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Each part is powder coated twice and sometimes three times. There is a base, translucent for metallic, candy's, and clear for depth and protection.

During the long day, while parts were away, we took turns taking fasteners off the diagram paper, sticking them in a sheet of cardboard and spray painting the heads with a heavy industrial gloss black.

We ordered the new fender mounted license plate bracket, but when it arrived it had a long strip of reflective tape along the bottom. That 1/2-inch of metal had to be removed with a hacksaw, filed flat then wet and dry sanded. Then we sanded the chrome finish with 600 wet and dry and painted it with heavy gloss black.

Drilling holes in the fender for the new license plate bracket.

We needed to reshape the fender bracket. It was designed to be installed against the curve of the fender above the taillight, but we moved it below the taillight.

We used a two-part metal painting process for best adhesion.

Ah, that bastard brake pedal. We finally pried it loose, cleaned it with solvent, sanded it and painted the sucker ourselves.

The mag wheels were mounted with Avon Venom tires with a 150 strapped to the rear rim. The Tires were balanced and we installed the new floating rotors with black centers. My plan was to add a taste of color to the wheels with pinstriping. We discovered that the 150 was a tight fit for the King. It seems that later model Softails and Dynas are set up for 150s with narrower belts, not Touring models. We had to space the pulley away from the wheel .150 inch. Even then is was close. A bikernet reader suggested that we machine the brake caliper bracket .250-inch and add that amount to the left side wheel spacer. Pablo from Charolette H-D said that the rear wheels are slightly off center, but the manual calls for the front and rear wheel to be in line. I'm investigating further. We also discovered a problem with pinstriping the wheels. The new H-D cast mag wheels are aluminum. My striper, George, told us that the striping won't last. Another source said that if I stripe then clear it will hold. Still investigating.

Here's one of the spacers we used which is about .050. It wasn't enough. Not even close.

Here's a shot of one of the new rear axle adjusters that pull the larger axle back simultaneously. It's not easy though. I had to set the bike on the ground as I tightened the right side, but I had to hold the left side in place or the belt adjustment changed.

An American Rider deadline was looming ahead when the UPS man knocked on the door and announced the arrival of the massive powder coating box. I was relieved to have all the parts back. I removed the spoked rear wheel by snapping off the axle clip ring with a small flat bladed screwdriver and loosening the axle nut. We spun it to release the pressure on the belt (from the left side). The trick to removing the rear wheel was the brake caliper. It seemed to lodge itself between the rim and the swingarm. It took some fidgeting to free the two elements. The new mag wheel slipped into place easily. We discovered, while returning the axle into position, that we needed to insure the belt adjuster would swing passed the shock mount, or it was stuck.

We went at the installation like two kids assembling a Christmas toy. We assembled the turnsignals with a touch of industrial lube to allow the plastic reflectors to slip back into their rubber housings and into the black shells. We referred to the factory manual for torque specifications. Then I used Frank Kaisler's wire tool (see tech tips in Wrench's Garage) to hold the two wires in place so that I could solder the junctions. "Don't forget to slide on 1-inch of shrink tubing before you solder these puppies," I told Nuttboy who was fighting the other turnsignal into place with a tiny Allen wrench.

Nuttboy ground and shaped the license plate to fit the new bracket. The rear end was looking trick as we plugged the connections back together and replace the taillight. Then using copious amounts of blue Loctite we started to replace the bag roll bars, but didn't tighten anything. We used our schematic on the bench to insure we were grabbing the correct fasteners and followed the parts from the roll bars to the fender rails. (Note: that during this process if you feel the need to remove the rear axle in the near future, don't tighten the lower bag rail. It interferes with the axle.)

Once everything was in place, we tightened the fasteners. About the time we were leaning toward the Torx screws with a ratchet Sin Wu sauntered into the garage and pointed out a long strip of U-shaped rubber. She has a knack for timing that uncanny. The rubber strips back the saddlebag support bracket. I also noted that the long piece goes on the rear edge and the short piece on the front. Once all the elements were in place and aligned we started at the front and tightened toward the back. The saddlebag quick-release mounting brackets were also installed loose. Then we placed the leather covered bags on the bag rail and pushed the studs into place. Only then could we tightened the mounting bracket, 1/4-20, bolts. Watch that they don't move during the last swing of the wrench. Keep them in line with the bags or installing and removing the bags will be a chore.

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