Here at Street Chopper we love Sportsters. It's a great chassis to build a cool scoot without a lot of cash, and they're quicker and more agile than their big brothers. One downside to the Sporty is the sometimes-cramped riding position that is somewhat caused by the midmount 'grasshopper' footpegs. Some of the factory bikes come with forward controls, but they're kind of cheesey cast metal units. There aren't a ton of aftermarket foot control options available for XLs.
When rebuilding a Sportster project in our shop, we noticed the 20-year-old peg-mounts for the shifter and brake were badly worn. The footpegs were crooked and flopping all around in the worn-out mounting bores. H-D doesn't make the peg supports anymore for the older Sportys. After a lengthy search we found that Jaybrake offers a Sportster Mounting Kit (for '86-present) that allows the use of any of its Jaybrake FXR model controls. We went with a black anodized set of the Classic Series Solid Forward Controls, complete with a 5/8-inch master cylinder. The controls are also available in polished or chromed finish. Along with different style options for the controls, there are numerous footpeg options available at the time of purchase: wide band, dovetail, full rubber, and factor.
Jaybrake controls and pegs are CNC-machined out of solid billet aluminum and assembled with stainless steel hardware. The controls also feature adjustable lever positions to create that perfect riding position. Two-inch extension plates for a roomier cockpit are available for pre-'00 XLs.
After installation we wanted to make a custom brakeline to clean up the look of the lines. Goodrich provided everything we needed to make our own brakeline. We took a ride over the Bennett's Performance in Signal Hill, California, to make sure the assembly of the brakeline went smoothly. SC
1. Jaybrake's forward control...
1. Jaybrake's forward control parts can be ordered with different options, such as brake/shift-arm and peg styles. Clockwise from top left we have the Sportster mounting kit (100-44), full rubber peg kit (6K-33), FXR forward control basic kit (100-523), and the classic solid lever kit (100K-3), all in black anodized finish.
2. Here's a shot of the aged...
2. Here's a shot of the aged mid-mount stock Sportster footpeg and master cylinder.
3. On the left side the badly...
3. On the left side the badly worn peg mount and shifter arm before removal.
4. To adapt the forward controls...
4. To adapt the forward controls to a Sportster, Jaybrake makes mounting arms that attach to the front lower motor mounts. The shifter and master cylinder directly attach to these arms.
5. On the shifter side the...
5. On the shifter side the bracket was affixed to the mounting arm. The shift linkage was then attached to the boomerang arm on the shift splines.
6. All that was left to finish...
6. All that was left to finish the left side was attach the shift peg and footpeg.