after installing my side mount bracket....my bike looks like a dirtbike from the back....like ishould take her arounda motocross track....i want to bring my fender down, plus lowered NTs look sick.... what should i do...i dont wanna bottom out, but i want it low....im about 200 pds and my gf is about 110-120.... how low can i go without bottoming out over bumps....what about a different fender that would wrap nicely around the tire? any suggestions? heres a pic........

 

Don't be scared...just do it...the bumps don't hurt......much.

 

Get yourself any of the available lowering kits. The HD kit is only good for about 1". Try and stay in the 1-1.5" range. Lower and you're going to feel it in the back and butt. The pic you'll see here when my bike was black is about 2" lowered. The pic after I repainted and did all my metal work is about 3.5" lowered. Remember, low looks good, but the ride will suffer. Go air ride if you can afford it.

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guys, im 21 years old....im not worried bout how it rides....its all about looks...hahaha....i just dont want my rear tire jack the fender and ****....i had a sportster before this, so i know what rough ridin is all about...that thing could about buck me off, as for the air ride...how much is that? youre rear fenders sweet by the way...

 

both of your trains are sick....childress...looks like you are where i wanna go with mine....did you guys rake out the front ends? what did you do? im kinda a newbie to the customizing. id have to get the frame chopped and welded, right? and i once saw a lowered sportster, and the back was low but the front was still up high...it looked real dumb....how does my front end come down with the lowering?

 

yes, you do need to lower it!! unless you are doing any jumping....lol...just kidding...just get some lowering studds and drop it a little...

 

Air Rides can go around a grand. I would lower it all you can if you aren't worried about how theride feels. It will be firmer than the Sportster by far if you go too low.Save the moneydont get an air ride yetand drop them signalsthen do some engine mods. You bike looks awesome.

 

Your front end will not come down any with a rear lowering kit.....you would need to use a front lowering kit on it. Mine is lowered front and rear to give you an idea of the look....you can see many trains on here lowered in the rear only....it looks quite a bit different.

My bike and I am sure J's bike looks even lower in person than it does in the pictures. I haven't bothered measuring my seat height but it's like sitting in a chair almost. I dig it...some don't but I do.

 

If you're not concerned about ride, then you can almost sit it on the rear tire. If you want to make a little "bump stop", remove your rear fender. Look where the swingarm will contact the frame, it's at the top of the pivot. Cut a piece of rubber, old piece of tire works well. It needs to be about 6" long. Slide it between the swingarm and the frame and put a couple pop rivets in it. When the swingarm bottoms out, and it will, it will give you a little cushion. Stops metal to metal contact. Lower the front if you like, using any of the kits out there. Can also make your own with pvc pipe. As to raking. If you're gonna do it yourself, you better have some welding skills and the correct tools to get the angles right. Remember....front end coming loose can be a bad thing! DO NOT use raked trees. I put a set of 7 degree trees on mine without cutting the frame. The bike was all over the road. Next winter I'll cut the frame on mine. I just ran out of time this winter. Any more questions, drop me a note. Remember, it's only nuts and bolts, it ain't rocket science. Good luck.

 

You can also make a filler panel to fit in the recess where your tail light used to be. It isn't difficult. Plain old 18 gauge sheet metal will work. The housing for the old tail light can be used as the template and if you're a little creative, you can reuse it (after gutting it) to mount the filler panel to. I did that on my stock fender. I thought I had pics of it, but I can't find 'em. Just trace the shape of the housing onto the metal and cut it out. Go just a hair larger than the housing. Next, lay the sheetmetal across your thigh and GENTLY bend it into an arc. Go slow and keep test fitting it until it fits the void in your fender. It looks good if you do it right. It's cheap, relatively easy and definately improves the look. No more "dirtbike" look from the rear.
Good luck