Mr. UPS dropped off the last of the parts today. Went ahead and installed wifey's miniapes on her Low.

A couple observations and a question...

1. I can't believe I paid someone $400 to install mine. I was done in 2 hours and I really took my time.

2. The o-ring on the derby cover is a PITA to keep in place while reinstalling the cover. After trial and error I finally got it to stay in place with a few well placed dobs of bearing grease. Just enough goo to get it to stay in place.

3. Don't solder your control wires. Instead, spend the $30 on the extenders with the OEM connectors. My time and materials are worth more than that. And the delaer will charge you a lot more to solder for you. (Which is another thorn in my side about my bar install. The harness extenders were there the whole time. Instead I paid multiple times their cost for some yahoo to solder my wires.)

4. The derby cover bolts were reluctant to come off at first. I gave them a drink of Liquid Wrench and let them sit for a few minutes. Then I used a torx socket and a 1/4" drive ratchet. Then the popped loose without further argument.

5. The arm position is much better. Wifey really likes them better than stock bars. I do too.

6. Bleeding the brake line was easiest when done in reverse. That is, I filled from a hose connected to the bleeder valve. You can use one of those turkey injector syringes or anything that will pump fluid. Puch the fluid up from the bottom and the air naturally evacuates through the master cylinder.

7. I did not have to drain any fluids (except brake fluid) for this install. I wasn't sure if I needed to drain oil to get at the clutch cable. I confirmed I did not.

Oh yeah...my question. Any ideas why clutch lever pull is a little stiffer now? Since HD claimed these were reduced effort, I'm a little curious. I have verified everything was installed correctly. I have the requisite play of somewhere between 1/8"-1/16" at the lever. If the cable hangs free it is a little easier than if I snug it to the frame with the cable clips. Simple as needing to lube the cable?


Thanks.

 

Great job man! It is easy, isn't it?
I believe the problem is right there, is the cable longer than what it supposed to be? I believe you have installed longer cable for your miniapes, is that right? If that is the case, lube is not going to help. Just my thought. Alex

 

I'm virtually certain its the right length. But I reserve the right to be wrong.

I just went out and looked at it again. It might just be a bone headed goof (e.g. an adjustment issue). When I initially adjusted for free play at the ferule end and clutch lever, I did so with the cable hanging free. Then I clamped it to the frame. Moving the cable took up some, err...all, of the slack. I readjusted with the cable in the clamped final position. That helped loosen it up a bit.

 

Sounds like you did a really nice job. Post some photos if you can.

Good call using the gun grease on the derby o-ring. That is the best way to get them to stay in place while you button up the cover. Also, when tightening the derby cover, using a crossing pattern, tightening each bolt a little at a time will assure a good seal.

 

I'm lucky...

I have a chain link fence going around my property, and it's perfect for 'tilting the bike against', tipped slightly to the right, when installing that @#$@# Debry cover O-Ring. LoL...

 

Funny you should mention that. I was thinking about how easy it would be if the bike were on its side. Couldn't bring myself to do it though.