Caution ; lowering kits

[Ultra Will]

Just wanted to post what happened to me and hopefully avoid the same thing happening to someone else.

I lowered my bike about an 1-1/2" with a lowering bracket.
Not only does it look nicer to me but my feet are more comfortably planted on the ground.

Anyways, my wife is roughly 130 lbs and I really did not think about the need to add more pressure to the air suspension after having it lowered.

After about 5-6 months, my rear right turn signal stopped working.; as did my rear right stop light... The rear right running light would still work so that became puzzling. I ended up having to take it to a local Indy.

After searching the bike over & over and a few hours labor time ($$) it was found that my wiring harness that runs inside the rear fender had been rubbing against the tire and a few of the wires and been stripped and were actually touching each other...

So if you're considering a lowering kit, remember that harness thats under the rear fender. You'll either have to re route that harness elsewhere or keep a constant eye on that suspension's Air pressure. I'm keeping it at 20 lbs and I told my wife she also needed to drop a few pounds if she wanted to keep riding with me.. (that didnt go so well for me though)

 

[Bodeen]

Looks like two great tips here. 1) carefully inspect wiring after lowering. 2) The wifes weight is not the issue. Ever.

 

[Jack Klarich]

Welcome to The Forum, It is indeed a learning experience:s Bad thing about the shock lowering kits is the angle it puts the shocks in Pretty severe from my own past from using a White Brothers kit like this back in 92 enjoy your 2 up riding:s

 

[Iceman24]

Always check your clerance areas - gremlins can bite you if you're not cautious...

 

[La Smoke]

Not only watch the harness..Lowering any bike more than 1" can also effect the lean angle limit's making the bike dangerous in the twisties !!!!

 

[hobo55]

I did it on my 85 FLT and it lowered it down real nice. Had to space the hard bags out a little bit. Sat good and rode good. And then............. Loaded it up for a 2 week trip all is still good. After a few hundred miles noticed the shocks wore into the saddle bags. Got home and took them off. Bike sat higher but no clearance issues. Anyone want them?

 

[wannaride]

I think that is why my right tun signal light comes on when I hit the brake. I thought it was a wire that I found under the seat, but repairing that did not fix it.

Toby

 

[mc2]

To add another warning with lowering kits:
I've got an 08 Fat Boy lowered front and rear.

During a great 3,500 mile road trip I noticed my right footboard was ground more than the left. Thinking there were either more right turns, or I was sub-consicously more conservative on left turns I began biting a little more to the left. Being lowered the footboards will grind early so I figured it was ok if they folded up a little more!

Near the end of the trip the kickstand fell freely away from its up position. I looked down to find the tang where the return spring clips on had worn out releasing the spring.

When I looked a little further I noticed the full width of the primary cover below the clutch was ground away perfectly across its width. It's a pretty big flat spot, but at least it's not leaking!

It sure would have been messy if I had ground through the primary and lost all the oil.

That tang was a lucky warning in the consequences of modifications!

 

[Jeff Klarich]

My take on lowering kits is leave your bike alone and just ride it. If you have trouble touching the ground buy a smaller bike or taller boots!:bigsmiley12: