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2012 FatBoy Lo Build Thread – First phase of mods – TONS of Pics! “How to’s” and tips

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  #41  
Old 03-09-2015, 09:52 PM
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Originally Posted by ADRENALINE RUSH
Shocks…..
Obviously I needed to bring the fender closer to the tire! The stock ones has the fender sitting over 2" above the tire. I went as low as I could without bottoming out.
put them on a press to compress the springs in order to replace the bolts with longer ones.

Everything was so tight and almost impossible to get to. The bolts were high torqued with permanent Loctite, and not enough room to get a breaker bar under the bike, and only allowed less than a half-inch of turn for the wrench to move back and forth between the frame. Once the bolts were off the shocks they fully expanded and wouldn't fit out of the frame, was definitely a pain…

If I ever had to remove them again I would probably be able to do it way quicker, and would need to do 5 things first instead of figuring them out last. Torch to heat up the bolts/nuts, heavier hammer to hit the wrench to break the nuts loose, 3/4" ratcheting wrench (not a fixed box wrench), a pry bar to remove the shock, and more beer

After lowering check the belt to make sure it’s not rubbing were in goes into the primary and that there’s enough slack (a tight belt will perform and last longer than a loose belt). This is with the bike sitting on the ground on the jiff stand (kick stand) not on a lift or with you sitting on it. a good rule of thumb is that you should be able to grab the belt in the middle of its run and be able to twist it with your hand 45*

A good how to for installing lowering kit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0IN...ature=youtu.be





RSD Tracker fender kit and seat…



drilled a hole and welded a stud to mount the seat, once lowered i had to replace the sockethead fender bolts with shorter bolts (1/2" long) because the ones rsd provided were too close to the tire once it was lowered.







Don’t clamp it this way, I left hair line scratches in the first one (top one) because I clamped it by the housing. The 2nd signal was clamped by the stud and much easier to cut and left the housing untouched. Only down fall was I had to be more careful cutting because I couldn’t have the Allen key slid in it to protect the wires.



The new rear fender and seat required me to relocate the ECU, license plate, signals, brake light, a couple wire harnesses, battery, a handful other electronics and move around a few other miscellaneous things under the seat.



Also replaced stock battery with a smaller battery Yuasa YTX15L-BS, relocated some wires, ECU, and harness's.



After a few adjustments and test rides I needed to relocated the wires and the wire race way (moved them up deeper into the fender to clear the side of the tire, but also not too high or it would get hit by the top of tire when suspension bottoms out). There was a few test fits / rides and adjustments / changes… In the end I had to replace all the hardware again in order to clear the tire… I used The Hillman Group 5/16-in-18 Zinc-Plated Standard (SAE) Brad Hole Tee Nut & split lock washers & flat head cap screw bolts ( I also ended up having to replace the ˝ lock socket head bolts with an even shorter set up in order to clear the tire.



V&H short shots….
  1. unplug o2 sensors from the connectors remember the cable routing (NEVER UNBOLT THEM PLUGGED IN). front O2 sensor under the front of the bike (easy to get to). Rear O2 sensor is a little harder, take off the seat mine was there behind the battery, but I also have an smaller battery (you may need to remove your stock battery to access this connector on a stock bike. It goes through a hole in the bottom of the battery pan.
  2. remove old exhaust
  3. install sensors on new exhaust (DONT FORGET ANTI-SIEZE for the O2 Sensor threads) &
  4. install exhaust
  5. re-run wire for connect o2 sensors plugs and reconnect



10” Todd’s Cycle Strip Bars 1.5” thick Fattys….
To get to the wires harness disconnects for each side of the controls (unbolt the tank in the front and the back, push up on the silver ring and disconnect the fuel line), then lift the tank up and slide it back as far as you can (should go back about 4”), lift up the rubber flap and you’ll see the connection points.

Since these are only 10" mini apes I was able to use my stock wires, clutch cable, and throttle cables.. the only thing I had to replace was the stock upper ABS brake line, needed a +4" line (I think if it was non ABS that would have worked too).

Fishing the lines – I tried everything (fish tapes, chain, thicker stranded wire, real long zip ties…ect). Finally took a thin, but strong rope and tied a nut to the end of it. let gravity do the work, flipping the bars around to get the nut to drop. Electrical taped the new wires and pulled them through. I had to keep tension on the string and slowly push a little bit at a time in order to finally get the new wires though.

I used a Motion Pro 08-0543 3/8" Mini Brake Bleeder… it worked awesome! Ive always hated bleeding brakes, but this made it way easier!!!!!

Bleeding ABS brakes – since I had to get a longer brake line I had to do some bleeding… DO NOT TURN THE IGNITION ON anytime until you are done because the ABS Valves will cycle!!!!!! If they cycle with line open or un bleed, then air could get in there. ABS is an electronically activated, the rest is hydraulically activated manually by the lever at master cylinder. So you shouldn’t have any problem bleeding the brakes the regular way (just as you would if it didn’t have ABS) as long as you don’t get any air in the ABS module / valve. Otherwise your ABS won’t work without a trip to the dealer for them to re-bleed your brakes for you while cycling the ABS valves using the HD Digital Technician.

I also had a local hydraulic shop make me a line, it was clear / silver and didn’t match the bike, that’s why there’s a wire loom covering it (it will be replace this winter). And in case anyone needed to know, our fittings for our banjo bolts on our brake lines are 7/16 x 24 & the fitting is 7/16 diameter (there was a lot of people on here who said 12mm, but that’s too loose).



