Rizoma 6 Degree Raked Triple Tree Installation

Rizoma 6 Degree Raked Triple Tree Installation

Nothing, and I mean nothing! transforms the VLX like a set of raked trees! I bought mine and left the on my desk for a several months. They looked that good! Finally got around to installing them and immediately started kicking myself for not doing it sooner! The install is very easy, but there are a few things you need to be aware of before jumping headlong into this project.

You need to get a new steering stem bearing set. All you need is the lower race, but it's not sold by itself.
You need to fabricate a new mount for the speedometer. There are no holes for the stock mount in the new trees.

You'll also need some way to lift the bike off the ground. If you don't have a lift, you can make one very easily and on the cheap!

Head to Home Depot or whatever building store is close by, and head for the lumber department.
Get a 2"x10" about 4 feet long (they'll cut it for you if you ask nicely!)
Now head for the plumbing department.
Secure a 48" piece of 1.5" black iron pipe and a matching 1.5" floor flange.
Now stop by the screw aisle and get some nuts and bolts to mount the flange to the board.
Pay the nice lady and head back to the shop.
Secure the flange to the upper right corner of the board with the screws.
Place the board under the bike and note that the underside of the bike isn't flat!
Make a few marks on the board to provide clearance for the frame tubes on either side.
Cut out the frame tube marks, and connect the sides across the middle with a half moon shaped cut out.
You'll have to fine tune the right side frame cutout (it's a little lower than the left side).
Once you have it fitting good, screw the pipe into the flange.
Position the board under the bike, and pull back on the pipe to lift the bike.
Pretty neat, huh?!

Now you're ready to get started on the trees! You've got the front of the bike up in the air, all your tools are gathered up and at the ready and you've made the trip to the Honda shop for a new bearing set. All ready to go, right? Wrong! You still need to put that lower race on the new trees. This is the toughest part of the job, and you have a few choices to take care of it.

Take it to the dealer. If you're lucky, they'll do it for free, or a small charge.
Take it to the dealer. If you're not lucky, they'll charge you an hours labor.
Do it yourself. It's a huge PITA, but it's free!
Put the new steering stem in the freezer. Leave it there overnight (and you thought you were ready!)
Next morning, find a piece of pipe that's i.d. is just slightly bigger than the steering stems o.d.
Before you take the stem out of the freezer, put the race into a pot of boiling water for about 20 minutes.
Grab the stem, and the race, and head for the shop.
Put the stem through the lower tree, and then slide the race onto the stem as far as it will go.
Place the pipe over the stem, rest it on the race, and with a hammer, slowly tap it home. You'll be here a while!
Now that the race is in place, you're finally ready to get started!

Here's the installation procedure for the trees.

Lift the front of the bike off the ground. Use the new lift you built!
Remove the handlebars and all associated stuff that's in your way.
Remove the headlight, speedometer, front wheel (hang the caliper by a string to something on the bike).
Remove the front fender, then the fork tubes. Mine came out easy, but some have had to tap them with a rubber mallet.
Remove the stem nut, and the nut under that. You need a hammer, screwdriver and some patience!
Remove the stock trees.
Slide the new lower tree/stem assembly up through the neck, and put the upper tree on.
Secure the whole assembly to the neck using the stock nuts and washers.
Make sure you put the nuts and washers on in the correct order. It makes a difference!
Put the big chrome nut on the stem.
Put the fork tubes back on, and make sure they're installed at the same height on each side.
Now reinstall the fender, using the bolts and spacers provided in the kit.
Now for the front wheel. The new spacer goes on the speedo drive side of the wheel.
The axle has a spacer built in for the other side.
Now slide the caliper over the disc, and using the spacer and bolts supplied in the kit, bolt it back up to the leg.
Tighten the axle down to spec.
You're almost done with the hard parts!
Remount the risers and handlebars now, you'll need the risers in place for the speedo mount.
Let's take a little time to make a mount for the speedo.
I used "t" brackets designed for bracing cabinets, available at any hardware store.
Bolt the brackets to the underside of the risers, and swivel them in until the cross at a right angle.
Mark where they cross, take them off and cut off the extra with a hacksaw or Dremel tool.
Cut the cable guides off the stock speedo mount.
Next, drill 2 mounting holes in what used to be the back wall of the speedo mount.
Mount the speedo mount to the "t" brackets using small bolts and a dab of Loctite.
Mount the speedo back to the newly fabbed mount.
Now you can finish up the installation.
Using a Dremel or a drill, make some slots in the headlight mount so you can adjust the light pattern.
Reinstall the headlight.
Spend a little time going back over all the fasteners, making sure everything's tight. Cheap insurance!
Get the bike off the lift, and enjoy the new Wide Glide look!

As with any project of this scope, once you mess with one thing, you have to mess with a bunch of other little things. The speedo mount has to be fabbed (or you can buy the side mount from Bikercom, or purchase a totally new setup that mounts to the bars from Shadow Stuff. You can also get a matching tach from them! Looks sweet!), the kickstand is too long (the bike is too straight up and down, a strong wind can turn it over. I tried a Rebel kickstand, but it didn't change things at all. My solution was to use a grinder and modify the stock kickstand mount to let the stand go farther forward in it's arc, and I also ground down the plate itself making it thinner, so the kickstand would flop over a little farther. You could go the expensive route, and get a new custom stand from Hot Match. It's only money, right?!)

Anywho! The page has gotten pretty long, so I added another picture page for the installation pics.

Good Luck! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

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