Put pulllback risers from Softail Delux on the Fat Boy. Simply swapped out the stock Fat Boy risers and put in new Delux risers and top clamp. Noticed when finished and test riding thathandlebars are not exactly perpendicular to front wheel. Torqued riser bolts and clamp bolts to spec, - nothing founding in manual on this procedure. Obviously, I screwed up somewhere. A friend said I should have replaced a set of bushings in the triple tree before inserting riser bolts back up into tree after swap out.Anybody have any input before I attmept to fix (again)?

 

Most bars will eventually get a little out of whack it seems. Maybe putting on the new risers just made it more evident?

 

I put risers on my bike and noticed the bars were a little crooked but I think they were that way before installing the risers. It will help to install new bushings but I just give them a little twist every now and then and recheck them to be sure they are tight.

 

This is interesting. My bike has 500 miles on it. I have thought the bars point a bit to the right. loosened the riser bolts, twisted and retightened them. after a few miles, the bars seem crooked again. In my motorcross days I learned a few things about forks - namely that they can get twisted and telephone poles do wonders.

My gut tells me my fatboy wheel is tracking to the left making me feel like th bars are point to the right.

Anyway, I have been brain munching this for weeks. I did loosen the pinchbolts and the axle nut and attempted to give the wheel a gentle twist. this requiresheadlight removal, which requires tin removal, which requires tank removal. Basically a 3 hour project.So I think Im going todo all this and roll thebike to a post and bump the tire around with the pinch bolts loosened and the axle nut loosened.

Seems riskyand the "work" to "test ride for effect" ratiohas delayed me. Any thoughts on this?

Strgzr

 

I would remove the risers and one of the bushings, turn it 180 degrees and try it again. It is possible that the bushing are not eaxactly concentric and this might help. When I switched to a mid glide front endI had the same problem , turned the bushings around and presto no more problem.

 

This happened to me on a sporty I had years ago. The only thing that worked was to loosen the risers up a bit. Every time I tried to torque them down tight...the bars would be tweeked again. I loosened them up a hair and never had another issue.

 

Kinda what I was thinking too. Wrenching down those puppies too much making them twist...

 

I just installed some risers last week and had the same problem. Just loosen up the bolts a turn or so on the bottom of the risers and at the handlebar clamps, you'll find that there will be quite a bit of adjustment in the angle of the bars and risers then. It would be helpful to have a friend hold the front end straight. Push or pull on the bars until they align , I aligned them with the top triple tree, when they are straight just start tightening bolts. You may have to try it a time or two to get it where you want it, but I found its fairly easily done. Not a big problem.

 

I have a deluxe also and find the bars out a little . I think it,s from the torque you put on the bars every time you saddle up.

 

I just use the heel of my hand and wack the lower side up til it's straight (drag bars)never really thought too much of it!