Adding a Fork Brace with Chrome Fork Sliders?
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Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 722
Likes: 9
From: Williamsport, MD
Adding a Fork Brace with Chrome Fork Sliders?
I've got a bike with the HD chrome fork sliders already installed,
http://www.harley-davidson.com/store...-04-4647700--1
and I want a fork brace, but both Harley units say under fitment "will not fit Chrome Fork sliders"
http://www.harley-davidson.com/store/custom-fork-brace
http://www.harley-davidson.com/store...gle-fork-brace
I do not want to sacrifice my front fender either,,
does anyone have any ideas of whet I could do? blows my mind that this can't be done.
http://www.harley-davidson.com/store...-04-4647700--1
and I want a fork brace, but both Harley units say under fitment "will not fit Chrome Fork sliders"
http://www.harley-davidson.com/store/custom-fork-brace
http://www.harley-davidson.com/store...gle-fork-brace
I do not want to sacrifice my front fender either,,
does anyone have any ideas of whet I could do? blows my mind that this can't be done.
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 722
Likes: 9
From: Williamsport, MD
it's weird because 1. why would the chrome sliders be any different than the stock ones, and 2. if you look closely of the picture of the chrome fork sliders on the HD site it actually appears like there is a brace installed with the chrome sliders..
I can take the decovative caps off and mesure, maybe try to do some research and see if something will fit,,, just was hoping that someone had already been through this.
I can take the decovative caps off and mesure, maybe try to do some research and see if something will fit,,, just was hoping that someone had already been through this.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,749
Likes: 16
From: sand mountain Alabama
If the chrome was done right it will be rather thick for a application like this. Your talking about a 360 degree fitment. So the extra thickness is multiplied many times to cover the 360 degrees. If you can find a 2 piece instead of a one piece. You should be able to make it fit especially if its polished aluminum.
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 722
Likes: 9
From: Williamsport, MD
If the chrome was done right it will be rather thick for a application like this. Your talking about a 360 degree fitment. So the extra thickness is multiplied many times to cover the 360 degrees. If you can find a 2 piece instead of a one piece. You should be able to make it fit especially if its polished aluminum.
Yes I could possibly polish it out to fit it if is only a 0.01-0.02" difference in diameter. I wonder if someone can help me, I measured my fork slider under the chrome cap and this is what I get, could someone with stock forks measure theirs or measure a fork brace to see how much difference there is??
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 722
Likes: 9
From: Williamsport, MD
no, it's an 2003, fork brace will make the bike more solid, who doesn't want that?
I read in another post that it should fit, even the Halrey pic for the chrome lowers shows a brace installed. looks like the brace fits below the dust covers. maybe I'll see if I can test fit one from a dealer and return it if it don't work,
Last edited by LunaticFringe; Oct 11, 2014 at 07:55 PM.
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Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2014
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From: Williamsport, MD
found a good deal on a nice solid chrome one from a small website, I'll make it work if it don't fit, Harley wanted a 20% restocking fee for a return because they had to order it...
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Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 722
Likes: 9
From: Williamsport, MD
got the brace and installed it, some lessons learned...
1. Superbarce did kindly answer the question on Monday and explained that in fact the only reason the braces are said not to fit chrome lowers is because of the thickness of the Chrome and that a SuperBrace will usually bolt right on,
however the brace I bought did not bolt directly on. I could fit the clamps on each individual fork fine at first but not get the whole brace on as an assembly so it seemed the centering of the fork was off and that I would have to grind down the 2 halves of the brace to make more room, I spent about an hour doing this and still couldn't get it to fit,, then I determined that infact the diameter of the clamp would need grinded out larger, Had I thought this out before acting I would have measured everything first to find the real problem, anyway this is what you do to make this fit,,
1. Assemble everything together & tighten bolts,
2. use a dies cutter to grind material away on the ID of the clamp near the split to make it fit.. you probably could also do this with a dremel sanding wheel.
So for anyone else looking to do this, there you go, it can be done, and quite easily,
also it helps to use tape or clamps to hold the dust caps up out of the way..
had I had used good engineering skills and thought ahead of time this whole thing should have only taken 30 minutes, I ended spending almost 2 hours, but good lessons learned tonight
1. Superbarce did kindly answer the question on Monday and explained that in fact the only reason the braces are said not to fit chrome lowers is because of the thickness of the Chrome and that a SuperBrace will usually bolt right on,
however the brace I bought did not bolt directly on. I could fit the clamps on each individual fork fine at first but not get the whole brace on as an assembly so it seemed the centering of the fork was off and that I would have to grind down the 2 halves of the brace to make more room, I spent about an hour doing this and still couldn't get it to fit,, then I determined that infact the diameter of the clamp would need grinded out larger, Had I thought this out before acting I would have measured everything first to find the real problem, anyway this is what you do to make this fit,,
1. Assemble everything together & tighten bolts,
2. use a dies cutter to grind material away on the ID of the clamp near the split to make it fit.. you probably could also do this with a dremel sanding wheel.
So for anyone else looking to do this, there you go, it can be done, and quite easily,
also it helps to use tape or clamps to hold the dust caps up out of the way..
had I had used good engineering skills and thought ahead of time this whole thing should have only taken 30 minutes, I ended spending almost 2 hours, but good lessons learned tonight
Last edited by LunaticFringe; Oct 15, 2014 at 08:38 PM.
