- 81 HARLEY DAVIDSON SPORTSTER GIRDER FRONT END HOW TO
- 81 HARLEY DAVIDSON SPORTSTER GIRDER FRONT END INSTALL
Following on from the Pan America, the Harley Sportster S eschews air-cooling, non-existent electronics and 'feel over performance' in favour of modern engineering, less show and more go. What Harley-Davidson have presented us with now is a brand new bike, nay a brand new concept, that chucks all but the Sportster name in the bin.
81 HARLEY DAVIDSON SPORTSTER GIRDER FRONT END HOW TO
I’m at a loss as to how to figure out what the hell is going wrong, unless I had a paughco frame that was built without a tape measure, and my new springer was built by the same guy and still no tape measure. Everything is at least 3/4” off, possibly as much as an inch.
81 HARLEY DAVIDSON SPORTSTER GIRDER FRONT END INSTALL
On the same token, I bought my replica inline springer and went to install it on my 73 shovelhead frame, the trees do not line up whatsoever.
Now putting the girder on my 81 shovelhead Harley Davidson frame, there is no spacer needed. (I had the spacer figured at 1”x2” with a 1” hole for the stem). When installing the 16 over girder on the aftermarket frame, I would have had to install a 1” spacer between one of the trees and the neck of the frame.
Two of the frames i have are harley frames, and I just traded my non harley (paughco frame if I’m not mistaken) to a friend for labor. Remember your calling them Harley necks that aren't on Harley frames right?Yes I understand that. So your not using Harley parts on a Harley I get that. Most Springer manufacturers set this 'neck length' at 8-inches as it's become a de-facto Harley standard so if you can't get an accurate measurement from your bike this is dimension that we will use and it will work with about 95% of all stock Harley frames and aftermarket frames made to use a standard Harley steering stem. Quite often there is a significant amount of space between the upper bearing preload nut and the actual bottom of the upper tree and this is normal so that preload can be adjusted without removing the top tree. We will supply a new set with the forks but the proper fitment of the trees may still need to be adjusted slightly using shim washers especially if you change bearings. Different bikes will come fitted with different styles of bearing preload nuts and locking washers. This distance can vary considerably from one bike to the next so take some time to get this as close as you possibly can.
The diagram below is a sketch of a typical neck assembly. Basically this is just the distance between the outside surfaces of the upper and lower dust shields. The next thing needed is what we call the 'neck-length' (NL). Here is some info from the Chopper Builders Handbook: The chrome bearing cups are not used in this design. 0015” smaller to create an interference fit to keep the race in position. It is important that the race used is measured and it’s bore in the neck is about. The drawing below is for a one piece steering neck where bearing races press directly in counter bores in the neck itself. The outside tapers can be eliminated and straight walls used in the design. The drawing below shows a tapered steering neck for press in bearing cups. (sorry but for some weird reason, the “in” got moved into the dimension by the conversion software…but what do you expect for free?) Skill in metal fabrication, welding and motor vehicle engineering are required for the construction and installation of these parts. The drawings provided below are for reference only. A cold rolled 1018 steel or 1026 DOM tube works well with typical DOM and CREW mild steel tubing used in custom frame construction. 188” is maintained in any cross section of the steering neck and seamless or billet material is used for construction. It is recommended that wall thickness of. The neck can be made in one piece at 7.063” tall with counter bores to suit races, bearings and dust covers. The steering axle is typically 1” diameter so the neck needs a 1-1/8 or 1-1/4 through bore.
This makes a three-piece assembly (not including races, bearings and dust covers) measuring slightly over 7” tall. 800” deep counter bore 1.313” in diameter for press in chrome bearing cups. For the typical HD style custom frame, the neck needs to be 5-5/8” tall with a. The steering neck is an important but simple part of frame construction. Big Twin Choppers and Custom Bikes are our passion. This info on Harley frame necks may also be helpful, from MerchWerks Fabrication Here is info I posted last week which may be helpful Steering stem question: