Low speed front suspension super stiff
#11
05-01-2024, 06:29 AM
Road Captain
Cartridge emulators and proper wright springs are better for the touring rider than cartridges. I say that because of the service intervals for the cartridges require them to be sent back to manufacturer for rebuilds every 20K. Cartridge emulators "rebuild" is replacing the fluid in the forks at 20K miles.
My Race Tech Cartridge Emulators are still hanging on the shop wall. I will say they were FAR better than stock but not as good as what a guy can do who is a suspension expert and has been racing most of his life.
Also... We needed a very long telescoping magnet to pull those things out to change springs and set spring preload. They are not just drop-in-and-go - They must be tuned (spring color and preload and low-speed hole count). Easy job on a dirt bike but not so on a HD touring bike.
Agreed that Race Tech Cartridge Emulators are a very good start and much better than stock.
Last edited by VortecCPI; 05-01-2024 at 06:34 AM.
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Goose_NC (05-01-2024)
#12
05-01-2024, 06:36 AM
We tried both Race Tech Cartridge Emulators and Bruce's modified forks on our two-mile closed-loop enduro course and Bruce's forks were better by every measure, especially large vertical drops and high-speed work such as managing erosion barriers.
My Race Tech Cartridge Emulators are still hanging on the shop wall. I will say they were FAR better than stock but not as good as what a guy can do who is a suspension expert and has been racing most of his life.
Also... We needed a very long telescoping magnet to pull those things out to change springs and set spring preload. Easy job on a dirt bike but not so on HD touring bike.
Race Tech Cartridge Emulators are a very good start.
My Race Tech Cartridge Emulators are still hanging on the shop wall. I will say they were FAR better than stock but not as good as what a guy can do who is a suspension expert and has been racing most of his life.
Also... We needed a very long telescoping magnet to pull those things out to change springs and set spring preload. