I'll take pictures of everything once it gets here and photos of the build process as it goes along. Thanks for all the feedback and support.[sm=smiley20.gif]

 

I got my parts in via UPS today. Talk about exciting! My girlfriend kept commenting on how great of a job Heartland did with their packing. Everything was either bubble-wrapped beyond belief or in compartmentalized foam units. Very well done.

Turns out that the install is a little more than I really want to tackle. The transmission gear replacement to compensate the wider rear requires tools that I don't have. If I take it somewhere to just get that part of the install done I don't think I'll be able to ride it home afterwards so then I have to find a way to get it home to do the rest of the install. It's a lot of hassle. I am going to talk to a guy tomorrow to see how much he'll charge me to do the whole install. He said 4 hours for the trans mods, which seems like a slight stretch.

Anyway, here are pics of the parts as they arrived this morning.

 

I agree 100% with you Dick. I only had 3 pieces in my kit
but packaging, service and quality was top notch. You got
the kit for free so even if you pay a little for the installation.
It's still a great deal. Can't wait to see the pictures of the end
results.

 

Yeah, that's what my buddy said. You're both right. If it costs me five or six hundred to do, that's still only 10% (or less) of the cost of the parts alone. I'm gonna go talk to the guy tomorrow. I'll keep posting with updates.

 

I took my bike to a local custom shop to get the transmission offset done. The Harley shop said they wouldn't do it since it's not a Harley kit, but they recommended me to this guy. I called and set up a time to drop it off and they told me it would be about a 6 hour job. It would be around $450-$500. Okay, fine. Whatever.

I just went to pay for it on my lunch break. Turns out it was a 10 hour job and they had to replace bearings and fluids and clips and bolts and blah blah blah. Grand total ended up being $825! I told them that was way more than I was expecting and that I was upset about it. But what can I do? The work is done. The bike was still on the lift. They didn't care about sticker shock. He just kept saying it was custom work and was warrantied if anything went wrong.

I realize that they did what they had to do and everything is all done right and new. I realize that I got the kit for free so installation cost isn't as big of a deal as if it had been on top of parts prices, but jeebus! Good thing I'm fond of macaroni and cheese.

 

Mac and cheese UUUUMMMMMMM!!!
If the job is done right it's kind of hard to complain I guess.
However. He should have called you up to tell you in advance
about the extra fees.

 

Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself. At least I know they stand by their work and they were highly recommended. It just would have been nice to be prepared. Oh, well. I just keep looking forward to finishing it up and enjoying it. I'm sure it'll all seem worth it in a couple weeks.

 

Here are the photos from Day One of the install. My buddy, Scott, helped me out.

http://www.garagejam.com/hl/

 

Photos from Day Two. http://www.garagejam.com/hl/2/


From what I've read about the Phatail install and others, they say to disconnect shocks and bottom out the bike. Then mount the fender with the lowest possible clearance in case of some catastrophic failure. We did that, but when we reconnected the shocks and put the bike back on the ground the fender looked like a freaking rooster tail coming off of the back! It was REALLY high off the tire. I don't get it. You can sort of see in the last couple photos from the link above what I'm talking about. I followed the directions so I'm not sure why that happened. So now I have to reconfigure the fender placement and fill the holes we already drilled. [:@]

 

Day Two. http://www.garagejam.com/hl/2


In the last couple photos you can sort of see that the fender is really high. The directions said to disconnect the shocks, bottom out the bike, and then mount the fender to allow for any major equipment failure. I did that, drilled and mounted then reconnected the shocks and put it back on the ground. The fender looks like a freaking rooster tail! It's REALLY high off the fender. I don't get it. I followed the instructions to the letter. Now I have to re-drill and re-mount the fender which means filling the old holes. Dammit.