So been able to get some mileage in on the bike and going to be doing some reviews on what I'm running. First up is the Licks 10" Z Bars. Overall Quality is great. These do take a little tweaking to get situated without moving. You can angle them forward or backward depending on arm length a good bit. I found it best to tighten the bolts going back and forth top to bottom with finishing on the bottom with it nice and snug. Comfort is surprisingly really good. I have had stock and drag bars and I was pretty impressed how 'relaxed' these feel when riding. I also did not have to extend any wires or cables to get these on either. I would definitely recommend them to someone looking for this style bars.
REVIEW: VANCE & HINES SHORT SHOTS
These pipes were on the bike when I got it. Would I have purchased these if they were not…it's very possible. I will start with quality which I have found no problems with. They fit great and have had them off and on and never had a problem with fitting or leaking. Most people would agree that these pipes look awesome on a Sportster and I would definitely agree. They flow great with the body and don't get in the way of controls or legs. How do they perform though? No, these are not the best performing pipes out of the box. I also don't think they are the best sounding pipes out of the box either. I helped both these situations greatly with some modifications to the stock baffles which I made a separate post on. I removed the stock baffle and did a nice snug single layer of header wrap around them and reinstalled. This made a noticeable difference in sound and how it ran. It gave a nice deep tone to it and now I'm very pleased with these Short Shots. I have ran Stock, Modified Stock, V&H Straight Shots, and Bassani Pro Street as well as Custom Made in past. I would recommend these depending on the persons goals with their bike.
REVIEW: X14IED
I'm going to start by saying I was really impressed with this small investment in the bike. Install is very simple and took all of 15min with hiding the wires. My bike has pipes and intake and really didn't run that well and it definitely running lean according to my plugs. I put my stock intake back on and that helped for sure. I modified my Short Shots (above review) and that made a difference as well. I did not notice a huge difference right away though. What I ended up doing is resetting the ECM and then allowing computer to relearn with the IED's. This made all the difference in how the bike ran. It runs much smoother now. Now I'm sure I could invest in something like a Power Vision which I still might do but with these alone my bike runs great and gas mileage has improved. Overall I would highly recommend this modification WITH resetting your computer.
REVIEW: PROGRESSIVE 412 SHOCKS
Progressive is very well known among the Harley community with good reason. Many would agree that the one thing the Nightster lacks is comfort. Several upgrade the seats with good results and/or the shocks. Most also end up putting 12.5"+ length shocks on the Nightster to further improve ride quality. I love the low look of the bike and wasn't necessarily willing to loose that. I honestly wanted to lower the bike even a little more. Wasn't going to run Struts and the Licks or Burly unanimously by others were said to ride as bad or worse than stock but achieved the desired look. What I ended up going for was a 1" Billet Lowering Link with stock length 11" Progressive 412 Shocks. They come in black or chrome which is a nice option. I opted for black and finish is great. I have played with the settings and I am at 3 up from the softest and really happy with this setup. I am 180lbs as well for reference. Ride quality is MUCH improved over stock. I was extremely satisfied with how it turned out and sitting even lower than stock and riding that much better. These can be had for a little over $200 and I would definitely buy them again.
Stock Baffle Ends smoothed down to provide the needed space for wrap. These still fit snug in pipes by themselves.
Wrapped with DEI Ceramic Header Wrap Single Layer
Last edited by SoulArmored; 01-14-2015 at 10:15 PM.
How does an almost 7 year old bike only have 3400 miles on it? You need to get out and ride that thing. I'm up in Gainesville. Hit me up sometime. We'll put some miles on it.
I spent a good bit of time and research on intakes for my bike. I chose this from DK and happy I did. The install was very straightforward. It comes complete with instructions and a K&N Filter. I did use 2 gaskets; one on throttle body and one on mounting plate (gasket/plate/gasket). The kit only comes with 1 but I believe it should probably come with 2. Otherwise it is complete and even comes with a few options for the filter nut. Unlike the factory bracket, the DK Bracket does not use the small center bolt. I painted it black to hide it which can be seen in picture. To finish off the kit you have a few options for breather systems as well. I opted to use the Stage 3 Breather Bolts which I will review next. The sound of this intake is pretty nice as well and was unexpected. It flows more than my bike needs currently so has room for improvement. I would definitely recommend DK!
REVIEW: DK CUSTOMS STAGE 3 BREATHER
To accompany my intake I purchased this breather system from DK as well. It comes complete with breathers, 2 different color screens and an extra set of filters. Install was very easy. I have had no issues with blow by but never had much at all on my bike anyways. It does only have 3400 miles on her which is a factor. These compliment the intake setup very nicely and would with other setups as well. A great affordable modification that is both for performance and aesthetics. DK Customs have been very helpful and truly care for their customers and their name as a company. Service has been exceptional from them with all my transactions. Thank you guys!
Last edited by SoulArmored; 12-18-2014 at 05:06 PM.
Which baffles do you have in the Short shots? My wife has the regular ones and it does not look like you could add any baffling around them. I was curious if it was the regular baffles how you managed it.
Which baffles do you have in the Short shots? My wife has the regular ones and it does not look like you could add any baffling around them. I was curious if it was the regular baffles how you managed it.
12-15-2014, 08:49 AM
