Bent fork tubes- Need some help/advice
Road Master
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 974
Likes: 13
From: Chesapeake Virginia
Be careful using the lower tree without a good examination. They tweak very easy from accidents. The upper is pretty stout. If you can get a set of straight tubes slide them up almost to the upper and check for alignment with the lower clamp bolts tight. Any miss alignment can allow you to still assemble them but it will come out at the axle end and you will be driving down the road with your bars not centered straight. You can sight them from the side and see if the tubes are running parallel but it is difficult to see 1/8 inch out of parallel.
Last edited by X Iron Butt; Mar 12, 2014 at 10:33 PM.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 130
Likes: 7
From: Idaho
Thank you guys, much appreciate the info. X Iron Butt, that's a great way to check the tree, hadn't thought about doing it that way. I'm planning on just not using those lowers just to be safe. Damn that CCE set up is pricey. Don't know if I can swing it.
talon0930, So the 08-13 lowers are different than the 00-07's to accommodate the axle size? Are the fork tubes for those years the same?
talon0930, So the 08-13 lowers are different than the 00-07's to accommodate the axle size? Are the fork tubes for those years the same?
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 6,129
Likes: 143
From: Santa Cruz
I know earlier, '99 down 3/4" lowers for sure have different caliper mounts. Tubes are different because of different valving internals (pretty sure fl softails are longer overall).
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Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,115
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From: Niles Canyon Ca.
Yes you can , they make reducer bushing for the smaller axle/bigger bearing setups . What you have to watch for is correct wheel & rotor spacing , sometimes you have make or shim things . I've converted several older 3/4" axle fronts to use the larger bearing late model wheels . I've also taken 1" axles for the later lower legs and had the bearing surface cut down to 3/4" to use the older timken bearing wheels .
Road Master
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,118
Likes: 26
From: OOB, Maine
Friend of mine used to deal American Ironhorse bikes. He was running sliders off a chopper on his Streetglide. Single brake and much nicer bottom to the sliders. Something to look at for an option....