I'm considering doing a fork service on the glide. It's coming up on 7 years and the last thing I want is to have a leak midway thru the riding season. I changed the oil in the forks a couple of years ago but I wanted to open up them up and change the seals and inspect the bushing for wear. Having the forks off presents me with a few choices. I can keep everything stock, replace the springs with a heavier set from progressive or go the cartridge route. The two cartridge choices are either Ohlins or Progressive. There are also emulators which for lack of a better explanation replace the holes in the damper rod.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of reviews on the Ohlins cartridges, probably due to the cost at $1000. I've read mixed reviews on the progressive cartridges. I havent gone much into the emulators by race tech or Ricor. My logic is your replacing the holes in the damper rod (which act as dampers by restricting the flow of oil) by a different hole in a valve that's added to the forks. I'll be the first to admit that I've upgraded many a part on my bike. Many of those upgrades are not driven by aesthetics but by the quality of the part itself. I've learned that many of the components used by the MoCo are driven first by cost and secondly by appearance if it applies. Case in point, the rear shocks are the least expensive route that still functions. I admit I spent the money on Ohlins and did notice a marked improvement. Of course I'm comparing an air shock to a hydraulic dampened shock.
My question is are the cartridge setups worth the cost in relation to what you get. I noticed a significant difference in the forks when I simply went to a heavier oil. A marked improvement for nut much expense. Any one out there been down this road or questioned the products available?

 

Sorry to only address one thing here, but I've never heard a bad thing about the Ricor Intiminators. Once I get a new seat and upgrade my lighting, I'm planning to do my suspension, definitely with the Intiminators and maybe their rear shocks.

 

A drop in cartridge system will generally give you better results then emulators. One of the advantages of a typical drop in cartridge system, although the ohlins system doesn't do it, is you will have external adjusters so you can tweak it to your liking.

Ktech is making what looks to be a nice drop in system for Harleys.

http://www.orientexpress.com/p-20416...ridge-kit.aspx

Like the ohlins system one side controls compression and the other side controls rebound. Unlike the ohlins you can adjust the preload, compression dampening, and rebound dampening.

It was something I've considered before deciding on doing a complete new front end with usd forks.

 

I'm curious to see if anyone goes for the new premium suspension pieces for HD. I'm waiting for reviews. Something about engineering done by the manufacturer appeals to me, but not hung up on that in this case. I want good suspension on my new SBob but not going to throw out new for new...yet.

 

i am expecting delivery of the Ricor intimidators and straight rate springs any day now i want to do them before spring