When I took the front wheel off, I found four thin metal shims between the left bearing and the spacer. The parts microfiche and service manual do not show or mention these spacers. I am getting new spacers, axle, bearings. Should I just toss these shims? I think this bike was wrecked in the past and fixed back up for sale......

 

It sounds as though the last guy cut his spacers a bit short. I would just get the new spacers that are an exact fit. More parts to spin=more friction and heat.

 

Yeah, I ordered new spacers, axle, bearings, nut and washer. I saw that in the service manual it describes a washer, lockwasher, and nut, but in the parts microfiche it does not show a lockwasher.

 

That's wild, I checked 2 different sites and the lock washer is not shown or mentioned at all.

If the spacers are too small, you would use the shims, Harley sells the the spacers in thousands of inch width. Example, 3/4 = 0.750 I just ordered some 3/4, but the "actual size" is 0.730.
Spacers are there for a reason, make sure you measure as accurately as you can. Put the front wheel back on without the spacers and measure the distance on each side with a caliper.

My take is that the last guy ordered the wrong spacer or that's all he had on hand.

 

Thats what I figured. The axle was installed wrong, the hole on the right side of the axle was pulled in to the slider opening. He didnt use a drill bit to hold it tight. Thats why the forks were binding up on the lower travel stroke. (I have had other threads, Ive been chasing this problem for over a year) I am going to keep the shims, and order brand new spacers, bolt it all up and measure the spacing with my caliper and see if any shims are still needed. Thankfully my forks are straight and there is no play or slop in the bushings in the lowers. I would measure it now but I had to cut the axle out with a hacksaw and pound it out with a sledgehammer. I see a copious amount of antiseize and new bearings in the future for the re-install.

 

If correctly installed, there will be a "small" gap between the left spacer and fork. It is supposed to be there due to the alignment of the hole and drill bit on the left side.