i have an 09 nightster (first bike ever) and i was wondering...

how do you remove the reflectors (forks, rear fender, wheelwell) without damaging the paint underneath?

do they sell replacement covers for the turn signals/brake lights?
(i want black ones, not yellow or red)

and what are some notable, decent brands of exhaust systems to upgrade to. (i want black ones too)

obviously, im not a very avid biker. im quite new, but like it a lot. any help would be appreciated. thanks

 

I am in the same situation with pipes. There are a lot of options depending on what you want i have been looking at the Vance and Hines short shots, but not quite sure yet

 

As far as the reflectors...Using a heat gun/hair dryer to heat up the adhesive behind it and sawing through it with a piece of fishing line or dental floss works great..Then goo-gone/scrubbing will take off the excess.

Seems like the generic pipes for the "dark custom" Nightster and new Nighty Light are V&H short shots or Sideshots with the black shields...Both sound great and are also available with quieter baffles.

Also...a thing to consider. Most people who swap out the stock pipes for another full set of pipes need a Fuel Pack or a retune from the dealer to fix the air/fuel ratios to stop the bike from running even leaner than it does from the factory. With slip-ons you can almost always get away without having to have a retune.

 

good advice on the reflectors... They come off pretty easy on a hot day. I put short shots on my bike and just put on some Xied's to richen the fuel mixture without dealing with a re-tune. Congrats on your new bike... I've got an 07 and couldn't imagine getting rid of it.

 

I have the V&H Short Shots and I am quite pleased with them. They mount easily, work with forward controls just fine (some exhaust doesnt) and sound great. You could also go with a black slip on - like a Rhinehart - and get the black heat shields that HD sells.

I have to be the voice of reason...even though it wont be popular. You mention you are a new rider, so taking off your reflectors and blacked out lenses may not be the best idea right off the bat. Everyone things they are bulletproof - but the Nightster is an odd beast. It's dark painted, has way less light from the factory, and darkening the lenses will make it worse. Then you remove the reflectors giving it pretty much no visibiity from the side...which is where you're gonna get t-boned from at an intersection. Most accidents on bikes happen because the other driver didnt see the bike.

I am not saying not to take them off...but you may want to ride for a season to get used to the crazy **** that other people do on the road before you do...just my two cents.

 

try using the search feature for your questions too. all of these questions have been answered plenty of times before. I bought some smoked lenses from a web site i found on one of these threads.

 

Yeah, use the search feature because we don't want to have any dialogue in a forum....there probably aren't any new people that would have a different view...it's just the old ones that count......Just a little sarcasm sorry.

 

The search feature is nice but often times there are hundreds of threads to sift through and can take hours to find what your looking for. Not to mention many posts are old and often don't have the "latest and greatest" items that have just been released.

To answer one of the OP's questions...

Turn Signal covers:
HD has a "smoked" lens kit that comes with 4 lenses and orange replacement bulbs for $37.95 part no. 69304-02

 

thanks for all the help. sorry about reposting new-guy questions - i tried searching, but it seemed to take forever to find what i was looking for. good advice on the reflectors - i plan on keeping them on for atleast the first 500 miles. thanks again

dan

 

Traveler, looks like most of your questions are answered! Enjoy the new bike. I love mine!

One thing to look out for on the smoked lenses - Harley only sales lense replacement kits for the front signals on the nightster. This confused me for a while. The only reason for this is that they don't carry the red bulb replacements you will need for the rears (since the rears are also your brake light). You can get the bulbs at any advanced auto, online, etc;