Safety/Reliability/Drivabilty going to trees and a 23

[smooothone23]

I currently have an 09 FLHX and had a issue with water/gravity/oil recently and now have the chance to make some changes to the scooter courtesy of my insurance company. I am looking to go to 7* trees and a 23. My main concern is the safety and drivability aspect of it. I have the blessing/curse of working at a HD dealership so my every move on the bike is being questioned by the mechanics in the shop who are afraid of custom work and deviating from the stock HD guidelines.

So as you can guess, I am hearing that there is a safety issue going from a 17 to a 23 in terms of over/under steer, contact patch changes, rake/trail issues etc. I have read about guys touring big miles on big wheels but before i go against the advice of every mechanic in my shop I wanted to hear from those that have taken this plunge with the 7*tree/23 change.

Thanks in advance for your 2 cents!

[JUICE]

Slothy will chime in here. He's already done 1 getaway from Michigan with over 2k miles and now he's riding to Nevada or that area all on the bike with a 26. The DA performance boys just rolled 3 hours to Michigan bike time on all 26s and 2 30" bikes. Honestly 23 is nothing. You will be fine if you run the HHI trees.

[Tripp_HPjunkie]

^^^ agree with JUICE just think if everyone listened to your HD mechanic guys and never customized their bikes.........lol we wouldnt have the cool stuff we have today.......I know a guy with a 23 on a street glide that rides his pretty much every day.......he has no problems with it............will it ride different? yes but its not unsafe by no means.....Just ask your HD grease monkeys if they have even riden a 23" or bigger front wheel bagger......either way post some pics up here

[smooothone23]

Is there an opinion on brand of trees to use? Is one better than the other? HHI vs Pickard vs ?

[TXSNIPER]

I've heard really good things about the pickard trees plus they have a no wobble guarantee.

[Tripp_HPjunkie]

HHI is forum sponsor here and they give us a discount shot them a email

[Gary H.]

I've got the Harley Trike trees on mine. Is the ride different? Yep! Is the ride more dangerous? Only to your pocket book! If you do the factory trike trees, you'll have to lengthen your fork tubes by an inch, then you'll want to lower it with a lowering kit to bring it back down closer to level to keep from bashing your front fender. I can provide first hand proof on this issue! You could probably do it without going 1" over on your tubes and just lowering it an inch.

Having said that, I wish I had gone with the HHI or Pickard trees instead. It gives the bike a different look. A little more level and it looks a little more layed out. Personally, I'll probably cut the neck this winter and go 26 or 30" because I like the stretched, layed out look.

I've got over 5000 miles on my bike since I've switched out the trees and installed the 23". The ride is more responsive and feels lighter in the front end. The one thing I did that really helped was to tighten it up a little more than the recommended flop from Harley. I love the different ride on my bike and wouldn't want to go back to stock ever again. I went through the same thing. I worked at a Harley dealership and bought a new bike. I immediately started tearing it down and modifying things and the flack I got from the mechanics was rediculous! I had ot have some warranty work done on the bike and it required one of them to test ride it after I had already quit the dealership. Noone wanted to ride it but one of them had to do the test ride. I asked him what he though when he got back. He said he hated it. His complaint, my windshield was too tall for him and he had to look through it. No other complaints about ride though.