OK, so we have had this poor, neglected Softail sitting in our shop for the past year. It was so ugly that the only time it ever got ridden was when people from out of town came in and didn't have anything else to ride. It even sort of became known as the "Rental" around the office because of its status as the ugly duckling of the fleet. I really started to feel bad for the bike, and figured that something needed to be done to update the look a bit. So I did what any self-respecting bike enthusiast would do: I picked up a copy of Street Chopper and started marking pages with parts I liked on different bikes. After stealing sufficient ideas from bikes in the magazine, it was time to start collecting the parts it would take to transform the "Rental" into something much cooler.
The first call was to Hawg Halters for one of their Mid-Glide frontends with internal steering stops. Then a call to Landmark Manufacturing for a set of their black powdercoated wheels in 18x5.5 and 21x3 inch sizes and a pair of Avon Tires for rolling stock. Performance Machine calipers (6-piston front and 4-piston rear for a 2006 model) and floating rotors from Harley-Davidson in the brake department. An RSD rear fender, struts, and handlebars with grips from Westbury Handcrafted Motorcycles and a Heartland USA license plate mount rounded everything out.
And since it is a true Street Chopper project, we did all the work ourselves in the garage we have attached to the offices-sure, it took a little longer, but we like to get our hands dirty once in a while. So sit back and enjoy the transformation while we all nurse the cuts on our knuckles.
1. This...
2. ...to this.
3. We won't bore you with...
3. We won't bore you with the teardown, but we will tell you that with the internal fork stops in the Hawg Halters kit, it was necessary to replace the bearing race in the lower section of the neck.
4. This is why: that is the...
4. This is why: that is the stock race (far) and the new race (near) with the part that hangs down and slips into the slot in the piece that bolts to the lower triple tree.
5. After the race was pressed...
5. After the race was pressed into the neck, the other half of the steering stop was bolted to the top of the lower triple tree.
6. Then the stem was fed...
6. Then the stem was fed up through the neck and the upper triple tree was threaded on. It was a blind upper tree (you cant see any of the hardware) so everything threaded into the bottom of the upper triple tree.
7. The fork tubes also threaded...
7. The fork tubes also threaded into the bottom of the upper triple tree, and then the hardware on the back of the lower tree was tightened to lock it all down.
8. With the forks in place,...
8. With the forks in place, Jeff installed the bars and risers.
9. This is where an extra...
9. This is where an extra set of hands comes in handy: One set to pull the guide wire, and the other to fish the wires through the bars for the hand controls.
10. After the wires were...
10. After the wires were through the new RSD bars, the supplied caps were glued in place to give them a finished look.
11. With the new Mid-Glide...
11. With the new Mid-Glide we decided to see what the stock headlight would look like-to tell you the truth, it wasn't bad at all, so we went for it.
12. While we were putting...
12. While we were putting on the headlight, the new Harley-Davidson floating rotor was being bolted to the Landmark wheel.
13. The axle and spacers...
13. The axle and spacers were then attached to the hub, the wheel was put up between the fork legs, and the caps were tightened down.
14. The new 6-piston Performance...
14. The new 6-piston Performance Machine caliper was bolted to the left fork leg with the proper spacers to align it with the rotor.
15. A closed-end wrench was...
15. A closed-end wrench was then used to attach the brake hose and tighten the banjo bolt. We used a closed-end wrench because this type of bolt is prone to rounding off if an open-end wrench is used.
16. We still had to button...
16. We still had to button up a couple of things like the wiring and getting the correct upper banjo fitting, but for the most part we were done with the frontend in a few hours.
17. Now it was time to move...
17. Now it was time to move to the back end. It all started with the removal of the seat and the rear fender strut covers.