Ongoing 2019 Tri Glide Build-Out w/ lots of photos, videos and observations

[RKplus10]

About that swing arm to exhaust gap... If the shock can't completely extend, limited by the pipe interference wouldn't that reduce the usable travel that the shocks would otherwise have? I'm referring to a situation where a rise and a dip in the road caused the suspension to completely unload, then load again. I'm probably overthinking all this.

 

[FuLong]

I also had this problem. Using a lift kit, changed from stock to Wilbers Nivomat and the swing arm collided with the exhaust. Without the lift kit it was to low. Changed to Legend Gear air shocks without lift kit gives me enougth hight and much better suspension.

the stock suspension seems to have no negative travel, this may be a reason, why it feels so unstable on bumpy roads in corners ...

 

[DK Custom Products]

About that swing arm to exhaust gap... If the shock can't completely extend, limited by the pipe interference wouldn't that reduce the usable travel that the shocks would otherwise have? I'm referring to a situation where a rise and a dip in the road caused the suspension to completely unload, then load again. I'm probably overthinking all this.

Your logic is correct...not overthinking it at all.

HOWEVER, with the shocks installed, they are not compressed at all, so they are able to fully rebound upon unloading.

So there is no reduction in usable travel of the shocks. When the shocks are fully unloaded (fully extended) some trikes will have a small gap between the exhaust weld bead and the swingarm, others will barely be touching the weld bead. It just depends on how tall the HD weld bead is.

In no circumstance should a shock ever have to be compressed to get it to bolt up.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

A few additional notes to my previous post:

1. The factory shocks, paired with the Convertible Comfort Lift™, has two lift positions. Primary & Secondary. On later model Trikes (generally '14 and newer) the secondary position is the one to use.

This gives a more comfortable ride, easier steering and provides about 1" of "lift".

Importantly, to this conversation, while the swingarm may barely touch the weld bead/exhaust z-pipe, it does NOT reduce the ability of the shock to fully unload. Full travel of the shocks is still there.

2. The 14" Trike Series Shocks™, paired with the 14" Convertible Comfort Lift™, also has two lift positions. Again, Primary and Secondary, and on later models the secondary is the one to use.

This is what I installed on my 2019 Tri Glide.

The ride quality, both from the shocks and the comfort (angle) of the lift, is a fantastic improvement.

There is no reduction in usable travel, the shocks are not pre-loaded at all. (If they were, ride quality would suffer).

3. Any 13" shock should use the standard Convertible Comfort Lift™ to achieve a lift, easier steering and improved ride quality. Try the Primary setting first, and if that does not fit (as will be the case with most '14 and newer models), then use the Secondary setting.

4. There are lift kits out there that do not have primary and secondary settings. We have seen where folks have compressed their shocks to get them to go fit into these lifts. The result is the ride is akin to a buckboard.

5. Lastly, the standard Convertible Comfort Lift™ is made to work with 13" or shorter shocks. If a 14" shocks is mounted with the standard CCL, it will Not work correctly, and the resulting ride quality will be horrible.

I wish we had them now, but it takes a bit of time to edit videos...we will have them soon. A picture is worth a thousand words, and we'll have the videos up soon showing how all this works and the clearances achieved. Additionally there will be a video showing the qualitative differences in the ride in the various configurations.

Kevin

 

[RKplus10]

Thanks for clearing that up Kevin. Also, I have been talking to Natalie and Devin, probably being a pest with my questions. I have decided on the Bitubos for my Freewheeler. Will order to take advantage of the free shipping offer.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Thanks for clearing that up Kevin. Also, I have been talking to Natalie and Devin, probably being a pest with my questions. I have decided on the Bitubos for my Freewheeler. Will order to take advantage of the free shipping offer.

I believe you will be very happy with the Bitubo's, and even happier if you add a Convertible Comfort Lift with them. I ran that combo on my Tri Glide for 10's of thousands of miles and it was a HUGE improvement.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Got a few more things done to the Tri Glide yesterday-

- Deleted the stock restrictive air cleaner. Besides being restrictive it also feeds hot, oily, performance robbing oxygen depleted air into the combustion chambers. GONE!

In its place is an Outlaw 606 HiFlow Air Cleaner. Paired with it is a Premium Discrete External Breather System (EBS).

I'm running the same 7 Spoke Chrome cover on it that I ran on the '14 Tri Glide.

