Done the search on this webiste regarding fork oil, and I'm more confused than when I started about the weight of the factory oil in newer touring bikes.

I have a 2012 Road Glide Ultra. But for the diving under breaking, I'm happy enough with the suspension. Not going to do any mods at this time. However, I changed the fork oil last night in hopes of addressing the front end dive under breaking. Thinking that the "E" type HD for oil was 5 wt., I put 10 wt. Bell Ray in them. I haven't buttoned up the console yet, so it's not too late to make changes before I put it all back together.

In doing my due diligence, I'd read that the forks come with 5 wt., and upon further reading I'm seeing that some claim that they come with 10 wt. Anyone out there know for sure?

I am 180-185 pounds, and don't need a 15 wt if they come with 5 wt. If the forks come from the factory with 10 wt. however, then a 15 wt. might be what I need.

Any input from the guys that KNOW would be helpful. Please, and thanks!

 

H-D catalogs their fork oil weights as light, medium, heavy, and extra heavy duty. For anyone that has changed fork oil on almost every other brand of motorcycle the fork oils are rated numerically, ie: 5wt, 10wt, etc. Ya, it causes a bit of confusion.
Your 10 wt oil will probably be a little light and you'll likely still have some significant fork dive. If it's not too late, change it out to 15 wt. Bel Ray (or the equivalent). That's what I put in mine and it all but eliminated fork-dive and really smoothed out the bumps.

 

Nope! I'd suggest just trying what you have in there and seeing how you like it. The opinions here will be all over the map.

I'll tell you my experience. When I changed mine on my Limited, I put SE Heavy in it based on what I had read in this forum. Most of the guys that did so were happy. Not me! While it did improve the brake dive, it compromised high speed traction in my opinion. To me it felt like the front end was "pogoing" over bumps in high speed turns. The heavier oil slowed the front end response over the bumps.

I then drained out about 50% of the SE Heavy oil and replaced it with the Type E so now I have a 50/50 mix in there. Overall much better, to me, than the straight SE oil. At the next change I'll probably go back to Type E.

 

I also went pure SE oil and didn't like how firm it was. My front is lowered 1.5" which I know is a huge firmness factor but I went with a 50/50 mix of SE and stock and am very happy with the results.

 

I also did 50/50 mix and really happy with results

 

50/50 - nice to know

 

Bike comes with 5w, adding 10w will stiffen the ride and not improve handling, imo.

 

I also am a big fan off the 50/50 blend (HD Type E / SE Heavy) - I have a old timer harley mechanic friend.....that told me the bike comes with 10wt....."He said that Type E is similiar to a 10 wt and SE Heavy is similiar to a 15 wt...oil viscosity." I was going to switch my bikes fork fluid to the straight SE Heavy and he advised, it will be a weee bit stiff for your touring needs....the 50/50.....I am very pleased....., I blend prior to pouring into the forks......but this is a subjective subject cause everyone's riding needs differ......

 

Where do you guys come up with these weight figures for the HD oils when not a single one of them is identified as such?

 

I use 50/50, works well