TGlide 1.25 lift

[Beorn of Ga]

Just installed a TGlide 1.25 lift & Tour Box Lift. Didn't get a chance to ride my Triglide yet. But wanted to make sure that anybody planning on doing this, take the instructions re "factory known to use copious amounts of Loctite at times" serious. The only way I could remove the 9/16" axle flange bolts, was with strait (no offset at ends), 12" long, boxed end wrench. It took so much pulling power to break loose the bolts, that any offset in a wrench (including a ratchet wrench) caused the wrench to slip off of the bolt head. Everything went smooth per the instructions (except the factory loctite part). Hope this helps somebody.

 

[Zio Giacomo]

Beorn
Let me know how it works out. been looking at it for my 2010.
Zio Giacomo

 

[eagle1]

had the same problem as they used red lock tight on my bolts.often when i need extra tugging on a o/e wrench i use another long open end wrench use the openend part to lock ends with the boxd end of the wrench. takes some steadness to lock the wrenches but you get a extra 10 inches to tug on.now we need mud flaps on the t/g's. see the guy posting here who reciently made some nice ones . extra winter project guys.

 

[iaff84]

Just installed a TGlide 1.25 lift & Tour Box Lift. Didn't get a chance to ride my Triglide yet. But wanted to make sure that anybody planning on doing this, take the instructions re "factory known to use copious amounts of Loctite at times" serious. The only way I could remove the 9/16" axle flange bolts, was with strait (no offset at ends), 12" long, boxed end wrench. It took so much pulling power to break loose the bolts, that any offset in a wrench (including a ratchet wrench) caused the wrench to slip off of the bolt head. Everything went smooth per the instructions (except the factory loctite part). Hope this helps somebody.

The first two I put sets on each had allot on one axle flange bolt (White). Both were 2011 TGs. HD makes it tough on us at times! But it is so much fun laying on floor talking to a motorcycle under your breath!!!
Also do not get the chance to use the word "copious" much, rolls off the tongue so nice.
Dennis

 

[adaptolife]

Why would you want to raise the center of gravity? That will lead to reduced stability.

 

[Boom]

Why would you want to raise the center of gravity? That will lead to reduced stability.

Any raise in center of gravity is very negligible to me. I see no difference in stability but there does seeem to be a bit better bite with the front tire; better handing in curves.

 

[trikermutha]

Heat on the bolts will get them out much easier and I used a breaker bar to get mine off.

 

[TheBobs]

Heat on the bolts will get them out much easier and I used a breaker bar to get mine off.

+1 on heat.

Sounds like the MOCO is on to us with these lift kits. My 2010 bolts were not that hard to break free. BUT...

If they are using the same locktite as the bolts on the cross-member (same bolts used for the trailer hitch), then yep, you gotta heat 'em up. I twisted all but one high-security, high-strength torx that I could find in two towns trying to break those (with some clear locktite stuff) free. 20 seconds with a propane soldering torch and they gave up the ghost but were real gooey on the way out. I think someone somewhere called it "permanent" locktite.

 

[41inWV]

When I put my trailer hitch on, I got one security bolt out and couldn't budge the other three. I swore then the assembler owned stock in Loctite, I actually got my Dremel tool out and ground two sides of the bolt head flat so I could get the vice grips on it. NOT a good plan for the Flange bolts though. I got mine using an open end wrench. Reinstalled the new bracket when SENSIBLE amount of BLUE locktite

 

[10rhrk]

Why would you want to raise the center of gravity? That will lead to reduced stability.

Bingo!!! Same with another post in the 30 T sprocket change thread saying it will increase top speed. It's the other way around. If you want to increase stability in curves, you lower it and stiffen the suspension. If you want to increase top end speed, you gear it higher not lower.

 

[rhino 2]

Why would you want to raise the center of gravity? That will lead to reduced stability.

