Decided to try these out due to the simplicity of the install and the cost. Ordered it online over the weekend and Al got it to me very quickly.

I have no doubt that a person who is comfortable with their bike being on a lift/jack and could get it high enough could do this in well under an hour. I have never used a motorcycle jack before and I was doing this myself in my driveway.

The jack was built in a way that I could either have access to the front nuts or the shaft of the shock but not both. So I had to jack it up and the lower it onto some 4x4 pieces of wood and then move the jack to the front of the frame. When the time came to lift the rear wheel I lifted it by hand and rested in on a plastic crate and a piece of wood which made it the perfect height.

Overall it was a nice kit and I'm very happy with the results. I do have one huge complaint for my specific install. On my back, by myself I could not get both pieces of the clamp together and start the allen screw with only 1 hand. The bike wasn't high enough to use 2 hands so my wife had to come help me out. I think I have a solution though. Would it be possible to make the spacers magnetic so they don't fall off so easily when people are working with limited room? If I could get the bike higher or had a real lift it's a non-issue but I'm sure I'm not the first dude to do this install this way. Other than this little hang up I'm very happy with it.

Here's some before shots. Ruler is resting on the axle nut for reference.






Here's after, ruler in the same spot. I used the 1.5 inch kit, not the 2 inch.

 

Looks so much better lowered, should come from the factory that way.

 

Thanks for info. Considering lowering myself but not sure when. I check the site for more info.

 

Bike looks great lowered.
A little tip for holding the colliers together is use a very thin coat of contact cement. Works like a charm.

 

biggest question: how's the ride? and does your tire bottom out on the fender?

 

For me the ride is slightly harder. I have my shock preload set pretty high and have not had a fender rub issue yet.

 

I had no issues doing this install on my bike by myself. All I did to get the collars in was thread one bolt (leaving it loose) in one side of each collar and then twist them aprt and then back to get them on the shaft. Easy.

Maybe I have girlie hands though...

 

yours certainly worked out better than mine. i put the so called "2 inch" lowers in, and it only lowered my bike 1-1/4 inches. how close in thickness were the 2 collars? mine looked exactly the same thickness, but one was slightly larger diameter. contacted dead creek, he said they are really close in thickness, but i'm telling you mine are so close to exact that i'm thinking i received two of the same collars.

HOWEVER.. they still look good. and the ride isn't really that bad. i, too had the issues you did, trying to put the collars on with one hand drove me NUTS!

 

how is it with a passenger? Have you had any problems with bottoming out or rubbing? thanks!!!

 

The possibility of a mix up in your collars aside; I wonder if the reason you got different results than the OP in the amount of drop is because your Fatboy Lo shocks are already lower than those of the OP's "Standard" Fatboy shocks?