My new 48 arrived, so I thought i'd start a build thread. I will picking away at this project over the course of the winter and will update progress here and there as I go. Not aiming for a certain look (bobber/chopper/SOA etc) this will just be my own take on the bike...throwing a little bit of everything at her. If anything, the theme would be ''black with dulled chrome'' accents and a little bit of a retro look thrown in.

I welcome any and all comments, suggestions, criticism and questions!

Some of the stuff I will use:

Exhaust: V&H slip-ons (dulled chrome) SE headers/heat sheilds
Seat: Rich Phillips
Floor Boards: Led Sled w/ HD inserts
Bars: Flanders Flat Track
Risers: Loner Industry 1'' (if needed)
Head Light : Headwinds gladiator grill
Signals: Headwinds 1'' halogen bullets
Front signal mounts: Ness
Tires: Firestone 5.00X16 Deluxe Champion
Suspension: Licks 10'' and front drop in kit
Brakes: Lyndall composite rotors/ gold plus pads
Mirrors: Licks 3'' black
Kuryakyn: Curved plate holder, lay down tail light(blacked out)

HD: FL hubcap,SE Stage1 w/black Smoothie AC,Horn relocate w/black round cover,gators,wrinkle black rocker covers,billet shifter rod,black axle and swingarm bolt covers,black tappet/cyl base/primary/starter,shock bolt covers, black head bolt bridge kit/70 or so small bolt covers.

Vinyl wrap for the upper fork tubes.



Before: Bone stock 48 (Canadian version)



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After: Thoroughly molested. Take off, bolt on, paint on, snap on, stick on, glue on mess!




Some junk I have in stock





Minor disassembly

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Mock-up Licks shocks. Put HD black sleeves on the lower eyes, so I can use HD black bolt covers down there also.



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Headwinds billet 1'' bullets, super bright! Kuryakyn curved tag holder and lense (painted from the inside like an RC car body). Lense fitment was not even close, had to really butcher the reflector to make it fit flush. Dulled the chrome on the HD base trim.



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Firestone Deluxe Champs, Lyndall composite rotors, HD bolt caps (dulled chrome), visible axle spacers are painted satin black.



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Upper forks blacked out with vinyl wrap (looks amazing and was easy to do, how long it lasts in the outdoor UV...?, gaitors, FL hub cap (an awesome idea I stole from a member on this forum [61bbltop]) a 13mm spacer was needed between hubcap and bearing, bolt covers on rear shocks. I now need to get the bike on the ground to adjust the front end height. I installed forks as high in the trees as is recommended by the HD manual (.5'' above tree). Merry Christmas!



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HD bolt covers on shocks, have not decided which orientation of the HD logo looks best. I have dull chrome caps for strut bolts but I may paint them black. HD axle covers. Also, you can see there is plenty of room to lower the belt guard if it wants to hit the side cover, but with preload set to medium, these Licks shocks don't move a lot.



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This shot gives you an idea of the pull back on the Flanders flat track bars, will need tank on for final adjustment. Internally wiring these bars got rid of a lot of the wire slack that came with the stock bars. HD front axle bolt covers. The Licks ''drop in'' kit came with no instructions but as it seems to be a knock-off of the progressive kit, I went with their spec on spacer length (6.8'') this brought the bike to near dead level, if it is not level with the added weight of tank/AC/headlight/horn and other crap there is still room to lower the front, by cutting the spacers.





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A few more details: HD swingarm pivot bolt covers, HD starter cover, HD wrinkle black rocker covers with HD bolt covers (dulled chrome), dulled chrome on oil tank cap and trim.



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Led Sled floorboard with HD insert, HD billet shifter rod, and some dull chrome caps. A bit of hand file and dremmel work was needed to fit the floor board. I was expecting an exact fit, especially considering the price on these boards, but won't complain too much as they do look pretty freakin' cool IMO. Once fitted, they bolt up real solid...so if the bike ever goes over something will break.



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Front brake line 34'' Magnum ''Black Pearl'' with Russell fittings 90° on lower 35° on upper. The line is actually very black and is a good match for the HD ''Diamond Black'' throttle/clutch cables that I will use.
Ignition relocate using my own bracket. The wire bundle runs in at the top right corner of the oil tank, under the mounting bracket, down in front of the battery and under the ECM box and up to the switch. By removing battery and loosening the oil tank I was able to pass the switch without cutting the wires. Worth the extra time as this totally hides the wires.

HD cylinder base and primary cover, some dull chrome caps added. HD head bolt bridge: I may have to get these powder coated if the Krylon can't handle the heat.

Coil is relocated inside an HD ''smoothie'' horn cover painted in Krylon satin black. I'm mounting a proper softail horn under the bike between the frame rails, but have not finalized the bracket yet.


Cleaning up the wiring. You can see this pile of crap in the previous pic, it runs along the backbone and down the left frame tube. The large plugged off connector is the ''jiffy stand sensor'' and is not used, so I'll just take that off. I had to cut three wires (which will need to be lengthened) in order to pull the harness back far enough to clear the main bunch of wires. (One of those is for the JSS, but I'll lengthen it too.)

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JSS connector cut off, lengthened three wires, and taped up for the journey down under.