Sounds like that's the way it ''should'' work But it isn't.
I have put over two thousand miles on the brackets, and the Tri is more stable and steers easier [lighter] than stock. ThumbUp

 

[TheBobs]

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<img src="images/misc/quote_icon.png" alt="Quote" /> Originally Posted by <strong>adaptolife</strong>
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<div class="message">Why would you want to raise the center of gravity? That will lead to reduced stability.</div>

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</div>Are we only raising it? Could there any lateral shift? Could there be a change in the Rake/Trail geometry of the front end? CG shifts when accelerating or decelerating, so CG being dynamic, maybe there's several components acting on CG while moving down the road other than the lift alone.<br />
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I've ridden mine pretty hard for the last 5K or so since putting on the lift brackets and haven't felt any adverse effects. Then again, I'm not an engineer, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night<img src="images/smilies/laugh.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Laugh" class="inlineimg" />

 

[Beorn of Ga]

had the same problem as they used red lock tight on my bolts.often when i need extra tugging on a o/e wrench i use another long open end wrench use the openend part to lock ends with the boxd end of the wrench. takes some steadness to lock the wrenches but you get a extra 10 inches to tug on.now we need mud flaps on the t/g's. see the guy posting here who reciently made some nice ones . extra winter project guys.

I have used the double wrench trick before also (or a section of water pipe slid over the wrench. But I didn't have room for an extension. Another thing I didn't mention is that you need to jack the tires off the floor an extra amount, because if you don't, the lug bolts will be to low to mount the wheel after the lift up-grade (guess how I found that out)

 

[Beorn of Ga]

Why would you want to raise the center of gravity? That will lead to reduced stability.

I put about 300 miles on my Triglide this morning after the modification. Strait line driveing is the same, but it corners a lot better. There is a ton of information about this modification in this forum and other places on the internet. You may want to start at tglidestuff.com.

BTW.The sitting position is also better for me.

 

[msocko3]

Why would you want to raise the center of gravity? That will lead to reduced stability.

When others originally started raising theirs I had those very thoughts which had me sitting on the sidelines for awhile to see how things would shake out. I bought a set back in July to see for my self what would happen because at times I'm a pretty aggressive rider. I've put right around 3,000 miles on my Triglide since installing the brackets with no handling issues. When I first installed them I was going to scale the trike to see how much weight shifted but I couldn't find scales that would handle the weight, my red neck way was to get some bathroom scales which didn't work out. Once upon a time when my brother was still drag racing I would have been able to find someone who had a set for scaling the cars. Now I will say I wouldn't raise it any more than what these brackets do because there is a point where more isn't better and could lead to issues in emergency maneuvering that surely will make tubby the trike go turtle.

 

[iaff84]

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<img src="images/misc/quote_icon.png" alt="Quote" /> Originally Posted by <strong>msocko3</strong>
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<div class="message">When others originally started raising theirs I had those very thoughts which had me sitting on the sidelines for awhile to see how things would shake out. I bought a set back in July to see for my self what would happen because at times I'm a pretty aggressive rider. I've put right around 3,000 miles on my Triglide since installing the brackets with no handling issues. When I first installed them I was going to scale the trike to see how much weight shifted but I couldn't find scales that would handle the weight, my red neck way was to get some bathroom scales which didn't work out. Once upon a time when my brother was still drag racing I would have been able to find someone who had a set for scaling the cars. Now I will say I wouldn't raise it any more than what these brackets do because there is a point where more isn't better and could lead to issues in emergency maneuvering that surely will make tubby the trike go turtle.</div>

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</div><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS"><font size="3">msocko3 - There are a few others out there that went to 1.5 inch and liked them. That is why I made and tried several sizes. I found the 1.5 a little touchy myself and would not recommend them. The 1 inch were fine in handling but not much help with looks. The 1.25 inch lift was best of both worlds for me.<br />
I do not market these with any claim to improve handling, just looks.

I also would not market anything I would not use myself and feel would not be safe.<br />
I will say this, for my style riding, 1.5 was too much, 1.25, I enjoy.<br />
If any one would purchase a set and feel they made their scooter unsafe, I would gladly refund their money. We all are grownups here, loving where we are in life and own these scooters for the enjoyment they bring to us and that is the bottom line.<br />
If anyone would have a question about these or comments on their experience with this modification, feel free to give me a call.<br />
Between Jerry and I, we have over 30K on these. Jerry has ran these over several years now and he can speak better to his feeling than I.<br />
Jerry?<br />
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</font></span>

 

[sprinkman]

I go along with msocko3 I did mine before we left for sturgis over 6,000 miles later no adverse affect. Seems to corner better and looks better I would recommend them.

 

[eagle1]

guess sometimes if you put you foot on the wrench that helps.man !!what we go thru to get a desent ride.. roll on and throttle-up.

