Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy

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Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy

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Harley Davidson >> Harley Davidson Motorcycles >> "Hacked, Triked and Trailering" >> Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy

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Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/12/2008 6:07:35 PM

kentuckydave

Posts: 51
Joined: 2/22/2008
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I have been thinking about adding raked triple trees to our trike but have yet to make the plunge.

Does anyone know the actual factory degrees of angle in the factory steering head on a 2001 Fatboy? Do the factory trees have any degree of added rake?

I would kind of like to play with the numbers and see what various degrees of rake would do to the geometry. Wish I had of paid more attention in geometry class all those years ago. HAHA

If you change the rake much I would think that you would have to extend the downtubes? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Our trike "scrubs" too much on a tight turn especially at high speed.

I'd appreciate a little advice on this if any has been down this road, might save me some heartache in the long run.

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/12/2008 6:19:29 PM

grimm

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Joined: 1/7/2005
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my train has 32 degrees of rake. i'm pretty sure the fatboy has th same rake. i went with 7 dgree trees and four over tubes. made a world of difference.

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/12/2008 6:33:13 PM

oldmanjob

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Joined: 7/30/2007
From: Dana NC.
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I do not know what the factory rake is on the Sportster but we were advised to go with a 4 degree rake and it has turned the rig into a fun machine to ride. No problems on tight turns, and at times it is like power steering.

A big difference was seen on streight stretches of road. Before the rake you had to have a good grip on the bars, and now you have a light comfortable grip, not a strangle hold.

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/13/2008 12:38:45 PM

FBTRIKE

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Joined: 4/24/2008
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My 06 FLSTFI has 32 degree rake in the neck.....I'm installing a four and a half degree triple tree, two over tubes.

Don't sweat the math, there are several good calculators on the web. so you can figure where your trail will end up.

Here's a few   http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/advchoppercalc.html
                     http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/rakeandtrail.html
                     http://perseperformance.com/

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/13/2008 5:44:47 PM

kentuckydave

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Joined: 2/22/2008
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Sounds like going for the additional rake is the way to go. Did it create any other problems or anything that doesn't seem just right? I guess I want to be sure I don't trade one problem for another. It doesn't sound like I will.

I appreciate the replies.

Does anyone have a guess what new trees, tubes and labor will run to make a change like this?

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/13/2008 6:19:22 PM

oldmanjob

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Joined: 7/30/2007
From: Dana NC.
Status: offline

The final cost of the kit was $388.00 plus $88.00 labor then the dreaded tax, as we pay 6.75% here in NC which was $26.19 Total $502.00. I did not have to change the tubes

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/13/2008 6:23:42 PM

grimm

Posts: 601
Joined: 1/7/2005
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i got my trees from pro-one. they regularly have items that they will have on clearance. i got my trees for around $199. the tubes i got for around $150. the labor was done by myself and a friend. not hard at all. don't be afraid to tackle it yourself.

the raked trees caused absolutely no problems, whatsoever. just make sure you do all your homework and be sure before you buy.

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/15/2008 12:00:15 PM

FBTRIKE

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Joined: 4/24/2008
Status: offline

If you want to still use your Fatboy tins, you only have a few of options that I know of.

Liberty sidecars sells a 5 degree, its pricey around a grand.

I purchased a four and a half degree triple tree from Hog Halters for half that and they come with longer chrome fork cans and 2" down tube extensions. Very well made quility stuff...l

If you you dont want to keep the FB tins then you can go with more radical trees and longer tubes............But check your final trail measurment.....it will affect the way it steers big time......

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/15/2008 12:08:49 PM

FBTRIKE

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Oh ya and like Grimm said ....do it yourself.........not hard at all.

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/15/2008 7:18:24 PM

kentuckydave

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Joined: 2/22/2008
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Thanks guys, I appreciate the info. I'll have to see if I can find some info on Hog Halters.

There is a place in North Denver that specializes in trikes and I need to talk to them to see what they may have or what I may obtain locally.

Just reading the responses and some of the web site, it sounds like about 4-5 degrees is middle ground and should be all the additional rake needed for the Fat Boy.

kydave

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/16/2008 1:30:09 AM

silvergoldsmith

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Joined: 12/23/2007
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How do you find Hog Halters? They are not at www.hoghalters.com and everything else I have found related to them is for metrics. Thank you

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/16/2008 6:29:14 PM

kentuckydave

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Joined: 2/22/2008
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Its Hawg Halters not Hog. I had the same trouble you did.

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/17/2008 9:49:42 AM

FBTRIKE

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quote:

ORIGINAL: kentuckydave

Its Hawg Halters not Hog. I had the same trouble you did.

My bad.......It is Hawg not Hog

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In loving memory of my brother Steve.

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/18/2008 12:52:03 PM

Unifoot

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Joined: 2/6/2006
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Having started building trike rearends of my own I have had to learn things I thought I would never need to know. As for your question what you NEED to know is NOT what you asked. You need to concern yourself with trail! On a motorcycle the optimum trail dimension is 4 to 6 inches and you can look up the specs on your bike and find out what it is. On trikes optimum trail is 1 to 2 inches and you use raked trees to achieve this. Now many things come in to play. My particular setup I added 6 inch over tubes which affected my initial trail. I tried 5 degree trees first and still had very "heavy" or hard steering. When I switched to 7 degree it became much easier. All of this is because you are no longer leaning and the tire acually "scrubs" when it is long on trail. I hope this helps. http://rides.webshots.com/album/558735151HKSxEx My ole lady on her trike in the next post.

< Message edited by Unifoot -- 5/18/2008 1:47:25 PM >

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/18/2008 1:37:02 PM

Unifoot

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RE: Degrees of steering head rake on a 2001 Fatboy - 5/19/2008 4:33:22 PM

StogieSoftail

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Joined: 1/2/2007
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That is a nice trike! Good job, as you can tell by the smile on her face!

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