Fork tubes
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Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 578
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From: Sunbury, PA
Fork tubes
I ordered a set of Howard's 30mm cartridge's and to minimize down time I am looking for a set of OEM fork tubes for my 2016 streetglide to have machined in advance. The OEM part number is 45500113. I can find aftermarket tubes cheap but thought I would ask if anyone has a set of OEM ones they want to get rid of?
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2016
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From: Masshole
Curious, been considering these myself. Was not aware any machining was needed, thought they were drop-in. Howard's site says can be done at home with simple hand tools. What needs to be machined?
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Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 578
Likes: 28
From: Sunbury, PA
The 30mm requires some minor machine work. I don't have all the details on what needs to be done but I know it is minimal. I figure once I am ready to take tubes to the machine shop I would call Howard for the details on what needs to be done. Your best to contact Howard. He has all the details.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2015
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Just guessing, but Howard’s kit probably requires boring two more holes in each stock dampening rod. Go to 4:03 in the video and you’ll see the Pro Action kit’s dampening rods and the extra holes. Pro Action’s kit comes with new dampening rods so you don’t need to bore additional holes in your stock ones.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2015
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Oops, my bad. So, the actual lower fork tubes have to be modified? Thats the first Ive heard having to have lower forks machined for a suspension upgrade. Weird...
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From: Masshole
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Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2019
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From: East Kekistan
It's the upper end of the fork leg, where the fork cap screws into the fork leg, that needs to be shortened about 0.130"~0.150".
The threads on the Ohlins cap start about an 1/8"~3/16" higher than the stock Harley fork caps.
When you screw the Ohlins fork cap into the top of the stock fork leg, it only grabs one or two threads before seating on the top of the fork leg.
Because of that, you need to trim (or deck, if you will) a little bit off the top of the fork leg so that the cap gets full thread engagement.
When I did mine, I needed to turn 0.135" off one leg and 0.150" off of the other because of Harley's manufacturing tolerances.
No matter how nice it is, your favorite #3 throwing hatchet isn't the tool of choice for this operation.
This is a quick "no brainer" task for a machinist, but he can't do it in advance without having the caps in hand.
Hope that all made sense.
Bryan
The threads on the Ohlins cap start about an 1/8"~3/16" higher than the stock Harley fork caps.
When you screw the Ohlins fork cap into the top of the stock fork leg, it only grabs one or two threads before seating on the top of the fork leg.
Because of that, you need to trim (or deck, if you will) a little bit off the top of the fork leg so that the cap gets full thread engagement.
When I did mine, I needed to turn 0.135" off one leg and 0.150" off of the other because of Harley's manufacturing tolerances.
No matter how nice it is, your favorite #3 throwing hatchet isn't the tool of choice for this operation.
This is a quick "no brainer" task for a machinist, but he can't do it in advance without having the caps in hand.
Hope that all made sense.
Bryan
Last edited by Uncle 'B'; Jun 22, 2020 at 12:30 AM.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2008
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From: San Diego, CA
Because of that, you need to trim (or deck, if you will) a little bit off the top of the fork leg so that the cap gets full thread engagement.
When I did mine, I needed to turn 0.135" off one leg and 0.150" off of the other because of Harley's manufacturing tolerances.
This is a quick "no brainer" task for a machinist, but he can't do it in advance without having the caps in hand.
Can't you just have a machinist trim 0.150" off both tubes, without the caps, ahead of time.....?