This article applies to the Harley Davidson Softail (2000-2015).

Almost nobody owns a stock Harley Davidson, because modifying it to be uniquely yours is almost as much fun as riding it. Even the bikes sitting at your local dealership often have already been gone over by the parts department and given Screamin' Eagle or other upgrades. Here's a rundown of some of the most popular mods out there for the Softail. You've been following the forums, looking at online retailers, scouring the P&A Catalog, talking to friends and strangers at bike night. Now you have an idea for some modifications. Here are some avenues to consider.

Top 5 Softail Modifications

#1 Make It Fit

DIY Cost – $50-100 for handlebars, $100+ for seat, $300-1,000 for suspension

Professional Cost – $200-500 labor, plus the parts

Skill Level – Easy for just the bars; moderate if you need new cables, brake lines, or wiring.

First the seat: How do you feel on the motorcycle? There are many ways to modify your new Softail to fit you. Are you 6'8" and feel like you're on a child's bicycle? Are you 5'0" and cant reach the bars at a 1/2 lock turn or the ground at a stop light? Do you have a short inseam? You can start with the easiest mod: the seat. Seats run from about $100 for a custom reupholstered stock unit to over $1,000. This is probably the easiest mod you can do yourself, as usually there is only one screw on the back. Be sure to confirm the seat is in the tab in the front before you ride anywhere.

Second is the grips: I didn't care for the stock grips, and there are an unlimited number of options in size and look to change them to. If you have the want and potential need, you can also consider heated grips for colder weather riding. They increase the difficulty of install and cost, but are nice in adding to the comfort level. The toughest part is the throttle side, if your Softail has the cable style throttle. It's not bad, but requires some patience.

Next I would suggest the handlebars: Beach bars with a long pull back, ape hangers put your hands way up there, and a drag bar is totally flat. There is a bit of work to this one. Depending on the model year, you may have the standard switches, or on all recent bikes it's a CanBus system. Standard switches have a lot of wires to the switches, whereas CanBus has significantly fewer to pull through the bars. (Assuming you're internally wiring them.) No matter which you have, be careful not to cut or pinch any. Then there are the brake lines and clutch cable to contend with. Don't forget the hydraulic systems require bleeding the air out of the systems. You can usually change the bars up or down 4-6" without having to replace all the lines and hoses, but every bike and bend is unique.

Lastly would be the suspension: This can also fall under a performance modification for cornering, but let's focus on the height side of this mod. Pricier - front is around $300+ for parts, rear is $600 plus. This is more difficult and most likely, if you're reading this, you may want to consider letting the shop do this one. Otherwise, there is some specialized tools to buy, and the rear requires a jack and maybe even a lift. Lowering gets your feet closer to the ground and your center of gravity lower as well, which can increase your confidence. You do lose ride height and lean angle is reduced, but touching the ground at stops can be more important; just be careful until you learn the bike's new lower cornering limits.

#2 Make It Yours

DIY Cost – Unlimited

Professional Cost – Unlimited plus labor

Skill Level – This can be the easiest mods to the most difficult. Please do your research.

Okay, your vivid black Fat Boy looks eerily similar to the other four at the gas station. What to do? Time to make it more yours. The expression of style is fairly limitless. But beware, this is where you can go from a $50 mod to a $40,000 mod project. One simple place to start is the timing and derby cover. Five simple Torx screws and Voila! You're now customizing! You can look at the many options in the HD P&A or go more to the aftermarket. There is a company making custom derby covers, so it's all up to you.

Other items to consider are chrome or black accessories. This is one of those times where careful consideration will dictate what path to take, and will pay off in limiting rework if you change your mind. Stare at your bike in the setting sun, close your eyes and imagine what it would look like in a perfect world (if you were Leonardo Da Vinci carving the ultimate bike from scratch). Now go online and start looking for the perfect dream parts, or Google-ing local custom painters.

#3 Make It Safe[r]

DIY Cost – How do you put a price on safety... By how over board you go.

Professional Cost – if you need it, you need it.

Skill Level – Easy to moderate.

You made it cooler and you made it fit, which is arguably safer. But now you're questioning your safety after your mother told you about your cousin's friend's sister's dog owner had a motorcycle accident. Is motorcycling dangerous? Somewhat, but to a degree it is in your control.

Training: I've personally taken four different training courses in my motorcycling "career." My thoughts is, sometimes you might learn something that will help save your hide, or your beloved motorcycle. I recommend it to all my non-riding friends who want to consider learning to ride. I will probably take another course in the not-too-distant future.