The Milwaukee-Eight engine does not have the lean condition that the Twin Cam engine has. It is NOT lean from the factory, AND one can add a high flow air cleaner to it without changing the tune. The ECM will adjust for the extra air.

In this LINK there are dyno charts and AFR charts showing this. I am still running the factory tune. I will eventually put a new tune in, more to adjust the timing a bit and get a bit of a power increase from that. Again, look at the aforementioned link to see dyno charts on that.

- Next up was an Oil Filter Relocation. The reasons for this are to never have to deal with a messy oil filter change again. It is VERY easy and no mess to remove the oil filter now. Also with the filter out in the wind (and not butted up against the engine) it helps cool down the engine. Finally, it allows for installation of a much needed oil cooler.

A bit of a different angle. Also, you can see I am using a permanent, finned, cleanable oil filter.

Next up was something that was desperately needed. An oil cooler. You can see from some of our heat testing that there are ways to cool down the metal of the engine, but there is very little in the way of letting heat dissipate from the oil on a Twin Cooled engine. Without an oil cooler the oil just gets hotter and it is very difficult for it to cool down. The additive package (which is what makes 20W-50 oil act like 50 weight oil when it's hot) starts breaking down.

This Dual Cool Oil Cooler is situated directly behind the lower fairing vent.

I have not done any controlled testing yet, but from the hour or so of riding it appears that it lowers the oil temps even more on the M8 than it does on the Twin Cam. Controlled testing and a report will be done soon.

- Next up was to mount my drink holder and the Power Vision holder onto my handlebars.

Even though I am not running a tune yet, I like to monitor various readings on the Power Vision.

- Lastly, I did get the ceramic coating over the Protective Film.

Since we are headed WAY NORTH, it is going to be cold. Crazy, but in the middle of July we are going to see some days where the high will be in the low 50's, and we'll be riding quite a bit in the 40's. So I put on my taller recurve windshield.

The Tri Glide is ready for the upcoming big trip!

Kevin

 

[Mykneesbehurtin]

Got a few more things done to the Tri Glide yesterday-

- Deleted the stock restrictive air cleaner. Besides being restrictive it also feeds hot, oily, performance robbing oxygen depleted air into the combustion chambers. GONE!

In its place is an Outlaw 606 HiFlow Air Cleaner. Paired with it is a Premium Discrete External Breather System (EBS).

I'm running the same 7 Spoke Chrome cover on it that I ran on the '14 Tri Glide.

The Milwaukee-Eight engine does not have the lean condition that the Twin Cam engine has. It is NOT lean from the factory, AND one can add a high flow air cleaner to it without changing the tune. The ECM will adjust for the extra air.

In this LINK there are dyno charts and AFR charts showing this. I am still running the factory tune. I will eventually put a new tune in, more to adjust the timing a bit and get a bit of a power increase from that. Again, look at the aforementioned link to see dyno charts on that.

- Next up was an Oil Filter Relocation. The reasons for this are to never have to deal with a messy oil filter change again. It is VERY easy and no mess to remove the oil filter now. Also with the filter out in the wind (and not butted up against the engine) it helps cool down the engine. Finally, it allows for installation of a much needed oil cooler.

A bit of a different angle. Also, you can see I am using a permanent, finned, cleanable oil filter.

Next up was something that was desperately needed. An oil cooler. You can see from some of our heat testing that there are ways to cool down the metal of the engine, but there is very little in the way of letting heat dissipate from the oil on a Twin Cooled engine. Without an oil cooler the oil just gets hotter and it is very difficult for it to cool down. The additive package (which is what makes 20W-50 oil act like 50 weight oil when it's hot) starts breaking down.

This Dual Cool Oil Cooler is situated directly behind the lower fairing vent.

I have not done any controlled testing yet, but from the hour or so of riding it appears that it lowers the oil temps even more on the M8 than it does on the Twin Cam. Controlled testing and a report will be done soon.

- Next up was to mount my drink holder and the Power Vision holder onto my handlebars.

Even though I am not running a tune yet, I like to monitor various readings on the Power Vision.

- Lastly, I did get the ceramic coating over the Protective Film.

Since we are headed WAY NORTH, it is going to be cold. Crazy, but in the middle of July we are going to see some days where the high will be in the low 50's, and we'll be riding quite a bit in the 40's. So I put on my taller recurve windshield.

