Ok, I am a little short for this bagger thing. Thinking of changing the front sliders to chrome and while I was at it just lower it an inch. Will do the back too. So I guess the question is for those that have done it. Will it drag in turns. Or give trouble in other situations ? How do you like it.

 

Plenty of people have lowered their front ends, no issues.

 

well, there can be dragging and plenty have punched the top of the front fender into the triple tree.

so be aware there can be issues.

first steps are a low seat and thickly soled boots ( not KISS thick).

there are now "low" models sold at the dealer- they do have lowered suspension, and a narrower primary so you can get feet down closer to the bike- have a look at these so you can maybe take some tips to apply to your bike

a lowered bike has less suspension travel- you will almost always have to settle for a harder, harsher ride when you loose 30% of the travel- lowering an inch


just yesterday i talked to a guy with an 08, he lowered the rear with 12" shocks, added lowering blocks, added his wife an burned the paint off the fender...luckily he'd lost his seat mount bolt so that didn;t groove his tire.

just be aware of what you could be getting into

Mike

 

My 09 Ultra is lowered 1" front and 1" rear. I've never cornered hard enough to scrape. I do have to be careful driving on the lift or some speed bumps and I do have to lift it off the jiffy stand to roll a jack under it.
If you are going to do it, use quality suspension parts to maintain good handling, as well as ride comfort.
There are other options also - as stated above;
thicker sole boots
lower seat
narrower seat
forward seat

 

once a gain a single click posted twice.

 

I would only go an inch. I would use good components. Just don't want any problems because I do ride two up a lot also. I figure an inch in suspension and a ultra low seat would really feel good. I can deal with it now , the ultra is a lot more unstable at parking lot speed

 

Check out Ride Like A Pro. It helped me... very stable at parking lot speed.

https://www.ridelikeapro.com/

 

In my case, the Mustang seat did the trick (model 76033). It's also more comfortable for longer rides over the stock Harley seat.

 

I lowered my Road King an inch and a quarter in the front with the Progressive drop in fork lowering kit, and switched to a 50/50 mix of Screamin' Eagle, and stock weight fork oil. I lowered the rear, an even inch. I would never go back to the stock 4X4 stance. But that's just me.


Edit: Just a note, modifying my Jiffystand as well, became a requirement.

 

Lowered my 09 flhtcu approx 1" front & rear & ride 2 up majority of the time with no issues either.

I used progressive 1" lowering springs in front forks and 1"lowering blocks on stock 13" rear air shocks vs using shorter 12" HD air shocks that would reduce the already short shock travel of stock 13" shocks.

Many guys dont rec using 1" lowering blocks,i have 2 seasons/approx 16k miles on the 1" rear lowering blocks thus far with majority of those miles 2up with bags & tourpack loaded and have no issues with them thus far.

Also changed rear shock oil from thin a water stock 5w to 10w using app specific suspension fluid/rear shock oil (not fork oil!) which sign improved rear shock dampening & ride all at the same time.

The better shock control/dampening & ride is due the better quality thicker 10w rear shock oil that now allos me to run approx 50% less air pressure in rear shocks riding solo or 2up.

With stock thin 5w rear shock oil i had to run approx 20-25psi riding solo and approx 40-50 ridingt 2 up depending on load in bags & tourpack to not bottom out on moderate to heavier bumps/road irregularities.

But post changing to the thicker better quality 10w rear shock oil it allowed me to go from running 20-25 psi to now approx 12-14psi riding solo & from approx 40-50psi to 20-25psi riding 2up depending on bag load.

The stock shocks are now considerably more forgiving without having any more harsh back breaking hits when hitting moderate to lrg bumps or swells in the road now being acceptable IMHO.

Would i say they are as good as $800 Ohlins ,heck no!

But is the ride of the stock HD 13" rear air shocks " considerably better / more compliant " post changing from thin 5w to 10w rear shock oil allowing me to now run approx 50% lower air pressure (Solo & 2up) without bottoming out?

Heck Yeh!

Bottom line is post lowering the bike approx 1' front & back 2yrs later /16k+ miles i have not had any bottoming out of rear tire in rear fender & or bottoming out of front tire in front fender or fron fork on top of front fender thus far either.

I have scraped a foot board & tip of the kickstand a couple times (2 maybe 3x max in 2yrs/16k miles) when making a tight turn at slow speed in 1st gear) which wasnt a big deal because it wasnt back enough to jack the bike enough to make it unstable & or move/pivot in anyway @ the time and that was it.

But you have to realize i am a older guy pushing 61yrs old that has 45+ yrs street riding exp (many yrs dirt riding too!) under my belt that at this point/time in his life has no need to ride overly aggressive anymore not feeling i have to prove anything to anybody @ ant time either.

So point there is a younger heavier wt person/s (i am 170lbs-175lbs/wife is 135-140lbs) thats also a more aggressive rider may in fact have issues with a touring HD bottoming out after it's been lowered 1" front & rear esp if shorter 12" rear shocks are used that have a shorter stroke are used vs using 1" lowering blocks w-stock 13" shocks (to retain longer stroke) like i did on my 09 FLHTCU.

Almost forgot,i had to go to a special jiffy/side stand HD makes for bikes lowered 1.0"-1.25",think it costs approx $50.

Scott