The Blue Bee with a few Mods. just showing her off a little

[ol' school]

Jason & Carey, sweet looking ride! I like the mods!

 

[FreeJoe]

To me it planted the front end, as it doesn't feel light in the corners anymore. The wife said it was alittle heavier to turn in a parking lot, but no steering difference at speed. she has about 3k miles on it and loves it.

Thank you Sir.... exactly what I was hoping to hear. And I am assuming prob a smoother ride at speed due to the tire config vs the low profile...

 

[18Wheeler]

Thank you Sir.... exactly what I was hoping to hear. And I am assuming prob a smoother ride at speed due to the tire config vs the low profile...

I believe it is smoother, I run 40 in the front. Its the Dunlop dual tread compound rear touring tire running backwards so hopefully it will last about along as the rears. I have the Native kit on my Road Glide and that's what pressure I have found works the best for handling and performance. I can tell you that it doesn't react nearly as bad or at all to grooved roads or normal pot holes in the highways. Unfortually she is a newer rider with nothing to really judge it against, she only did about 2k miles on it before we started the kit install so its hard for her to convey what she thinks would make it better for her.

I would watch her riding and tweek things alittle, shock pressures, rear tire pressures and not tell her before and question her if she noticed a difference better or worse. But she hasn't complained other than it took awhile to get it installed since it took us a couple of months. Due to some fab work to the cowbells, fender, and getting the fender painted and the front forks chromed as native had very few trike forks on the shelf and only offered them in raw finish for a trike.

 

[FreeJoe]

Good info, spoke with Native the other day and my painter, both are just waiting on me to pull the trigger. They now have everything in stock which is nice. We all know w these Freewheelers nobody has much to offer in the way of aftermarket.

With the handling of these, a huge improvement honestly is getting rid of the rear air shocks and installing a set of coil overs, as well as the DK Customs Comfort lift. The two combined made such a great improvement to the overall ride and dramatically reduced steering effort. (Only giving praise where it belongs, not affiliated with them at all)

Harley finally throw out all the air shocks for a reason....they suck.

I too have the Native kit on my CVO Street Glide, it is an amazing ride. 40 psi is a must or you will ruin the tire in no time. I know. The Dunlop is a great tire but it does wear fast being a soft compound radial but certainly is a smooth ride and handles excellent. That is one of my concerns with that tire on the front of the Freewheeler, the scrubbing in turns vs leaning like you and I do will most likely wear it quicker. I am sure the ride and look is worthy of a tire change periodically...hahahaha ThumbUp

 

[18Wheeler]

Good info, spoke with Native the other day and my painter, both are just waiting on me to pull the trigger. They now have everything in stock which is nice. We all know w these Freewheelers nobody has much to offer in the way of aftermarket.

With the handling of these, a huge improvement honestly is getting rid of the rear air shocks and installing a set of coil overs, as well as the DK Customs Comfort lift. The two combined made such a great improvement to the overall ride and dramatically reduced steering effort. (Only giving praise where it belongs, not affiliated with them at all)

Harley finally throw out all the air shocks for a reason....they suck.

I too have the Native kit on my CVO Street Glide, it is an amazing ride. 40 psi is a must or you will ruin the tire in no time. I know. The Dunlop is a great tire but it does wear fast being a soft compound radial but certainly is a smooth ride and handles excellent. That is one of my concerns with that tire on the front of the Freewheeler, the scrubbing in turns vs leaning like you and I do will most likely wear it quicker. I am sure the ride and look is worthy of a tire change periodically...hahahaha ThumbUp

We have the Comfort lift on her freewheeler also, haven't done the coil overs yet. I ran the Dunlop dual tread compound on my RGU and only got 10k out of the front. the soft sides were almost slick but the center was fine and I could feel the transition from the hard tread to the soft tread compounds in corning, it almost felt like it fell over when it transitioned. So far the Dunlop on the front of the Free is wearing very slowly with 3k on it, no visible difference between the center and sides. I switched front and rear to the Night Dragon GT bias ply on my RGU, I have about 10k on them now and they are wearing slowly and uniformed and handle better I believe than the Dunlop's.

When we mocked up the cowbells and fender on her freewheeler. Native was just doing a feeler if they would sell it when I finally got the kit. In fact I talked to them 3 different times over 6 month and twice they didn't have trike forks or interest in producing a kit. Finally they had 2 sets of raw forks on the shelf and I ordered one knowing we would have a lot of fit up to do to make it work. We gave Native the dimensions on the cutout in the cowbell to lower it since the forks legs are longer than the touring line. I went with the OG Fender, The fender was for the touring line also. the mounts on the touring forks and trike forks are slightly different. I cutout the rear side and added a piece to the front even the gap around the fork and slotted the rear bolt holes a little to give some camber adjustment to even the gap of the fender around the tire. Originally the cutout around the fork leg was almost touching the rear of the fork leg and there was a 1/4in gap on the front side. about 3.5months on the rack at my dealer, working with me to get it on with fit up, modify, fit up tweek, paint, chrome, final install. Both my bikes were the first in the area with the fat front ends. So it was a learning experience for both of us. hopefully Native has done the back ground on the trike and made this a bolt on kit for the trikes with out having to mock up like I did. Funny thing is that her Freewheeler gets more attention than my Road Glide, even when they are parked side by side hahaha.

One other thing is with the 6piston caliper. You have to leave the front rotors loose on the rim to get everything installed on the forks when installing or removing the wheel. there is not enough room between the fender, rim, etc to pull the larger 6piston calipers off/on unless the rotors are loose. kinda a PITA installing but worth it. the smaller 4pistion calipers on the 19 up trike will probably not be a problem mounting.