The Tri Glide is ready for the upcoming big trip!

Kevin

So i have a 17 M8,will it except the stage 1 air cleaner with out a tune.

 

[bikerbillone]

Kevin, I'm hung up on the 'protective film', maybe I missed it in the thread. Can you back that up and explain what, where, and how. Pics of the finish are just outstanding. Thanks.

 

[DK Custom Products]

So i have a 17 M8,will it except the stage 1 air cleaner with out a tune.

Yes, below is a chart showing what kind of additional power you can expect from one of our Stage I air cleaners on your Trike-

The bottom of this chart shows the AFR is still good with the stock tune and one of our Stage I air cleaners.

For many more charts and details on how the M8 runs fine with the stock tune and Stage I components, see this LINK.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, I'm hung up on the 'protective film', maybe I missed it in the thread. Can you back that up and explain what, where, and how. Pics of the finish are just outstanding. Thanks.

Protective Film is a clear, thin, layer of 3M (or other brand) film that lays over the paint, helping protect it from rock chips, boot scrapes, etc.

I have the film on the front of the rear fenders extending to the midway point on the top. This is for rock chips and boots. On the side covers for passenger boots. On the body between the side panel and the fenders for rock chips and boots.

This thin layer of film will protect the paint from most rock chips, scrapes, etc. It is not visible, except for the edges, and only when you get up close and look for them.

The reason I put ceramic over it is when bugs get splatterd on the film, just like the paint, it can take some time to clean them off. The ceramic makes them much less likely to stick, AND if they do, it is much easier to clean them off.

The ceramic also adds a little extra protection, and makes it look much nicer.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

I almost forgot!

I also installed the rear bumper.

We fabbed this up back in 2011. First it was on the '11 Tri Glide, then it was on the '14 Tri Glide.

After removing it from the '14, I had it re-powder coated.

Put it on the '19 Friday. I like how the gloss black powder contrasts with the Wicked Red on this TG.

Kevin

 

[bikerbillone]

Thanks Kevin, is there a particular 3M grade and size and where to order? This looks like a very good idea.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Thanks Kevin, is there a particular 3M grade and size and where to order? This looks like a very good idea.

In the past we've purchased a roll of film, like in the link below. Then we cut it out to the shapes we wanted.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Paint-Prot...939927?hash=item41d5afc2d7:g:DvkAAOSwySVaIiY4

But this time we got the pre-cut Harley kit.

If you can find someone that is making a pre-cut kit for your conversion, it will save a ton of time in getting the different shapes cut out just right.

Kevin

 

[bikerbillone]

Good thought Kevin, think Xpel has such a product. Thanks.

 

[Ghostrunner]

Kevin looks like getting it ready to go. Keep the updates coming

 

[MDO]

Kevin, have you ever considered mass producing the bumpers for Tri-Glide & Freewheeler? I don't even know if they mount the same, but I love the look.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, have you ever considered mass producing the bumpers for Tri-Glide & Freewheeler? I don't even know if they mount the same, but I love the look.

Yes, we've talked about it (and handlebars & exhaust)...we decided not to do it for three reasons-

1. Some folks will want it in chrome, and getting chrome done in the USA is getting more and more difficult, slow and very expensive. (EPA)

2. We are short on space and more bending equipment will take space we don't currently have.

3. On the bumpers, the way mine mounts is a big PITA. On the '11 it was easy, but then HD blocked off two of the mounting holes with a cross-member channel support, so we had to modify it for the '14 (works for the '19 also) to use a pinch system for the back two mounts. We could redesign it to mount like the HD bumper, but then we are back to reasons one and two above.

I wish we could do all three of them, we have made some really good one-off pieces, it is going to have to wait til we get more space.

Kevin

 

[prariepilot]

Missing something?

Got a few more things done to the Tri Glide yesterday-

Kevin

What's this? No heim joints in the shift linkage! :laugh::laugh::laugh:

Have a great trip up north. Looking forward to the pictures!

 

[DK Custom Products]

View attachment 73751

What's this? No heim joints in the shift linkage! :laugh::laugh::laugh:

Have a great trip up north. Looking forward to the pictures!

LOL, you caught it.

Have run out of time and am hoping the cheapo factory joint will last until I am back, when I will put a proper shift linkage on it.

Thanks, looking forward to seeing a part of the world we have never seen before!

Kevin