Been reading the forum all day and messing with rake and trail calculators and still no definitive answer. Currently running 21" front gonna change to 23" also have front air ride. I found one heritage with the 4 degree trees on the forum with stock 16's. Does anyone know if the 4's will work or even the 6's which im leaning towards. Someone school me please. Thanks.

 

I'm running their four degree trees with a 140/70/21 front tire and 2 inch drop in the front and have had no problems, bike feels solid and I've had her up past 90mph several times

 

Talked to hhi today and they don't recommend their raked triple trees with saddlebags because the down force from the bags could cause the bike to become unstable and wobble. Has anyone heard of this or experienced it? Also anyone be able to help me out with rake and trail figures that has experience with it. I've used online calculators but aren't very confident in them.

 

I would have never thought saddle bags would affect raked trees like that. Good knowledge to have. Thanks for sharing that.

 

are you wanting to rake it for looks?

 

I've never heard that about saddlebags, I will have to do a run with and without them to see if it feels any different.

I know what you mean about the online calculators, I played with numbers for a month or better on the BR website. It took a bit of figuring to get it to even duplicate the stock numbers. What I did was to set the bike at ride height and used a string and a square and marked a piece of cardboard the before and after measurements and compared them, I ended up around a final measurement of 5" which is less than stock but still within the 4"-6" that most builders recommend.





Stock:


Stock Trees, New Wheel:


New Wheel, HHI 4* Trees:



There are so many factors that influence that final measurement, is your rear suspension lowered? Tire sizes, fork length, whatever you do to effect the center-line of the neck angle will effect the trail number, a good example to look at is go to the Shotgun Shock website and watch the position of the neck as the rear suspension changes positions. I talked to several builders while researching mine and the best answer I got was "with a change in tire size (especially with big wheels) or in rake your bike will feel different, when you combine these changes it's hard to predict exactly how different your bike will feel" I went for it and it worked out for me, the bike feels solid and handles well. I can't tell you for sure that it will work out for you or you will like the way it feels. Our bikes are similar and the 23" is just a little bigger than the 140/21 so I would expect similar results, but every situation is different. Another option is the Kewl Metal bolt in neck kit, but the stock fork tins won't work with their setup you would have to use a nacelle or fairing.

 

If you do decide to get the HHI trees let me know and I can save you some cash on them. Personally I would not bother raking a bike with a wheel smaller than 23" on a softail. It seems to be excessive and I don't think it looks better either.

That being said everyone wants to do what they want to do. What is your goal with the trees?

 

Thanks for the info fat11lo. I ran the numbers and the 23 with tire is actually smaller than your 140/21 by .6 inches. I like you hahe been running numbers through rb calculator and come up with a bunch of different numbers. Do you happen to know the triple clamp offset measurement?
Drew im wanting to do it for the 23 wheel and also it should get the front end a little lower with the air ride when all the way down. Are the fork tube extensions removable from the upper triple tree? I will get ahold of you when im ready? Drew do you guys have flush front hidden axle for softails also?

 

Call HHI and double check 877-442-5837 on the fork tube extensions but I assume that they are re like used on the bagger kits where they thread into the top of the fork tube.

It seems as if you are asking if you can do the trees without the fork tube extensions with the 21" wheel, correct?

 

Currently has a 21 now but am wanting to go with a 23. Their site says the 4 degree will work for both sizes. Doing it for the look as well and improving handling with a 23 and im gonna modify the swingarm and possibly the neck if needed to sit on the frame.