Glad it was just a simple adjustment. Your bike looks great. And you saved some money in the process and didn't have to change anything out, which is always a good thing.

 

Thanks! And yeah, really glad I know how to do it now so I don't have to buy anything additional. Appreciate the help with the adjustments

 

Hey guys just fitted lowering kit, went with 1.5" instead of 2"
Love the new look and ride, sometimes a bit too bumpy, I guess i'll get used to it.
Highly recommended , easy to install.
Here are some before and after pics.

Cheers

Before

After

 

Looks perfect IMO. I love the way the red stripe just pokes out from under the fender. Any lower and you would lose that.

 

Your bike looks so much better lowered and those red line tires are awesome....where did you get those?

 

@Down under LOOKS GREAT! Love the Redlines also

 

Don't like lowered suspensions---I like them RAISED. Why? Because I expect my Harley to go good around corners and not scrape pegs, cases and so forth, perhaps flip me off the bike at speed.

The whole thing about "A Softail looks GOOD lowered" is really a way of saying you bought the wrong bike. You shouldn't have bought a Softail, you should have bought a Rigid Hardtail. Then you could have put on a tire hugging rear fender and a sissy bar that looks integrated into the lines well. And the bike would not bottom out in corners because it has ZERO suspension travel back there.

What I love instead about the Softails is the whole clean look of the lines of the frame. Very triangulated. Very attractive. Very even, uh, sexy. I'm thinking about chroming mine.

Go look at the original Godfather of all Softail wanna-be Hardtail bikes---the Captain America Peter Fonda Hardtail in Easy Rider. Note it is RAISED for more ground clearance. Sure it looks great with a tire hugging fender but that thing rides like sh*t... Even Fonda hated the damn thing. "It was just a poseur for show. We took it around in a trailer and I only rode it for fifteen minutes tops. A crap bike."

So my two cents is don't lower it. Raise the front a touch and get a mean "stance." A Softail will really run great in the twisties if you just set it up right. Put some good shocks on it and get four inches or more of rear travel. My Deuce has over five inches travel in the front. Go modern...Make your Harley a Road Bike, not a touchy dangerous trailer queen.

 

Mine's lowered and it's definitely not a trailer queen.

If you bought a Softail to have a bike that handles well, you definitely bought the wrong bike. Any number of race reps, standards, etc... will handle better than a Softail any day of the week.

 

I bought a Softail to handle good, at least as well as a large BMW standard road rig for example. That or a Valkyrie or perhaps a V-Max or a VFR800 were my other choices. I like bikes with Soul. Bikes you don't want to stop the ride until your inner self has had the total attitude adjustment which a great riding bike can perform.

I disagree with your conclusion. I am not knocking Dynas. I am not knocking Softails that are used for short hops and which do not corner well. I am not knocking whatever you want to do with YOUR bike because I admire your commitment to your preferences.

I completely disagree with your statement that any other Standard or race bike can DO handling wise what my Softail can do---IF it is set up right. Read on before you start telling me I am a bigger Village Idiot than you are, haha.

I am merely answering the OP question of pros and cons after celebrating my 50th year of building and setting up big Harleys. So the ideas I have represent only my personal preferences and experiences from riding and owning many brands and styles of machines.

What IS a Softail?

It is a Dyna with the shocks under the frame like a Sportbike. It has the following things to offer which make it extremely desireable to me as a great large, heavy Road Bike:

It looks great with forward controls and a low seat works great too. Forwards let you stretch out real comfy. I hate leg cramps. I like how "integrated" into the bike you become on a Softail. Folks say you sit "In" a Softail. I agree. Win for Softails.

It looks great slightly stretched with extended forks, and slightly raised up for an aggressive stance and more road clearance. Extended forks and a tiny bit more rake in the neck (38 degrees) make for an extremely solid, stable high speed ride. That is why drag bikes have the forks stretched out there a bit. Stability.

It is LOW and with proper tires and sport shock valving (soft to absorb irregularities, hard enough to avoid nose dives under braking) it will perform incredibly well for a big bike. This includes cornering. If you raise the front forks a couple of inches it still looks low, but it is high. The perfect world. Loads of road clearance on a bike with a great presence.

You will have to get the handlebars in exactly the right place to give you that BMW steering feel and balance. Plus pegs and seat have to work with your body dimensions. But a Softail will easily perform as well as any other classic geometry (Triumph, Norton, Bmw) road bike. Why shouldn't it? It is no different than anything else---it only LOOKS like a hardtail frame. It is really a standard Harley underneath the skin.

After considering a Café Sportster, a big touring rig, a Goldwing or large BMW and more---I decided the Softail was potentially ahead of the pack because of its advantages setup wise. Long, stretched out, comfy for ten hour rides even at age 65, stable as a rock, takes corners in a confidence inspiring way, lots of road clearance to lean it way over.

So to answer your retort---I bought a Softail to "handle" my list of characteristics. The things I personally want a bike setup to perform to make it my favorite all day Road Bike, semi-touring rig---bar hopper---styling machine---overall classic beauty and FUN.

Do whatever you want. But I would not recommend lowering a Softail. Unless you can prove to me there is some reason to do so other than to pretend it is a HardTail. Which it is NOT thank goodness... I started riding and building bikes back in the 60s. The roads were nice and smooth and new and I loved how tight my Hardtail Harleys felt on long runs.

Nowadays with the roads falling apart and potholes big enough to pitch you off the bike it really pays to get some suspension travel and road clearance. My Softail can take the abuse. Because I set it up to do so. You do what you want. Not my bike.

 

"The whole thing about "A Softail looks GOOD lowered" is really a way of saying you bought the wrong bike. You shouldn't have bought a Softail, you should have bought a Rigid Hardtail. Then you could have put on a tire hugging rear fender and a sissy bar that looks integrated into the lines well. And the bike would not bottom out in corners because it has ZERO suspension travel back there."



Do you think before you type? You are totally wrong about why someone bought a softail and that if they lower it they bought wrong bike. Listen you ride your bike your way and I will ride mine my way and that is what is the greatest about softails is you can do so much with them that they work for most everyone. Not everyone on a lowered softail wants the "Captain America bike" look.