Softail ground clearance strikes again
Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 863
Likes: 2
From: spain and uk
Softail ground clearance strikes again
Picked my Deluxe up from the dealers on Saturday after having the Freedom Performance Declaration Turn out pipes fitted and stage 1 tune.
Went for a ride with my son today, who is a supermoto nut. I don't normally corner that hard but he was pushing me a bit and the right floor board touched down, nothing new there, then hit a bump mid corner, and heard a different scraping noise. Sure enough when we stopped for breakfast, found I had re-designed the lower pipe, and they've been on there for 48 hours.
I don't ride that quick after losing my bottle a few years back on sports bikes, but obviously that bump was just in the wrong place with the bike leant over.
He laughed and said I should buy a KTM660 then I wouldn't keep slowing him down.
Cant decide whether I'm annoyed that my brand new pipe is dinged up or, whether is was just bound to happen at some stage, and that is with the higher suspension fitted.
Went for a ride with my son today, who is a supermoto nut. I don't normally corner that hard but he was pushing me a bit and the right floor board touched down, nothing new there, then hit a bump mid corner, and heard a different scraping noise. Sure enough when we stopped for breakfast, found I had re-designed the lower pipe, and they've been on there for 48 hours.
I don't ride that quick after losing my bottle a few years back on sports bikes, but obviously that bump was just in the wrong place with the bike leant over.
He laughed and said I should buy a KTM660 then I wouldn't keep slowing him down.
Cant decide whether I'm annoyed that my brand new pipe is dinged up or, whether is was just bound to happen at some stage, and that is with the higher suspension fitted.
Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,557
Likes: 6
From: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
I'm an ex-sportbiker as well, which is why I decided on a Dyna because they are better handlers. People always ask me why I chose a Dyna, because I'm a big guy. Bites that it happened right after you put the new exhaust on, but what-ya-gonna-do? **** happens I guess.
Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 863
Likes: 2
From: spain and uk
This is true. Maybe I should have taken that. But then the 103 is so much quicker, at least in a straight line.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 4,177
Likes: 62
From: Michigan
The softail deluxe, softail slim, softail fatboy low are the lowest sitting softails and therefore has the least amount of ground clearance and lean angle. You can improve the lean angle by adding a shotgun air suspension to the rear and progressive shocks up front. With the shotgun suspension you can adjust your ride to any number of settings. It is true that softails are not designed to be sporty and that fact has been beaten to death but that is why it is a true cruiser because it sits low, doesn't shake, has the vintage Harley look, and the vintage cruiser ride. If you wanted to be at all sporty a softail is not for you. There's a lot of road king dudes here that will be happy to see you trade your deluxe in for a road king
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Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 101
Likes: 1
From: Buffalo
I have the same exhaust on my 13 black line and did the exact same thing about 2 weeks after installing them...oh well, doesn't really bother me. Adds character lol.
Did you have to modify the rear heat shield to get it to fit? I had to remove a good 1.5-2 inches of material on the shield to get it to clear the heads cooling fins
Did you have to modify the rear heat shield to get it to fit? I had to remove a good 1.5-2 inches of material on the shield to get it to clear the heads cooling fins
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Joined: Jan 2011
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From: Haslet Texas
Picked my Deluxe up from the dealers on Saturday after having the Freedom Performance Declaration Turn out pipes fitted and stage 1 tune.
Went for a ride with my son today, who is a supermoto nut. I don't normally corner that hard but he was pushing me a bit and the right floor board touched down, nothing new there, then hit a bump mid corner, and heard a different scraping noise. Sure enough when we stopped for breakfast, found I had re-designed the lower pipe, and they've been on there for 48 hours.
I don't ride that quick after losing my bottle a few years back on sports bikes, but obviously that bump was just in the wrong place with the bike leant over.
He laughed and said I should buy a KTM660 then I wouldn't keep slowing him down.
Cant decide whether I'm annoyed that my brand new pipe is dinged up or, whether is was just bound to happen at some stage, and that is with the higher suspension fitted.
Went for a ride with my son today, who is a supermoto nut. I don't normally corner that hard but he was pushing me a bit and the right floor board touched down, nothing new there, then hit a bump mid corner, and heard a different scraping noise. Sure enough when we stopped for breakfast, found I had re-designed the lower pipe, and they've been on there for 48 hours.
I don't ride that quick after losing my bottle a few years back on sports bikes, but obviously that bump was just in the wrong place with the bike leant over.
He laughed and said I should buy a KTM660 then I wouldn't keep slowing him down.
Cant decide whether I'm annoyed that my brand new pipe is dinged up or, whether is was just bound to happen at some stage, and that is with the higher suspension fitted.