CUSTOM VALLEY 200 KIT Part I

TECH
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H R I S
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CUSTOM VALLEY 200 KIT
Part I: Installing the swingarm and rear wheel
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Our 2003 Road
King is up on
the lift with the
entire rear
section
removed. The
entire primary
system and gas
tank are also
removed, but
that’s for a
different project.
HOUGH THE STYLE HAS MOVED AWAY FROM
super-fat rear tires, a bigger-than-stock rear meat is still
a good look, as well as a solid way of getting better rear
traction for both acceleration and stopping. And it does
not hurt that it looks cool, too!
A major player in the fat-out-back department is Denis
Desrosiers, head honcho, designer, and fabricator at Custom
Valley. Denis offers well-designed and manufactured kits
constructed of quality materials. All of Denis’ swingarms and
fender struts are made of 44W material that’s shaped on
CNC machines. All fenders are stamped from QD material
using precision-machined dyes. All parts are finish-machined,
predrilled, and come ready for paint or powdercoating, and
assembly. The 1026 DOM seamless tubing is used in all the
kits. All spacers are made of 6160 billet aluminum. All fender
mounting brackets, docking brackets, and strut covers are
made from 304 stainless steel. As for the kits that include
transmission components, all mainshafts and gears are
manufactured by Andrews Products, a respected name in
transmission parts. All compensating shaft extensions are
made of 4340 HT material. All rear axles are machined and
finish-ground from 4140 HT.
Custom Valley offers a wide-tire kit for almost every
Evo- and Twin Cam-powered Harley-Davidson produced,
but I’ll tell you more about that next month when we finish
this build. The kit we’re using is one of Denis’ bolt-on Wide
Drive FLH 200 kits, which is easy to install, with no frame
modifications, on any 1990-2008 FLH. This kit also enables
you to keep the engine and transmission centered in the frame, since no offset is needed. There are three kits to
choose from, and the one we’re going to
install is #11280-20-CU ($5,665),
TOOLS NEEDED
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58 • AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2009
Hydraulic press
Grinding wheel
Micrometer
Expandable inside calipers
BAKER tranny nut socket
String
Red Loctite
Blue Loctite
5/16"-18 tap
3/16" Allen
3/8" Allen
5/16" Allen
12-point 1/2" socket
Two 7/16" deep sockets
5/8" socket
36mm socket ■
The first step is to insert new H-D
bearings into the Custom Valley wide
swingarm. Mark hasn’t powdercoated
the swingarm yet since he is mockingup the build at this point.
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TECH
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After positioning the swingarm in the
frame, Mark sends the stock swingarm
pivot shaft through the swingarm and
transmission’s rear support.
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Mark positions the left stock rubber
pillow block over its swingarm pivot
shaft.
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He then positions the stock swingarm
pivot support over the pivot shaft and
installs the stock hardware using some
blue Loctite and a 5/8" socket. He then
does the same for the right side.
60 • AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2009
The stock bushing, beveled side in,
goes onto the pivot shaft, followed by
the stock nut. After Mark uses blue
Loctite and a pair of 7/16" deep sockets
to tighten both nuts down to H-D spec,
he pops on the end cover.
Mark now installs the stock (modified)
shocks, or shorter shocks, using the
stock bolt, a 3/8" Allen, and CV-supplied
spacer up top. On the bottom, the
CV-supplied bolt and spacers must be
used, not the stock hardware.
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2006 and earlier bikes must change to
a SE #40024-04 1-1/8" belt and matching 1-1/8" pulley to clear the rear
200mm tire. Mark is using a 3 Guyz
630-chain, 22-tooth tranny sprocket
setup.
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Mark installs the 3 Guyz Super Nut
using a BAKER socket and some red
Loctite. He then uses a 3/16" Allen and
some blue Loctite to secure the two
Super Nut Allen screws.
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Mark grinds the welds down slightly
on the inner face of both top rear
shock supports to make them
almost even with the surrounding
steel plate. He needs to make room
for the new fender.
He then uses a 5/16"-18 tap on the
two holes in both rear fender supports. Once that’s done, Mark installs
the Custom Valley-supplied heli-coils.
