Well let me give a shout out to pru7536 who linked me to a prior thread he commented on, on getting a 90deg zerk installed. Sometimes it just takes a push in the right direction. But got a 90deg zerk in w/o having to remove the fairing, and appreciate his assistance on that.
And this may all be well-known by the more experienced but for anyone else interested, there's a little bracket that stabilizes the front brake lines, and when you loosen that bracket, you can swing the lines away from the zerk fitting area for easier access (this on an 08 Ultra). The trick is getting it threaded in however slight just to hold it in, and then as suggested by pru7536, swing the handlebars full left to clear that lower frame weldment - tighten a 1/4 turn , turn bars back full right for another 1/4 turn, and back and forth until tight. This is on a 90.
Took probably a little over a half-tube of red 'n tacky #2 before it just started to ooze out the bottom of the steering neck. Nothing coming out the top. I bought some super-wide tie-wraps and gonna try to get one of those wrapped and secured around the base of the neck to redirect grease towards the upper bearing. Haven't tried it yet - but that's all I got at this point.