 

[Trent]

I have put 2000 miles on my '11 with the lift kit. I will testify that it made a great improvement with the handling. I know it does not make sense to do so,, but it does. My theory is raising the rear adds more weight to front, like a cantilever, and increased the tire bite and the angle of the bike when you go around curves. Went on a charilty Polar Bear poker run yeterday..31 degrees when we started... about 45 bikes with two of us on Trikes. I went around the curves the sames speed as the two wheelers and was hittin' the brakes most of the time to keep from pushin' 'em. Nobody out ran me. Could not do that before. Very happy with it and consider it one of the best functional / safety items I have installed.

 

[TheBobs]

Does anyone know how the TG rear ride height compares to a Lehman coversion rear ride height? Could HD maybe have set the ride height lower for a "lower look" in addition to stability?<img src="images/smilies/shrug.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Shrug" class="inlineimg" />

 

[grapenuts]

Bingo!!! Same with another post in the 30 T sprocket change thread saying it will increase top speed. . . . If you want to increase top end speed, you gear it higher not lower.

That's only true up to the point where you run out of horsepower before you run out of RPM. My stock '09 could not make over I-70 in Colorado and Utah in 6th gear so I had to downshift into 5th. Going to a 30 T sprocket would allow using 6th gear instead. If you can't reach a reasonably high RPM in top gear in any machine, then it is geared too high. In my case, on flat level ground, I ran out of steam in 6th at 3000 rpm in stock configuration. Top speed in 5th was actually higher than top speed in 6th.

 

[Helipilot]

I am running a set of 1.5 inch brackets on my trike, the first set was 1.25 inch and I wanted to push the limit to see if it would get better or worse. The limit is the clearance of the axle and the only difference is the clearance of the pipes from the ground. The 1.5 inch gives a little more room from the ground, I can not tell any handling difference on the two brackets and I have run both. The brackets do change handling because they reduce the trail (the angle of the forks in relation to the axle). Center of gravity almost does not change because it equates to about 3/8 of an inch and that is not enough to change the handling of the bike. Wind deflection does change, the windshield is more abrupt causing a tumble of the air over the shield. This can be negated by using a KlockWorks shield. I feel after many changes in the original design that 1 1/4 inches is the best of both worlds because they give a little more clearance on the axle and enough ground clearance for the pipes. Not to mention that the trike looks better setting level and it reduces the angle of the front fender. Thanks, Jerry

 

[TheBobs]

I am running a set of 1.5 inch brackets on my trike, the first set was 1.25 inch and I wanted to push the limit to see if it would get better or worse. The limit is the clearance of the axle and the only difference is the clearance of the pipes from the ground. The 1.5 inch gives a little more room from the ground, I can not tell any handling difference on the two brackets and I have run both. The brackets do change handling because they reduce the trail (the angle of the forks in relation to the axle). Center of gravity almost does not change because it equates to about 3/8 of an inch and that is not enough to change the handling of the bike. Wind deflection does change, the windshield is more abrupt causing a tumble of the air over the shield. This can be negated by using a KlockWorks shield. I feel after many changes in the original design that 1 1/4 inches is the best of both worlds because they give a little more clearance on the axle and enough ground clearance for the pipes. Not to mention that the trike looks better setting level and it reduces the angle of the front fender. Thanks, Jerry

Jerry, can you elaborate just a little more on the axle clearance issue. I'm interested in reading more about that part. Thanks.

 

[TheBobs]

Duplicate post

 

[Helipilot]

I wish I could draw on this but I can barely type. The axle runs over the mufflers on the triglide so as you space the axle down to raise the trike up the axle comes closer to the mufflers. This only comes into play when you run over something (like a big pothole)and the axle drops rather than being pushed up with a bump. If too close the axle will hit the top of the mufflers, making a loud noise sort of a bang. With my 1 1/2 inch raise I have had it do this only one time and it didn't hurt anything but made the noise. It was like WTF was that? It doesn't happen with the 1 1/4 inch lift at all, so you can see how close the tolerance is. Either is fine, I leave mine with the higher lift to give more ground clearance with my 4 inch Monster Rounds. It also tweaks the trail a little bit more than the 1 1/4 inch lift does. Everyone is correct in the bite of the front wheel because of less rake and trail. Trail is the distance from where a vertical line through the front axle hits the ground and a line through the neck of the frame hits the ground and the distance between the two lines is called trail. This can be changed by rake change or fork length change and wheel diameter plays a small part also. The more trail the easier and slower it steers, the less trail the quicker and harder it steers. The mufflers being attached to the body or frame move with the body or frame and the axle is between the two so you have a upper and lower point to work between with the travel of the axle. I hope this makes sense. Thanks, Jerry

