Chrome Fork Slider Covers

We have a beautiful set of Performance Machine lower sliders and fork slider covers that we will be installing on our Street Glide. Before we lay out our new chrome parts, we have some work to do on this motorcycle.

Caliper Removal

We already have the motorcycle secured to our lift with straps and a flat jack. We begin by loosening and removing the front caliper mounting hardware. Remove this hardware with, either a 10mm socket, or the box end of a 10mm, combination wrench or box wrench. When the caliper hardware is removed, you will need to carefully slide the calipers off of the rotors without rubbing and scraping the front fender. Do not leave the calipers hanging where they can end up damaging the fender or being damaged themselves. Take an extra minute to wrap the caliper in a towel and tie it up, out of the way, with a tie wrap, bungee cord, or tape.

Front Wheel Removal

Next, the axle nut is removed and the axle pinch bolt is loosened. Raise the front end of the motorcycle until the front wheel is just touching the lift. Now, slide the axle out while paying close attention to front axle spacer orientation. It is a good idea to take a minute to mark, or label the axle spacers for correct orientation upon reassembly or, even just for reference purposes if you are not reusing them.

Now, begin to jack up the front of the motorcycle until the front wheel can clear the fender and be removed from the lift. Continue to monitor you straps, and the overall stability of your motorcycle as you raise it up and down on the jack. If the security of the motorcycle is ever in question; stop to address it immediately.

Fender Removal

With the wheel out of the way, the front fender can now be removed. On this model year, the fender mounting hardware secures directly into the fender from the outside, in. Remove this hardware and carefully slide the fender up, and forward.
On older touring models, the mounting bolts are hex heads that are captured by a retainer which has tabs that are bent over the mounting bolts. These bolt from the inside, outward. They go through the holes in the fender and thread into the lower sliders. On these models, it is best to remove all four bolts, carefully raise the fender up between the bells while your second set of hands spins each lower slider 180 degrees. You can then slide the fender down and forward as you clear the lower sliders and fork slider covers.

Next up, we will be removing the ignition switch and lower bezel in order to access the fork tube pinch bolts. When we loosen these pinch bolts, we can drop both left and right side fork tubes and head over to the bench for disassembly before we install lower sliders and fork slider covers.