Drive train alignment
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Road Captain
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 716
Likes: 10
From: Shreveport,La
Drive train alignment
For the past year I have been noticing that my bike pulls to one side when I let go of my bars and doing the carpenter thing I have been eying the gap between the tank and the bottom of my fairing as I ride which didn't look even to my eye. Well I finally got around to doing some investigating on the issue. That was because I was thinking about getting the missing link stabilizer setup to help with the wobble in curves when I am being a little to aggressive and riding two up.
During my research I found this site http://www.glide-pro.com/install/. It has a great video on how to align your drive-train. It is the third video down. Of course he is trying to sell you his stabilizing system, but I have a different one on it's way now.
I followed his alignment setup and found my drive-train had an X on the floor instead of two parallel lines! I readjusted it per the HD manual using the glide pro video setup and got it back right. With just a short test ride I could tell a world of difference in the feel of the bike. U turns were easier and my handlebars felt straight which I hadn't noticed before. The fairing gap is now equal and the bike was easy to ride in a straight line without holding the bars now. Now I am just waiting for the brace to get here. It is supposed to be here this week.
I just thought others may be interested in how the dampening system works and how to align everything. I am pleased with the results of my efforts on mine. I guess it was due with 50K on the clock.
During my research I found this site http://www.glide-pro.com/install/. It has a great video on how to align your drive-train. It is the third video down. Of course he is trying to sell you his stabilizing system, but I have a different one on it's way now.
I followed his alignment setup and found my drive-train had an X on the floor instead of two parallel lines! I readjusted it per the HD manual using the glide pro video setup and got it back right. With just a short test ride I could tell a world of difference in the feel of the bike. U turns were easier and my handlebars felt straight which I hadn't noticed before. The fairing gap is now equal and the bike was easy to ride in a straight line without holding the bars now. Now I am just waiting for the brace to get here. It is supposed to be here this week.
I just thought others may be interested in how the dampening system works and how to align everything. I am pleased with the results of my efforts on mine. I guess it was due with 50K on the clock.
Last edited by Watchfuliz; Dec 21, 2010 at 03:38 PM.
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 716
Likes: 10
From: Shreveport,La
I didn't use any brackets. The cheap lazors from HomeDepot are the same size all the way across. You just cut the little point off the side of it and use a large squeeze clamp to clamp it to the brake disk. Works the same as making the bracket.
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,802
Likes: 2
From: Salt Lake City, UT. Dushore, Pa.
I just used wood blocks after lifting the bike and removed the jack, ref DIY thread. Another member used 4 2x4's on each side of bike w a 2x4 accross them to hold bike level.
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
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From: Bedford UK
There are at least a dozen different stabilizer systems available now. On the one hand that shows the size of the market for these things, but I would argue that many of them miss the point.
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Road Warrior
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,802
Likes: 2
From: Salt Lake City, UT. Dushore, Pa.
I would put that the other way around! I have had a True-Track system on my Glide (and Dyna) for several years, which achieves what Erik Buell intended Harley's rubber mount system should be. It is exactly the same system as on my Buell Firebolt and works a dream. Glide-Pro may well work, but it misses the point of the stabilized rubber-mount system.
There are at least a dozen different stabilizer systems available now. On the one hand that shows the size of the market for these things, but I would argue that many of them miss the point.
There are at least a dozen different stabilizer systems available now. On the one hand that shows the size of the market for these things, but I would argue that many of them miss the point.
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Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 716
Likes: 10
From: Shreveport,La
Because I ordered a different one before I saw his videos.
Then putting thought into his setup, I felt if the material he is using to stop the side to side movement was hard enough to stop that movement then it will also stop the up/down movement as well and increase the vibrations from the motor. I even found a few customers that stated as much about the setup after they installed it. For that reason and the huge price difference between the two I didn't cancel my order on the other brand. I am not trying to sway anyone's mind on what is the right one or wrong one here. This wasn't about which brand to buy either. Everyone should do their own research and decided for themselves which, if any, they want.