 

[TheBobs]

I wish I could draw on this but I can barely type. The axle runs over the mufflers on the triglide so as you space the axle down to raise the trike up the axle comes closer to the mufflers. This only comes into play when you run over something (like a big pothole)and the axle drops rather than being pushed up with a bump. If too close the axle will hit the top of the mufflers, making a loud noise sort of a bang. With my 1 1/2 inch raise I have had it do this only one time and it didn't hurt anything but made the noise. It was like WTF was that? It doesn't happen with the 1 1/4 inch lift at all, so you can see how close the tolerance is. Either is fine, I leave mine with the higher lift to give more ground clearance with my 4 inch Monster Rounds. It also tweaks the trail a little bit more than the 1 1/4 inch lift does. Everyone is correct in the bite of the front wheel because of less rake and trail. Trail is the distance from where a vertical line through the front axle hits the ground and a line through the neck of the frame hits the ground and the distance between the two lines is called trail. This can be changed by rake change or fork length change and wheel diameter plays a small part also. The more trail the easier and slower it steers, the less trail the quicker and harder it steers. The mufflers being attached to the body or frame move with the body or frame and the axle is between the two so you have a upper and lower point to work between with the travel of the axle. I hope this makes sense. Thanks, Jerry

Jerry, great post. You covered everything I had hoped to learn. Thanks a million!:10:

 

[bullet 10]

That's only true up to the point where you run out of horsepower before you run out of RPM. My stock '09 could not make over I-70 in Colorado and Utah in 6th gear so I had to downshift into 5th. Going to a 30 T sprocket would allow using 6th gear instead. If you can't reach a reasonably high RPM in top gear in any machine, then it is geared too high. In my case, on flat level ground, I ran out of steam in 6th at 3000 rpm in stock configuration. Top speed in 5th was actually higher than top speed in 6th.

grapenuts, I made the same Colorado to Utha I-70 run in 5th gear 75 mph loaded pulling a trailer on my 2010 TRI, GOING OVER PASS near Junction City. oil temps were 280, stopped for fuel and noticed oil dripping off air cleaner onto pipes and ground. Stopped at the HD dealer for a look and was a 1/2 qt low on oil, tech said normal from ride over the pass. Did you experence this? :Shrug:

 

[jcolson]

I ran up the pass in August, coming bake from California. Never lost oil out the air cleaner. But found out later the tech installed the 2nd compression ring upside down. So I went through 2qts of oil in 4300mi. Got that fixed. Went for a long ride one Sunday along Lake Michigan, no problems. Next day took a 26mi ride to dinner & lost 1/2qt out the air cleaner. Took it back in the next day. They told me sometimes that happens with high compression engines. Their fix is to run it a 1/2qt low. They also said these dipsticks are not too accurate. My next ride was going down to Muncie,In to see Dennis from T-Glide Stuff. Had a lifter go out. It took out the rear cam & oil pump. They fixed that. But they filled the oil all the way up. I was afraid to drive it that way, so I called the Harley shop & they said to suck out a 1/2qt. So I did. Let me tell you, a 1/2qt of oil all over your right fender & up the side of your seat & everywhere else is not nice. I asked them if they put new baffles in the heads,& they did. So I got to drive down to see Dennis. So I guess it's not too uncommon to lose some oil out the air cleaner.

 

[grapenuts]

I-70

Bullet 10,
I didn't notice any loss of oil and don't have a temp gauge so I don't know how hot the oil was. I was riding solo on a bone stock bike and 6th gear was useless. Even in 5th I didn't have that much power and the engine was seriously out of breath. I remember getting passed by an older model BMW K750 pulling a tent trailer no less! I decided then to get the ECM reprogrammed and open the intake & exhaust.
That pretty much cured my complaints but then the 2011 models came out with the 30T that everyone is raving about. Since I have to take the trike back to the dealer for the brake switch recall, I'll ask about the cost of the upgrade. It would be nice to have a lower gear ratio to get me going from a dead stop.
BTW, I had a '95 Road King that would puke out any amount of oil I added above 3.5 quarts so that's where it runs to this day.

 

[eagle1]

map gas heat with propane torch will disolve the locktite. gotta shield area around (like shocks) in this case.