Hello folks,

So I bought my first new Harley & I am looking for a bit of advice on the order I should do mods in, or if I should wait & do any particular changes simultaneously. Unfortunately, I'm currently not in a position to do too much myself as I just moved out of a house into a rental while waiting on a contractor/new place, so garage space is limited & pretty much everything but basic tools are in shipping containers, at least for another 3 or 4 months.

At any rate, '17 FLSTN & I want to do something (everything now really :-D) i& totally not opposed to doing it in stages, unless combining them will save me enough labor at the local indy to be worth it).


1. True dual head pipes, mufflers & fishtails (maybe Samson or V&H with fish slip-ons)

2. SAS or Shotgun shock (I have ABS, & like the idea of SAS, but also like idea of adj. rebound)

3. Stage 1 kit (which I suppose really should include dual pipes & muffs I want).

So, just in writing this out, the way I figure it, there are really only two options. Either I add the air ride kit, or do stage 1, including whatever header, muffs & tips I want.

Is there any reason to do the stage one before going air ride, or will it be easier to do suspension before going true dual? I can't see true duals making a SAS/SS suspension install any more difficult, but I know some of you have already done this, so figured I'd ask.

EDIT: Also, if you happen to be in DFW area, appreciate any refferals to solid shops for stuff like this.

 

It doesn't matter which one gets done first, except if you do the exhaust first you have to be careful not the catch the fishtails when walking around the back of the bike while installing the shock. It really hurts, haha.

Having done all this work myself on my 2012 you don't need anything besides a couple of sockets and wrenches to change out the exhaust. Its a pretty simple straight forward job and can be done in your driveway in a few hours. I'd recommend a ball swivel socket and a cats paw adapter to get the rear cylinder exhaust flange nut cause its a bitch to get to them. The shock is also pretty simple, I'm pretty sure you need a jack though.

As for parts, I love my shotgun shock. I'm not familiar with SAS shocks so I cant comment on that but I know I wouldnt run 2 up with out the shotgun and there is nothing better than being able to adjust it on the fly. As for the sampsons, love those too. The shape on the left side was more appealing to me than the V&H, but I have heard of and experienced issues with ordering from samson. No idea if they fixed that or not though.