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TECH
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Mark can now attach both Custom
Valley fender support extensions
using the CV-supplied hardware,
some blue Loctite, and a 3/16" Allen.
It’s time to mount the Metzeler
200/50ZR-18" to his chrome billet
18" billet rear wheel, noting the
tire’s directional arrow and red
balance dot. He then tops it off
with 40 psi of compressed air.
Mark mounts the Metzeler ME 880
140/70-18" tire onto the matching
chrome 18" billet front wheel. He
then tops it off with 40 psi of
compressed air.
62 • AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2009
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After installing the rotor, Mark bolts
on a 3 Guyz 630-chain 45-tooth
steel rear sprocket and aluminum
spacer using 3 Guyz stainless steel
bolts, blue Loctite, and a 12-point
1/2" socket. The bolts get torqued to
50 ft-lbs.
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Mark then slips the CV-supplied axle
through the left side of the
swingarm, through the spacer and
wheel and out the other side of the
swingarm.
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He then centers the wheel in the
frame using a length of string, which
is tied around the frame neck and
laid down the centerline of the
frame’s backbone.
After assembling the CV-supplied
axle adjusters using a 5/16" Allen,
Mark slips them into the Custom
Valley swingarm.
With the wheel positioned inside
the swingarm, Mark positions the
CV-supplied left wheel spacer,
shoulder side out, inside the left
side of the wheel hub.
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TECH
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which uses a custom fender that features a fringed license plate and taillight
assembly. This kit is going on a 2003
Road King with a five-speed transmission. The kit is designed for use with an
18" rear wheel, which allows you to use
the stock brake caliper. However, you
can also use a 16" wheel, but that
Using a set of expandable inside
calipers, Mark measures the gap on
both sides of the wheel to the
swingarm.
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Custom Valley supplies this steel
brake caliper anchor for the stock
brake caliper setup. However, Mark
is not going to use it since he is
running a custom brake caliper
mount.
requires a smaller custom brake caliper.
This kit is also designed to run a 1-1/8"
rear belt drive. However, you can also
use a rear chain, as we are, since we’re
installing the kit on a bike with an S&S
124" engine. The chain kit is from 3
Guyz Inc., and it features a 22-tooth
steel tranny sprocket with a super
strong tranny nut and 45-tooth steel
rear sprocket with stainless steel bolts
for a 630-chain. Yup, it’s designed to
take a pounding!
As for who would do the project for
us, I went to see my buddy Mark Fabrizi
at Marquee Customs, who requested a
Metzeler tire for the rear, as well as th e
front, since we are also bolting custom
wheels to the bike. As always, the accomp anying photos and captions show you
all that Mark had to do to install the rear
wheel. Next month, we’ll show you how
he bolted on the rear fen d er kit.
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He then transfers this measurement
from the caliper to a micrometer
and writes these measurements
down. He uses this info to know
what length spacers are needed on
both sides of the wheel.
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Mark now places the proper spacers on the axle. Though spacers are
supplied with the Custom Valley kit,
different wheels will require different spacers to correctly position
the wheel.
64 • AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2009
The last step for this part of the
build is to install the 3 Guyz 630
rear drive chain, which is complete
once Mark pops in the master link
and retaining clip (open end facing
to the rear). AIM
SOURCES
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Now that he knows he has the
correct size right-side wheel spacers, Mark removes them so he can
make the ones he needs to use with
his custom brake caliper mounting
bracket.
3 GUYZ INC.
21440 B NW Nicholas Court, Dept. AIM
Hillsboro, OR 97124
503/645-4898
www.3Guyz.com
C U S TO M V A L L E Y
282-A St-Jacques Nord, Dept. AIM
Causapscal, QC, Canada G0J 1J0
418/756-6417
321/446-0522
www.CustomValley.com
M A R Q U E E C U ST O M S & CL A S S I C S
72 Siemon St., Dept. AIM
Bridgeport, CT 06605
203/332-1700
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Mark can now thread on the CVsupplied flat washer, lock washer,
and axle nut using a 36mm socket.
M E T Z E L E R M OT O R C Y C L E T Y R E , N A
See your local Metzeler dealer
PO Box 700, Dept. AIM
Rome, GA 30162-7000
www.Metzeler.com
www.AIMag.com