Get Dropped | Simple Softail Lowering
01. The Blazing Bikes lowering kit ($109) is comprised of a pair of split collar spacers, new cup washers, and new barrel nuts.
02. Our initial measurement off the center of the axle measured 13 1/2 inches.
03. We started by securing the bike on a lift and raising the rear so the rear tire was in the air and we had room to work. We then removed the two bolts at the front of the shocks, along with the cup washers and bushings.
04. Using a pair of pliers, we removed the metal sleeves from each of the shocks.
05. Next we used a block of wood to raise the rear tire and pull the shocks back to provide space to mount the spacers. The spacers mount against the nut shaft on the shock rod (red arrow). Raising the tire high enough to where there is about 1 inch of space between the nut shaft and bushing (blue arrow) will give you enough room to install and tighten the spacers.
06. Once the collars were slipped around the shafts, we used thread locker on the spacer bolts to keep them secured.
07. Once both spacers were tightened down, we removed the block wood and let the tire back down. We then assembled the front shock mount assembly using the stock bushing and the new cup washer and barrel nut.
08. After adding a dab of thread locker on the barrel nut, we tightened the nut down and we were finished with the install.
09. We then took our final measurement, and in less time it takes for pizza delivery, our bike was sitting 1 1/2 inches lower.
Times are tight but you still want to improve the look of your bike right? So it really helps when you find products that are relatively inexpensive but provide plenty of bang for your buck. We recently came across a lowering kit for Twin Cam Softails that is just a hair more than $100 and will lower the rear of your bike about 1 1/2 inches.
Based out of Phoenix, Bob Abney of Blazing Bikes developed a lowering kit for ’00-later Softails that is not only easy on the wallet, but also really simple to install and only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. While there are many other lowering kits that can be installed on the stock shocks of late-model Softails, most of those kits require you to remove and maybe even disassemble the shock in order to install them. This is where the Blazing Bikes kit stands apart. The install is done without having to remove the shocks from the bike, making it a snap to have measured results with little time and effort. Follow along as we show the install on a ’00 Fat Boy.
Sources
Blazing Bikes
softailloweringkit.com | (602) 803-0049