 

[FreeJoe]

We have the Comfort lift on her freewheeler also, haven't done the coil overs yet. I ran the Dunlop dual tread compound on my RGU and only got 10k out of the front. the soft sides were almost slick but the center was fine and I could feel the transition from the hard tread to the soft tread compounds in corning, it almost felt like it fell over when it transitioned. So far the Dunlop on the front of the Free is wearing very slowly with 3k on it, no visible difference between the center and sides. I switched front and rear to the Night Dragon GT bias ply on my RGU, I have about 10k on them now and they are wearing slowly and uniformed and handle better I believe than the Dunlop's.

When we mocked up the cowbells and fender on her freewheeler. Native was just doing a feeler if they would sell it when I finally got the kit. In fact I talked to them 3 different times over 6 month and twice they didn't have trike forks or interest in producing a kit. Finally they had 2 sets of raw forks on the shelf and I ordered one knowing we would have a lot of fit up to do to make it work. We gave Native the dimensions on the cutout in the cowbell to lower it since the forks legs are longer than the touring line. I went with the OG Fender, The fender was for the touring line also. the mounts on the touring forks and trike forks are slightly different. I cutout the rear side and added a piece to the front even the gap around the fork and slotted the rear bolt holes a little to give some camber adjustment to even the gap of the fender around the tire. Originally the cutout around the fork leg was almost touching the rear of the fork leg and there was a 1/4in gap on the front side. about 3.5months on the rack at my dealer, working with me to get it on with fit up, modify, fit up tweek, paint, chrome, final install. Both my bikes were the first in the area with the fat front ends. So it was a learning experience for both of us. hopefully Native has done the back ground on the trike and made this a bolt on kit for the trikes with out having to mock up like I did. Funny thing is that her Freewheeler gets more attention than my Road Glide, even when they are parked side by side hahaha.

One other thing is with the 6piston caliper. You have to leave the front rotors loose on the rim to get everything installed on the forks when installing or removing the wheel. there is not enough room between the fender, rim, etc to pull the larger 6piston calipers off/on unless the rotors are loose. kinda a PITA installing but worth it. the smaller 4pistion calipers on the 19 up trike will probably not be a problem mounting.

Again more good info regarding the mount up assembly with loose rotors. Thanks!

Funny with the current mods I have done to her Freewheeler it already is the center of attention so I know what you man there. I can only imagine going forward. I am also doing a set of TW-222 cams to it for the 103" HO needs a bit more umph to it for this unit.. (that upgrade is more for me than her...hahaha) I am sure the 107" is nice!

I too am now using the Pirelli Dragons GT's, they are not as smooth a ride as the radials but like you noted, much better handling. Yes the dual compound Dunlop was a bit nerve racking when going hard into a turn and leaning into it and reaching the softer compound, surprised no one else mentions that on other threads when people ask how it handles. One can deff feel it and at times scared the $%^& out of me until I got familiar with it. My only prob w tires now is my rear tire.... my motor is built up to a 124", no smokey burn outs but just the torque to the rear wheel can chew it up.

I will be becoming a member here, I will keep in touch and update on the build.

Joe

 

[FreeJoe]

Finally Complete

It took some doing and not without trials and tribulations buts it done and Awesome!

 

[18Wheeler]

It took some doing and not without trials and tribulations buts it done and Awesome!

View attachment 83594View attachment 83595View attachment 83596

Looking Dam good sir, it is a bit of a headache to get it to work on the trikes but well worth it.

 

[ol' school]

Looks good Joe! Very nicely done! ThumbUp

 

[balloo]

Very nice - - love the color.

Did the oversize tire improve the ride - or is it to soon to know?

What mufflers do you have?

Enjoy

 

[FreeJoe]

Very nice - - love the color.

Did the oversize tire improve the ride - or is it to soon to know?

What mufflers do you have?

Enjoy

The 180 front tire most definitely made the trike ride much smoother.. The moment I left the garage one could feel the difference. If your thinking about it, I recommend it.

The mufflers are stock Freewheeler cans that I had American Custom modify.. I liked the fit and look of them vs the aftermarket ones that stick out past the body and the bumper with some. The wife doesn't like it nasty loud so it has the baffle inserts.

https://americancustom.com/collections/harley-touring-mufflers/products/bomber-4-slip-on-mufflers

 

[WindyOne]

18Wheeler

Really like the look of your mufflers, which ones are they are are they loud?

 

[18Wheeler]

18Wheeler

Really like the look of your mufflers, which ones are they are are they loud?

They are the HD Street cannons with the short tips. not real loud.

 

[WindyOne]

They are the HD Street cannons with the short tips. not real loud.

Nice Thanks

 

[DonnaB]

fat tire and bumper & cb antenna?

Love the fat front tire. I am getting the bumper later this summer. Is that a CB Antenna hooked to your bumper? my hubby rides an ultra and is wanting me to get a fairing w/ cb etc. he doesn't like the headset bike to bike that attaches to outside of helmets, loves his cb. Just asking.

Donna in Bham

Finally got the it together. Native Fat Front tire Kit with Mods to work on a trike *180/55/18 front tire* PM wheels front 18x5 rears 18x5, Tank Lift. Gotta keep Mama happy. Just wanted to show her off abit. Next order a windshield shorter windshield. Got to install the pass floorboard covers tomorrow and clean her up, got caught in the rain on the 60mile test ride.

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