and I have to kick my foot up off the foot peg to shift up on the bike. Looking at it, it seems like there is a nut that I can loosen to change the position of the peg. Is this correct? I glanced at the manual and didn't see anything and I don't want to mess anything up. I've searched online and find tons of responses on shfter pegs, but not dealing with my issue. I'll run out to take a pic with my cell if no one knows what nut I am talking about.

2. Throttle grip - it feels like I have to turn the throttle halfway before it does anything. (like it spins on the handlebar) I've read that this is for safety, but it is really killing my control over the bike and making me feels less safe. There was no dead spin on my Iron's throttle, and my reflexes are geared for that. Now when I'm in traffic and hit the brake, I hit go to use the throttle to get out of harm's way and it laughs at me. Feels like I'm going up a set of stairs and try to take an extra step at the top.

 

Congrats on the new bob, I'm no mechanic but I've had experience with both issues on my fatbob.

1) There is a bolt on the bottom end where the shifter arm attaches to the forward control bracket. When loose it can be slipped off and you can put the arm back on at whatever angle you feel comfortable with and tightened back up. I put 3" fwd control extensions on mine and tried out various positions for comfort, theres really nothing much to mess up.

2) The throttle issue I'm not too sure about, but when i changed my grips i had to slide both controls down a 1/4 inch (or cut the bars) and it left a lot of play in the throttle, to adjust the throttle i followed the directions from a service manual, the short and skinny was remove air cleaner, slide back rubber sleave off of adjustment nuts on the throttle / Idle cable, back both adjustment nuts all the way down, twist throttle to full open, tighten throttle cable until butterfly opens fully, then adjust idle cable to the point where the throttle would return closed properly. (recomend consulting service manual). This fixed my issues, not sure if it would address your questions though.

Like I said I'm no mechanic, I hope this helped.

Take'r easy.

 

Not sure about the shifter but as far as the throttle goes, Slide back the rubber boot and adjust the cable until you don't have the slack and make sure the idle cable is adjusted properly to return. Real easy job, should take you about 5 minutes.

 

For the shifter make sure you take the bolt all the way out...there is a groove in the spline that the bolt rests in so the arm doesn't fall off if the nut loosens. Reposition to your liking and slide the bolt back in and tighten.
No idea about the throttle...
Enjoy the ride!

 

Easystreet and elperez nailed the shifter prob for you, and Junkhead is dead on for the throttle cable,and since you have the manual (the shop manual I hope) the proper adjustment for the throttle cable is in there.
GratZ on the new ride,she won't let you down!

 

Congrats on the bike. The adjustments you speak of are quite simple. You can do them and learn about your bike in the process.

 

I moved from a Nightster to an FXDF so I know where you're coming from. I'm 6'1", 210 lbs. and I remember feeling like I went from a VW Beetle to a Cadillac.

Not sure about adjusting the throttle cable like they've said above. They might be right, but I've always just twisted that little poor man's cruise control **** by the thottle grip and it took all the play out. Not saying anybody else is wrong, that is just what I've done in the past. Takes 10 seconds and requires no tools.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone...dealing with the two issues in rush hour led me to just say screw it and I went ahead and fixed the shifter bc that looked pretty straight forward. It's way better now and I don't have to kick up every time I want to shift. There's nothing like letting go of the throttle, kicking up & getting off balance and then trying to give it throttle only to have it spin before it actually works.

I didn't mess around with the throttle because I didn't get the service manual for the bike yet. It's on the way and I only have the "manual" that came with the bike. Having the shifter fixed made it way easier to deal with the quirks of the throttle. I'd still like to get it resolved though.

Now I just can't wait for the break-in to be done. It's funny because I'm following the break-in guidelines listed in the book, but the bike seems to like it better if your shifts are higher than what they suggest. (ie shift to 2nd @20-25 instead of 15) It seems like their directions make the bike lug when they say to avoid that.

My only complaint about the bike is the exhaust. I don't understand why Harley brags about it when you can barely hear it. I know it's nothing new with Harley - another easy fix once my 2" Rush slip-ons & black SE heat shields get here...

 

When you put it that way, it makes it very tempting to just try it. Which cable does which? I know one opens and one retracts the throttle, but don't know which does what. I tried looking up videos for it, but they didn't really address my issue. They all seemed to have to deal with the throttle not snapping back quick enough - not there being too much play in it before actually doing anything for the accelleration. I swear, I can turn the throttle 1/4 of the way around before it will meet resistance or have any effect on givving the bike gas...I was going to hold off on it until the weekend when I pick up some of the stuff I ordered at the dealer.

 

Yeah, the shift spots in the book are all kinds of wrong. The important part of the break in procedure is to keep varying your RPM, don't just sit at any one RPM for too long.

FWIW, I shift at the following:

2nd=20-25 MPH
3rd=35-40 MPH
4th=50-55 MPH
5th=60-65 MPH
6th= Never less than 75-80 and shift out if slowing below 70.

Of course, if I'm gettin' on it, the shift spots are quite different...