07 883 Low .... lifting

[npaisnel]

A revelation has occurred....

I put these 2 inch slugs on the low to lift it a bit as a temporary measure....to lift it a bit until I could buy new longer forks/ sort it properly ...,

Now I see, after looking at the link supplied above for the Tracker Die damper tubes, that all I needed to do was change the damper tube and spring inside to give me the extra height.

I had a standard set of damper tubes and springs anyway from the 04 bike !

Even the dealer did not seem to know that... as I discussed all of that with them when I bought this tired 07 bike ‘as seen’ with holes in the exhaust and a burst oil tank.

They are generally a good dealer... they actually just won the Harley Davidson No.1 U.K. Dealer award ..,

Hmm going to have to pop in and speak to them about this !

[npaisnel]

Originally Posted by 45Brit

Those adverts are interesting, I hadn’t seen those. The main problem with Sportster 39mm forks is the varying component lengths on different models.

Seems thinly difference is the internal components length. If a table I saw is correct..all the stanchions since 1989 have been 25.25 inch or 25.75..cnat remember which . All the ride height differences are in the damper tubes and springs...

[45Brit]

Hard to say. When I did the forks on my 92 XL, the three sets of tubes I collected were all different lengths. Two were about 1/2” different, but the set on the bike was at least 60mm shorter.

Then again, for a 1992 bike which had been rebuilt at least once to significantly lower it, there is no real telling where they came from. Certainly the damper rods were the “long” length.

The only answer is “look and see what you have”. Oh, and “don’t fit slugs!”

[npaisnel]

Pah to your dislike of slugs

short ones are just fine unless you are doingreally heavy stuff with them Especially if you build a 'fork brace' style clamp between the top and bottom yoke, to clamp around the threaded area at the top of the fork like i have done. 5-6 inch ones where the entire slug is in the yokes and the entire bike weight is supported own eh side walls of the thread areas... yes I know the problem . Seen it heard it all before ..


Interesting what you say about the fork lengths you have..but as yup say ..who knows what has been swapped on them over the years , from what I have found they all show as the same length on 39 mm from 89 up.....hang on ill find the link.

Cant find the link i saw last night on the phone...but here is this


https://motorcyclemetal.com/hd-fork-tube-lengths/


Not that it matters much any way...what they WERE..it is what you have to hand that matters.

[45Brit]

Originally Posted by npaisnel

Pah to your dislike of slugs

short ones are just fine unless you are doingreally heavy stuff with them Especially if you build a 'fork brace' style clamp between the top and bottom yoke, to clamp around the threaded area at the top of the fork like i have done. 5-6 inch ones where the entire slug is in the yokes and the entire bike weight is supported own eh side walls of the thread areas... yes I know the problem . Seen it heard it all before ..


Interesting what you say about the fork lengths you have..but as yup say ..who knows what has been swapped on them over the years , from what I have found they all show as the same length on 39 mm from 89 up.....hang on ill find the link.

Cant find the link i saw last night on the phone...but here is this


https://motorcyclemetal.com/hd-fork-tube-lengths/


Not that it matters much any way...what they WERE..it is what you have to hand that matters.

How about not having slugs, and not needing a fork brace?

That table of fork lengths is interesting. It looks as though FX and Dyna models always had the longer forks, Sportsters originally had the short ones and eventually they standardised on the longer tubes - presumably because the rubber-mount frame is higher than the solid-mount one? Realistically it doesn’t make much difference, the internals define the overall length - just watch out for short springs.

As a general comment, longer tubes provide more stiffness because the distance between the bushes is longer

My flat track Sportster is very short at the front.

[npaisnel]

Originally Posted by 45Brit

How about not having slugs, and not needing a fork brace?

Could not magic them out if the air..but the slugs were easy to make on the lathe..as was the brace under the tp yoke..job done in along afternoon.


Not having the slugs is what would have happened if I realised that all was needed was sticking in the different damper rods..that I had sitting there. could have been an hour job and not the 5 hour job! But did not know that at the time..I assumed, as the dealer did that the top tubes were shorter on the Low...

[rejeanprimeau]

We tend to forget that the Harley fork and shocks are Showa. Honda dealer offer much more flavour that fit our triple tree and air shocks. Just ask a good dealer to give you the spec of what you want.

https://www.teknikmotorsport.com/brands/

[AZbiker]

If you go 15" out back you will probably need to fabricate an idler pulley system to keep the final drive from making contact with the swingarm and/or the cases.

It might be a good idea to fab some struts in the length you want your new shocks to be, so you can check for interference.

Good luck with your project, I love lifted XLs.

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

[npaisnel]

Thanks for that.
Something to be aware of
Thanks

I looked for an old mid control set of parts the other day from my 04.... gone ... most odd. I found my mid mounts from the 93, but not the 04. So that is a delay... bugger... So now would need to source those parts too

Trying to find an exhaust system too... but not seen any suitable that will clear my panniers

This is becoming a project that could be measured in years .... or permanent pause now, until I can find relatively cheap / free / used solutions to those two above issues

[npaisnel]

Good local biker buddy jsut messaged me to say he saw my advert for mid controls on the local UK Sportster Facebook group and he had a set of mids I can have.. so got those now