Lighting: Helping others to see you is another source for improvement. Of course, the newer motorcycles are coming with LED lighting, but what about the older ones? You can start with a simple bulb change to an LED or HID system. You can change out the rear tail light, which will wake the dead, along with the half-sleeping dozer in a mini-van. I personally installed an LED tail light. You can also add auxiliary lighting like the passing lamps (if not stock) or fog lights. Fog lights are nice for illuminating the sides of the road whilst riding at night, and they also aid in creating a "Triangle of Light," referenced by many safety articles for those pesky cagers thinking your driving a 1972 Chrysler Cordoba with one headlight burnt out. It aids in depth perception.

Brakes: Accelerating is great, but decelerating is more important. Brake improvements can be made by ensuring the brake maintenance is done (new fluid, bleeding the brakes or new pads). I personally have tried some aftermarket pads and I am quite pleased with my results with the Lyndall Pads. They're made in the USA and bite well. Another braking mod is once again the training course mentioned earlier, as they will teach you threshold braking techniques and will allow you to practice them. You will be surprised at how much faster you can stop with a little practice.

Horn: The horn is a tool to signal you're here. Sure the middle finger is great, but if they can't see you or your 60-W HID headlight and BAL-2 tail light, then maybe a headache inducing 130dB horn will do the trick?

#4 Make It Tour Friendly

DIY Cost – You're investing in your adventure log. It's not terrible.

Professional Cost – Hours shouldn't be too many.

Skill Level – Moderate

Windshield: Most Softails are not equipped with a windshield. This would be my first stop. Yes they take away some of the Fonda/Hopper coolness of the wind in your face, but riding eight hours like that is tiring, and the destination is sometimes worth a look. A Softail needs the brackets and mounting hardware installed. My wife never takes off her windshield off her Deluxe. But I've ridden without it and miss it in about an hour.

Bags: Next would be the ability to store your stuff for overnight. The parts and accessories catalog has bags specific to your model, from leather ones for the old school look to hard ABS color matched. Also, you can consider going to the aftermarket to add full sized touring saddlebags if you wish.

Touring Seat: Changing from a Sunday afternoon cruiser to a long distance tourer? You might not believe me, but long days may make certain parts sore. There are more seats than paint colors, and they can increase your time in the saddle immensely.

Cruise Control: Also, consider all the 2016 Softail models can have cruise control added with just a simple change of the switches. Consider the steady speed up hills, and increased fuel economy to stretch out your fuel stops.

Highway Pegs: Lastly, you can add highway pegs to stretch out your legs on a long and lonesome highway. Please use common sense and not use them in town, as your feet are away from your rear brake pedal, reducing stopping distance as well as reaction time.

#5 Make It Fast[er]

DIY Cost – High (you'll get addicted)

Professional Cost – High x High

Skill Level – Some is really easy, but most is difficult.

You are happy with how it feels going down the road and in corners, but now you want to be corrupted absolutely. I mean, you want absolute POWER! Who doesn't? But the magic of chasing the power 'rabbit' is an endless search down the rabbit hole for it. Let's keep it simple for now, and keep turbos and nitrous away for now.

First is the air intake: As you may or may not know, that motor is a big air pump. To keep the pump moving more air, you've got to start with its first restriction: the air filter. The stock paper filter is not the high flowing unit that the aftermarket or Screamin' Eagle catalog can provide. Some play to style, but most look great and flow more air. More air means more fuel. More fuel and air means more bang. More bang is more power.

Exhaust: After opening up one end, you can think you'd need to open up the other end to keep that flow going! A raunchy sounding super loud exhaust is not necessarily the most power enhancing unit. Slip-ons are common, but for the big performance, the powers that be recommend a 2:1 (or a 2:1:2 where the two head pipes come to a common collector). Of course, you have to like the look and the sound of it, too.

-----------------------------This is the warranty line. Below suggestions may void your warranty. -------------------------

EFI Tuner: An EFI Tuner takes that added air flow and compensates with the proper amount of fuel at all loads, RPM, and throttle positions. There are a lot of tuners out there; some as a simple unit people can calibrate while on the road, others that require precise adjustment under the direction of a professional tuner on his dynomemeter. Any dealer will happily install the "Stage 1" program for not a lot of money, and it is a good place to start if you have the intake and exhaust, but it is far from all you need.

Camshafts: Now we get into the cams. Harley Davidson used to have some cams that were warrant-able. Last time I looked, they were no longer covered by a warranty. None expressed or implied. Horsepower cams move the power curve up the rev range, but you can't get something for nothing, and they will drastically effect your fuel economy as well as emissions, as if you cared. The stock cams are strangled by having to meet EPA noise and smog rules, so there is a lot to be gained here.

Motor Swap: You want to remove your perfectly good motor and install a different one? This question was asked of me when I bought my 120R in 2010. Harley will happily sell you a 110ci CVO Screamin' Eagle motor, or you can get one from any number of builder.

All of the above is based on my opinions. If you just wanna leave your motorcycle stock for a while, that's cool. At the end of the day, you're out riding and living a motorcycle adventure one ride at a time.

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