Looking good! I sent my front rim off to Sinister so they can map it and make a perfect fitting rim yesterday. Lowers are off for powder coating. New springs are going in with heavy oil. When this is all done I'll get some different rear shocks and have a buddy fix this darn oil leak from the rear cylinder. I am going to have to switch from the Michelin's to Metzelers when I get the new wheels as I will not run an 80/90/21 front tire. Too narrow in my opinion. Flat black or Gloss for the lowers? I'll get some pics up of the fork disassembly when Ig et a chance.

I spent over an hour talking with John Conely last night and learned quite a few things about the bags and the stockers which i will also get some comparison pics up after work. The reason that my left bag had holes on the inside is that they originally had the Conely's bracket on them but they have the stock HD mounting bracket on them right now since I have the proper fender for that bracket and he had them laying around his shop. He put them on for me. His brackets do not have the piece that attaches the pins from the rear fender to the brackets so that they will fit all Dyna's. Another thing is his bags on his bike in the pics you see around are mounted on an 09 Dyna with detachable sissy bar hardware so they stick out further than if they were mounted without the quick detach hardware. His newer bracket is different and quick detach and sits as close as the stock bars. He was explaining that the abs he uses for the back of the bag is heat resistant up to 500*'s as is the cordura material that he used. I will post a pic of the burned up stock bag that I have here as it is not nearly as resistant to heat. The Conely's bags material is a much stronger and more heat resistant material as the stock bag material is a much older material and this stuff has come a long way in the last 10 years. He was also explaining how the panels of the bags are sewn together with a barrel machine for the most secure kind of connection which will not break under pressure. That is how he was able to carry the 175lb motor in the bag without issue. If the panels were sewn together in a less secure fashion the bag would not have been able to hold the motor at that kind of weight.

I think people need to see what these bags look like in person to be able to make a fair judgement regarding the way they look as there have been a lot of negative comments on the material, the "sagginess" and lots of other stuff. These bags are extremely well thought out for those who will use them as I do. I went to the grocery in the car this week unfortunately but there is always next week. I am going down to his shop on Saturday and will pick his brain on lots more stuff as time allows. Hopefully I will get to see some of the new design bags if any are in yet but who knows about that.

Enough about bags. I am thinking that the Lyndall rotors that I have will stay on once the new wheels arrive as well as I don't see them going against the grain of the wheels but the Lyndall Gemini would also match very nicely. I guess I will get a matching pulley and have it powder coated black. Once again, gloss or flat? The wheels will be a gloss so I am thinking flat black. A mixture is always nice, especially with so much of the same color. If you have ideas for some other color please let me know as I am not stuck on black but don;t really know what else I could do besides red which would be way too much red in my opinion. Joe, I know you avhe some ideas. Let me know.

 

Here are some pics of the lowers and the forks pulled apart with the adjusters. They are going to Andrew's for coating and I am going to do a gold flake with candy black over it. I am also sending my pulley for the exact same treatment. We will see how they come out.
Lower Leg where the lower adjuster was removed. You use a wrench (can't remember which size) to get the adjuster out. Be careful as these are easy to break. No , I didn't break one.

Here are the lower adjusters and the 6mm bolts that held the lowers to the upper fork legs.

Here is what the cartridge and spring portion of the forks look like. I have to borrow a tool from someone to disassemble this and get the new fork springs put in.

 

Thanks for the pics...

So it looks like your tech just removed the chrome seal dust covers, removed the snap ring below that, removed the adjuster, Removed the top cap, and buzzed out the lower retaining bolt.

The next step ( disassembling the cartridge for new springs ) is where it gets kind of weird for me. I have built a set of Showas on a DRZ 400 before and all I had to do was slide down the spring by hand ( under tension of course) slip in a open end wrench to hold the top portion of the cartridge, then use a socket on the top cap to seperate the top cap from the cartridge assembly and free the spring.

Can you snag a pic of the area right below the top cap, where the spring sits? The Harley Showas look a tad different than the Jap versions I built. Where the collar at the top of the spring is, it looks like there is a hole for some kind of spring compressor tool or sumthin? If you slide this down by hand I am thinking there is a jam nut that you can access with a open end wrench....

I am anxious to hear feedback on the new springs, because the OEM springs are terribly soft for me at 255 lbs. I may have Cannon Racecraft make springs to my specs.

 

I'll snap a pic for you. I know these can be disassembled without the special tool but the tool will make it much easier. And yes, the steps you outlined are right on spot with what was done.

 

Sent out the lowers and a pulley yesterday. It is going to take me a few weeks to get the bag comparison done as I can't really do it during work hours but as soon as my LeatherPro's arrive the comparison is on. I avhe stock bags, Conely's and will have those.

Been riding the softail and the ride is so much different. Lowrider is all I can say. I miss my Dyna after two days. The foot clutch always changes things too although I have been foot clutching for years. I ma thinking the Dyna will be down for probably a few weeks as I wait for everything to come in and to have the time to get it put back together.

 

If you're going down to his shop on Saturday, I'll meet up with ya.

PM your number.

Jeff

 

Jeff, see you tomorrow. Just saw 07bobber today. He stopped by the shop.

 

Yeah man, call me in the AM...

 

I think i will ride over also...I will bring some beers.

 

Jeff, good to see you on Saturday, however brief it was. I did not have the time to do as I wanted as I was called away for a work emergency for my other job and had to drive all the way back to LA to deal with it., Regardless, John seems to avhe a lot of stuff I want to put on my bikes. One of his tech;s rolled up with a sick softail with stretched bags and rear fender that was super sick. I thought I was done with my softail but after seeing this bike I think I need that setup on the rear.

John's 09 Dyna is so hooked up that it took me quite a while to take it all in . His bags are mounted on quick detach sissy bar hardware so they stick out further than if they were mounted with stock hardware. His set had the quick detach for the bag from the bracket which utilizes hercules pins (or whatever they are called) so they can be taken off in a second. I saw the bag where the pipe hits it and there is no chance of exhaust burning a hole in the material that it is made from. El Rey showed up with his stock bags and I compared and snapped a few shots of the two. I also saw the retro t sport fairing which looked great. Enough for now, I have to get back to work.

Stock bags in the foreground, Conelys in the background