Well my FLHTK is finished with all the add-ons; chrome, stereo and all the performance upgrades are done.

Now time to look at the suspension and need some recommendations. Here is what I want to achieve.

Front - I go about 270 and my wife is 140. Would like to stiffen up the front suspension some so the bike is more stable in tight turns and stopping with the weight. Need to figure the best way to go here.

Rear - I can't really think of anything nice to say about the stock rear suspension so I won't. Looking for shocks that will not bottom out with the weight and give a very tour friendly ride when going 2-up.

What I do not want to achieve is any lowering of the bike and don't want to throw $1K at something that will be barley noticeable.

 

I just wrote a quick blurb about the Ohlins I just put on the rear. Pretty huge improvement over stock. I'm heavier than you and I've found that with the rear riding better the front has become less irritating. I may get some better front suspension at some point but it's good enough for now that it doesn't ride so harsh.

 

For the front forks: Ricor Intiminators and RaceTech springs that are matched to your weight.

Leave the Progressive springs alone -- they are not as good as the RaceTech straight-rate springs. I learned that the hard way.

 

Your combined weights are very close to mine and my wife's combined weights--within 15 pounds total.

Ohlins #6 from Howard are what we chose to address this same question on the rear of our '14 FLHTK.

They handled two weeks through the Badlands, Rockies, Moab, and back to Iowa, fully loaded, with camping gear and all necessities this summer. The shocks were absolutely brand new when taking off, so I made a couple of small adjustments with ease while underway.

1. They will handle any amount of weight you can throw at them without bottoming, and,

2. The difference between stock and these is so huge that the cost becomes a non-issue in short order.

All the best,

Shane

 

Those Ohlins #6 look good, seems exactly what I am looking for. Does $1400 seem about right? More expensive then I thought, but I guess you get what you pay for here.

 

Theres a lot of good suspension out there. I like Racetech, I think they do an excellent job and I would be confident in what they might recommend.
However, at this time for HD stuff I would call Howard at Motorcyclemetal. He does a lot of Harley work and has the advantage of having ridden on every model of shock he sells and that is a big deal. I would propose exactly the questions you did here and he will be able to tell you the differences between them. I suspect he also has some good ideas for the front end as well. I've never gotten the sense he was trying to push me into buying more than I needed. He is direct about what he thinks though.
After 3 different sets of shocks since '09 from him I've got a fair amount of confidence in what he tells me.

 

Yep, Howard is the real deal. My #6s arrive tomorrow

Looking forward to getting them installed although I'm afraid they will just highlight how bad the front is. I'll probably pull the forks over the winter and send them to Howard to install the Ohlin 30mm setup.

 

I plan to do the Ohlins #6 swap this winter.

Bohacker is you do the 30mm front please let us know what you think.

 

Absolutely. I suspect I'll start a thread when I get the 6s installed and road tested and another once I upgrade the front.

BTW, I was planning to get the #3s for the rear but Howard told me that if I planned to upgrade the front then I'd be disappointed with the 3s. That pushed me to the 6s plus 3 5/8" of stroke is pretty sweet.

 

IIRC, it was a bit less than that figure, but not a lot less--that was about 2-3 months ago now.

Unlike the cost of power increases, these types of upgrades put a smile on your face with every single mile, not just when accelerating.

All the best,

Shane