Lowering a Softail ?

Mike,
I searched this forum for any information regarding lowering a Harley but didn't find any and all threads seem to be related to engine, exhaust, performance etc., so hope this question is within the realm of this board.

My basic question is: have you experienced any handling degradation in lowering a softail. I have a 2006 Standard Softail and being only 5'5", I have a hard time keeping both feet flat on the ground unless I wear my riding boots. I don't need to slam the bike, but lowering the bike by approx. 1" would be great, but I don't want to completely degrade the stock handling capability or start scraping the foot pegs. My experience with lowering cars is that you "may" improve cornering, but the ride can get real firm. I'm looking at using the Harley parts; #54652-05 for the rear shocks and #54621-05 for lowering the front shocks. Both are advertised on Harley's website to "preserve" the ride quality.

Thanks for any info you can share,
Jack

[Mike]

We'll accept any questions you may have. Thank you for using our forum. So long as you lower BOTH ends of the bike the SAME amount handling will not be adversly affected. It will be different due to a change in center of gravity. Depending on ride style this can be considered a plus or a negative. As a softail, sport bike style aggressive riding is not typically done so most owners feel the lowered CG to be a plus. Some lowering kits do so by limiting suspension travel and thus induce a harsher ride. H-D's kit will be the least likely to have an overly stiff ride.

Unfortunately, one consequence of lowering the bike will be that the foot pegs, exhaust system and kickstand will find the pavement earlier. Without raising these (easier said than done) this comes with the territory and should be kept in mind when riding the bike after lowering. Be sure to read any advisories in the publications that come with the lowering kits. It is also a function of how aggressive the bike is ridden and typically is not an issue for Softail riders. This is also another arguement for the stiffer suspension when lowering the bike (i.e., the bike will have to ridden harder to compress the suspension allowing pegs to scrape vs. a bike with softer suspension).
Thanks, Mike

Thanks Mike for the quick reply and the suggestion to be cautious and read the advisories. If lower the bike, I?ll be sure and take it slow and ?feel? the bike out, especially with cornering until I understand how the new suspension reacts. I?m not an overly aggressive rider, but I do like gett?n in on sometimes and I do have my death defying moments :@}

With my experience with lowering cars, I agree with you in the ?argument for the stiffer suspension?. At least until you drop it enough, like my son has, and get the Mexi bump thang going. He?s totally ruined the ride in his Toyota.

Oh and I also read I should change to a shorter jiffy stand so the bike will have the same lean angle as it does now. Don?t want it tipping over.

PS: Your forum rocks. It?s like the holly grail of honest facts and no crap when it comes to performance upgrades, tuning, etc. In fact the entire dealership of Latus appears to rock. I bought my bike from another Portland dealership, I won?t name names, and they truly do not have their act together like you guys at Latus. OK, enough stroking, but hey, thanks for your efforts on this forum!
Jack

[Mike]

Thank You, good luck with the lowering project (BTY, I should have mentioned the short stand :o ).
Mike