Thinking about upgrading ye ol' factory trees with some from HHI and going with the internal fork stop, so the race in the bottom has got to go. Seeing that the hour glass style neck prevents me from using a punch, is there a puller for that there thingy or is this a good job for a cut off wheel?

 

Yes their is. go to a Mac, Snap-on, Matco dealer. or go on e-bay. It goes in the hole then you rotate the head then you have something to hit from the top of the neck.

 

Found a setup from Jims tools, and also ordered some trees from HHI. Today I'll get some new neck bearings, a seal kit and some shock oil for the shocks and maybe I'll be ready to rock by this weekend. I had lowered the front a few years ago, about an inch, and going from 1.5* rake to a 3* rake I'm thinking that I might have to reinstall the factory guts to keep the hight of the front end where it is. Any thoughts of experience out there? Or just some thoughts will work too.

 

For those itching to know AND for those who don't give a crap, I finished up this morning. The Jims bearing race removal tool worked great, though you've got to hold your mouth right to line everything up. The plugs for the wiring wouldn't pass through the opening on the HHI trees, so had to disassamble the plugs, no big deal. Guess to only real issue that I ran into was thrusting the neck bearings. I used a hidden fork stop from Pro-One and from the start it didn't seam to fit the bearing just right. Turns out that I had to shim the lower tree .020" so the bearing would bottom out in the outer race and not on the fork stop that is mounted to the tree. Don't get me wrong, the Pro-One unit is very well made and who's to say that the fork stop from HHI wouldn't have done the same.
To the trees, I got the chrome "Slade" trees with a 3* rake, they came in a well packed box, all the hardware that you need, everything fit very nicely, AND made in USA!!! I think that for anyone thinking about some aftermarket trees, think about giving these cats a try. As soon as I get the chance to wash up the mess, I'll take some pictures and post them.

 

Pix as promised.

 

Can you show a pic of how the lower tree clamps onto the tubes? Just curious.

And what did you use to re-install the races into the neck?

 

Can't show what holds the tubes in lower tree because they're in the tree, but it's a clean and cleaver design that works like a wedge. And then to install the new bearing cup I used very large C-clamp, two pieces of thick flat metal, and a hammer. Hope you get the idea, but this will only get you flush with the outer rim of the neck. I then used the Jims removal tool to finish seating the race.

 

I purchased a bearing press for $35 than milled the side next to the tang flat so it would sit flat when the steering stop/race is pulled in

 

I CUT 1...So there's just a counterbored hole in the back side of the lower tree that you slip the wedge into then run a screw through that? That's kinda how mine works. It makes for a nice and clean looking tree. I'm not sold on the performance of it though...how well it actually holds the fork tube compared with a standard pinch clamp style. That and it marrs the fork tubes.

FastHarley...Thanks for the pic. That's pretty much what I've got sketched up. I'll be making one tonight. Are those 1/2" threads?

 

looks great. i just got a vulcan mid-glide kit for my 06 sporty, they tell you to shim the trees on 04 and up with supplied shim, not sure where this goes, the directions are weak. where did you place your shim thanks bernie