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Removed battery and 5 screws holding oil tank and its mounting bracket. The upper bunch is the one I am dealing with here (the lower bunch is the ignition switch bundle I passed through earlier). With all these wires hidden away the ''wire tuck'' under the tank will be much easier.



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Another shot of the two bundles entering at the top right under the oil tank mount. The small, middle wire bundle is for the horn. It tucks in the right side of the ECM box and runs down the right/back side of engine and then forward to the horn which is directly under the engine.



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Looking into the battery bay, the two wire bundles run down in front of the battery. The smaller ignition bundle runs under the ECM box and up to the relocated switch. The bigger bundle runs down behind the engine.




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Ran the wire bundle along the inside of the left frame tube. You may be able to make out the zip ties, but the bundle itself is all but invisible.



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I'll try and get a better pic, but this will do for now. This was a bit of work, but worth it I think, as it really cleaned up the left down tube and lower left front of engine area. I ended up having to lengthen the regulator wires and the oil pressure sender wire. I will probably have to lengthen that O2 sensor wiring also, but will need pipes on first.

 

Looks like you have a small fortune in parts ready to go.I bet it turns out nice.Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

Dang homey you spent some dough! Should look sweet.

 

Nice! Just a note on the front end. I'm pretty sure the 48 already comes with a lowered front end so going with a drop in kit may not even get you any more front end drop. Just a heads up.

 

looking forward to following this!

 

Ok, I guess we're only allowed 20 pics per post, so I'll continue the build here. At least maybe I'll be able to keep it all on one page.



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Here is a slightly better pic of the wire clean-up on the front left side of bike. I think I need a photography course.



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Headwinds 1'' halogen bullet signals mounted with Ness brackets. These are A1 quality signals, absolutely perfect finish and very bright. A simple install with the Ness brackets.



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Close up. In the background you can see I still have some nasty wiring to deal with LOL. You can see the vinyl wrap on the fork tubes better in this pic. The headlight mount still needs a little work before painting. It will be mounted backwards as shown so that the bucket tucks in closer to the steering head.



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Top view of the signals.


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The sexy Headwinds 5 3/4'' Gladiator Grill headlight! Stock 48 mount is used in reversed position.



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I guess for proper ''Gladiator'' effect, you would want to mount the grill so the bars are horizontal but I prefer this orientation, for now.



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The wire tuck with no tank lift. Pretty tight, even though I rerouted the ignition,horn bundles and main bundle to the regulator etc. This would be MUCH easier to just hardwire out the connectors, but I want the convenience of easy removal of components.
Left side naked: the light coloured connector is left handlebar switches, the black connector is right handlebar switches.



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Right side naked: the large connector is the speedo/idiot light bundle, with the turn signal connector right behind. Headlight connector is mashed up in there somewhere LOL!



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Up-Skirt left side.



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Up-Skirt right side



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Left side shot.



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Right side shot. I'm working on an idea to cover the expandable sleeving at the rear of the tank (not gonna use the stock plastic cover). I'll post details of that when I have it figured.



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Pipes and right side floor board installed. SE black header pipes / SE buck shot heat shields / V&H Twin Slash slip-ons with quiet baffles.



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On the rear heat shield, second hole from the back you can just make out the head pipe clamp underneath...HD should have spaced the ''buckshot'' holes differently. If paint doesn't hold up I will grind away a bit of that clamp so it can't be seen. The right side floor board was easier to fit than the left (only had to remove the powder coat and a thin layer of metal where it fits into the clevis).



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HD ''smoothie'' AC with SE kit. The stock throttle body support is a nice thick steel piece that I wanted to keep in place, but it's too thick to allow the SE back plate to mate to the throttle body. Without the stock support in place the SE back plate mates good to the throttle body but there are slight gaps where it bolts to the motor. I was worried that the cast aluminum back plate would crack when drawn inwards by the breather bolts, but it didn't. Looks like this is the way HD designed it, so hope that means it won't crack when engine runs!
AC cover bolt is a little large: the stock bolt was a bit short and I had this in my spares kit.



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Wire clean-up detail shot. The YELLOW arrow points to the battery tender hook-up hiding in where the front 02 sensor/regulator bundle used to exit. The RED arrow is the fuel pump bundle, it runs up under the tank and back under tank/seat mount, under seat frame and battery cover. The GREEN arrow is the rear 02 sensor, the Xied is tucked in the plastic housing with the other connectors.



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Horn. Sorry for the crappy pic, but you literally have to lay on the ground to see this horn. I pondered over the mount for a while before realizing it would work with the stock bracket. duh! It bolts to the rear cross member using an existing hole. The ''bugle'' points towards the right side of bike. With engine running, i'm not sure how loud it will be from down there, but it is a regular softail horn so it's louder than the stock sporty unit.

More pics in these posts:

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/10903133-post54.html

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/10983015-post63.html

 

I would have gone the performance route and upgrade the suspension instead of degrading it and put a chain drive. Too many farkles and junk. Swap out the wheels with the 883 superlow.

But thats your preference not mine.

Good Luck

 

Looking Great !! Nice choices.

 

Post some pics of the floorboards when you get them on. I haven't seen the LED sled boards with HD inserts. I've been debating on getting someone to help me make a bracket to use FL floorboards or to do the LED sled ones again.

 

Sweet!! I'll def be checkin' back in and can't wait to see the finished product.