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I recently bought an '03 FXDL. this is my first Dyna - I've always ridden the touring bikes, mostly FLH's. The bike came with forward controls, and after putting several hundred miles on it I realize that I'm too short to be comfortable with them. I definitely prefer the more upright position that standard controls give me. I think this scooter originally came with the standard controls and was was converted - it has a capped shaft coming out of the primary cover. How difficult is it to make the change? Can anyone recommend aftermarket components, or should I look at OEM stuff? I'm comfortable doing the work myself and would love to find someone locally that wans forward controls to swap with, but I live in a smaller town so I don't know if I can find someone willing to do that... Any input would be appreciated, especially if you've done the swap and have any pointers for me. Thanks in advance to all. This forum is awesome, I've enjoyed being here so far!
If the original shaft is still in the primary it'll make things a lot easier for you, it also means that whoever did the swap left the mid control tranny lever on the bike. You'll need peg mounts, a new shift lever (get an adjustable one from Bung King https://www.bungking.com/mid-control...ainless-steel/), and a new brake rod. I would definitely go with OEM parts.
I hear ya I'm shorter and in the same boat...when I first started riding I thought forwards were a must....now I wouldn't even consider having them. Best to keep the mids for us "vertically challenged" folks lol! A nice set of highway pegs maybe if needed for a stretch on a long haul, but I'll be doing my gear switching and stopping on them mids lol!
If the original shaft is still in the primary it'll make things a lot easier for you, it also means that whoever did the swap left the mid control tranny lever on the bike. You'll need peg mounts, a new shift lever (get an adjustable one from Bung King https://www.bungking.com/mid-control...ainless-steel/), and a new brake rod. I would definitely go with OEM parts.
I haven't pulled the little cap off of the stub sticking out of the primary, but I'm hoping the shaft is still in there. From what I've read and heard so far its a LOT simpler project if that shaft is already there. Let me ask you this - the current shift lever operates a rod that connects to a lever toward the back of the primary to shift. Will I have to pull the primary and get lever that out of there? I don't have a picture handy to point it out, but I'm guessing you know what I'm talking about...
I hear ya I'm shorter and in the same boat...when I first started riding I thought forwards were a must....now I wouldn't even consider having them. Best to keep the mids for us "vertically challenged" folks lol! A nice set of highway pegs maybe if needed for a stretch on a long haul, but I'll be doing my gear switching and stopping on them mids lol!
I tried pushing it a little through some mild twisties last week and I could not get the feel right with my feet way out in front... definitely got to get this change done! I always ran highway bars when I had a bagger, and I can see doing that on this one, but I need my feet under me where I feel comfortable! The bars on it are too low, too, but that's not near as big a deal as the foot controls. I'll change the bars later on.
I haven't pulled the little cap off of the stub sticking out of the primary, but I'm hoping the shaft is still in there. From what I've read and heard so far its a LOT simpler project if that shaft is already there. Let me ask you this - the current shift lever operates a rod that connects to a lever toward the back of the primary to shift. Will I have to pull the primary and get lever that out of there? I don't have a picture handy to point it out, but I'm guessing you know what I'm talking about...
Thanks, bro.
If there's a cap on it, then yeah that's the shaft you need and no you won't need to open the primary. For your question about the lever toward the back of the primary, there are 2 different arms that connect there. One is for the mid setup, one is for the forwards, The inner and outer primary need to be pulled to easily change the rod so most people when they switch to forwards, leave the old lever. Does that make sense? You won't need to pull your primary. The actual shift lever, with the toe peg, will attach to the spline that's under the cap you're talking about. Once you have that cap removed you can rotate that shaft. The inside of that shaft has another lever on it that you probably can't see. Rotate the shaft to bring that lever up and the connector (the link posted) attaches that lever to the tranny lever. Clear as mud? It'll make sense once you dig in.
I'm 5'2" . I love fowards , if you like the ride of them all you have to do I'd get a super reach seat. Just a more comfortable position for me. As for the twisties... I can rock and roll.
Last edited by Tileman2692; Nov 17, 2020 at 12:11 PM.
1. is the splined shaft coming through the primary. Yours has a cap on it.
2. is the lever that is part of shaft 1.
3. is the lever that attaches to the tranny.
and you can see the shifter linkage that I sent the link for attaching 2 and 3.
I haven't pulled the little cap off of the stub sticking out of the primary, but I'm hoping the shaft is still in there. From what I've read and heard so far its a LOT simpler project if that shaft is already there. Let me ask you this - the current shift lever operates a rod that connects to a lever toward the back of the primary to shift. Will I have to pull the primary and get lever that out of there? I don't have a picture handy to point it out, but I'm guessing you know what I'm talking about...
Thanks, bro.
Yeah if the cap is on that shaft should definitely still be in place. It was the easy cover up when going to forwards to avoid a new inner primary and inspection cover. If that shaft is in there its just a matter of hooking up your mid foot peg brackets, and using a short stock linkage to connect from the back of the shifter shaft to the trans. Right now you have the long one running out to the forward control. If you look behind the inner primary you should see the linkage tab resting on the engine case just waiting to be reattached. The rear brake side will be a bit more involved, especially with regards to the master cylinder and the brake pedal, but it looks like your forwards didn't relocate the rear master to the controls itself (some aftermarket setups mount the Master on the controls themselves) so that should make it a bit easier. Snake Eyes drawing and explanation pretty much lays it out.
Thanks very much to all so far for the responses. I am going to have to dig a bit to answer some of the questions and to learn a bit myself. I know that the lever at #3 in snake_eyes pic is there, because the linkage from the forward control connects to that one. I will have to pull the little cover on the stub coming out of the primary cover to see what's in there. If I'm reading right, it's likely that there is a splined shaft in there that has the #2 lever on it and it has just been rotated down out of the way. Sounds like that is best-case scenario, and I'd just need the shorter connecting rod to tie everything together. It doesn't look like the peg mounting brackets are interchangeable from forward to standard position so I'll need to locate a set of footpeg mounting brackets for the standard location - is that correct?
As far as the rear brake goes, I believe the master cylinder is indeed in the stock location. In that case I should just need the peg mount and the break lever for the standard position, so that shouldn't be too hard to deal with.
Again, thanks to al for the help. It's great to be able to ask, and receive, good advice from fellow enthusiasts. Sounds to me like lots of folks here are like me in that they enjoy tinkering with a scooter nearly as much as rolling down the road!
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Standard vs. Forward Controls
