I think sacrificing rideability for looks is silly, unless you spend more time looking at your bike instead of riding it.

 

I think if you look I have plenty of clearance. I made my own forward controls and increased the ground clearance.

I have not compromised rideability. I ride conservatively and enjoy my bike as I built it.

 

You have very little suspension travel, and as such, you've compromised rideability with your modifications. Hitting a good sized pothole at speed is not going to be a pleasant experience on that bike.

 

Look at #10 and you can see I now have 12" shocks.

 

I would have put 131/2 shocks on it. The ride quality is so much better with suspension that has a decent amount of travel.

 

Go with an Air Ride suspension.

 

I am with Bluebob, I lowered it for looks. When I want to haul *** and hug corners the Harley is my last choice. The Harley is set up for a nice cruise with some buddies to have a little food and a couple of beers. My Kawasaki Z900RS is for hauling *** and hugging corners. The reason we buy these bikes it to personalize them to your own taste. Everyone of us has different **** but they are all cool in their own way.
Hell, I would like to have multiple Harleys for different things but I'm getting low on space.

 

So, lowering a bike is kind of like a woman wearing high heels. It's has nothing to do with function, it's done purely to impress other people. I get it.....

 

I think most of us would admit that if rideability (is that even a word?) was the only consideration, none of us would be riding Harleys.

But we are.

Go figure.

 

And, I've never found high heels to adversely affect handling....