Plate relocation….
replaced the passenger rear peg with a custom license plate bracket



Had to swap out the tank emblem….
Taped it off because I wanted the circle part of the emblems in the same spot. I used fishing line to get the badge off, then terminator & WD40 to the rest off, then wipe off with rubbing alcohol before installing new emblems





and that's pretty much it!


Quick question for ya Adrenaline Rush, what is the purpose of draining bleeding your brakes? I dont have much experience with modding yet and am learning on the fly from vets like you lol

thanks
Zach
 
  #42  
Old 05-01-2015, 08:08 AM
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Post Auxiliary Brake Light/Running Light/Turn Signal Conversion Kit-69461-06D

Bike looks great! Im working on a similar build on my 13' fatboy lo. Just checking about the light conversion harness you used. I was looking on HD's website and Im finding part number 69462-06D as the harness for fatboys. The one you have listed that you used is (69461-06D) for Heritage, Electra Glide, and Road king. Just wondering if there was a reason why you used that harness?
 
  #43  
Old 05-01-2015, 03:54 PM
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Awesome looking bike - good work.
 
  #44  
Old 05-06-2015, 02:19 PM
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Update...
well I finally got my bike back together! it turned out great, i will be posting up a 2nd phase thread soon once i can get some good pics and find time to write everything up. this 2nd phase of mods was a LOT more expensive and labor intensive than this one, so stay tuned for that!!!


Originally Posted by dmg1029
You've really done a fantastic job on it. I was always curious about not having a front fender. Love the look, but does it pick up road debris? Seems like it would.
Thanks man! I went to looks over function, I kicks up stuff from time to time and obviously wouldn’t do to well in the rain, but it’s not too bad.

Originally Posted by RickyOrtiz84
Just found this thread. Bike looks amazing man! Where did you find that willie G tank emblem?
Thanks! I got them online, I think it was on eBay

Originally Posted by BartMan88
Quick question for ya Adrenaline Rush, what is the purpose of draining bleeding your brakes? I dont have much experience with modding yet and am learning on the fly from vets like you lol
air = mushy brakes with no stopping power… no air = rock solid brakes with lots of stopping power...
Brake fluid is the only thing that should be in the brake lines. Brake fluid is an uncompressible liquid, air bubbles are compressible gas and their presence in the brake system greatly reduces the hydraulic pressure. If air gets into the lines, it can prevent the fluid from flowing properly, causing the brake pedal to feel spongy.

A process called “bleeding the brakes” gets rid of the air. Air in the brake line reduces or with enough could even eliminate stopping power. So anytime any air gets in or may have gotten into your brake lines you need to bleed them. Also old brake fluid that is broken down or taken in condensation or other contaminates would be a another reason to flush / drain your brake fluid.

Originally Posted by Borchy538
Bike looks great! Im working on a similar build on my 13' fatboy lo. Just checking about the light conversion harness you used. I was looking on HD's website and Im finding part number 69462-06D as the harness for fatboys. The one you have listed that you used is (69461-06D) for Heritage, Electra Glide, and Road king. Just wondering if there was a reason why you used that harness?
No specific reason, I just bought one that said it fit my bike, but I guess they both would work…
It says the 69461-06C Fits '96-later Softail® and '97-'08 Touring models (except FLHX). Also fits '09-'13 FLHR, FLHRC, FLHTC, FLHTCU and FLHTK models.
It says the 69462-06C Fits '02-'03 XL, '02-later Dyna® (except FXDXT and '09-later FXDB and FXDWG) and '02-later Softail® (except FXS, FXSB, FXSBSE, FXSTD/I) models.

Originally Posted by BTLGR
Awesome looking bike - good work.
Thanks!
 
  #45  
Old 05-06-2015, 04:56 PM
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Default Another lighting question

Do you have any close up pics of how you wired the mini gems with the conversion box? I'm working on the same set up with running just turn signals for my brake/run/turn lights.
 
  #46  
Old 05-16-2015, 11:32 PM
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Originally Posted by BTLGR
Awesome looking bike - good work.
thanks

Originally Posted by Borchy538
Do you have any close up pics of how you wired the mini gems with the conversion box? I'm working on the same set up with running just turn signals for my brake/run/turn lights.
its pretty much plug and play, the way i did it was... i got a Harley wire harness that connects the wires in the fender and under the seat. i cut off the fender end of the wiring harness and left the other end on the harness on (that way its plug and play and i can easily disconnect it to remove the fender). you can see more in the other pics i originally posted

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  #47  
Old 05-30-2015, 09:22 AM
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Default When does Phase II get posted?

I love this build thread man, and the bike looks fantastic! When are you going to add the Phase II update? I'm really looking forward to seeing what you've done now.
Cheers,
M
 
  #48  
Old 06-01-2015, 03:46 PM
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Originally Posted by 2819MC
I love this build thread man, and the bike looks fantastic! When are you going to add the Phase II update? I'm really looking forward to seeing what you've done now.
Cheers,
M
thanks man! i'm finishing up going through lots of pics and writing up all the details now. should be done in the next few days. i'll keep you posted...
 
  #49  
Old 06-05-2015, 05:14 PM
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here it is!!!! finally done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...l#post14088070
 
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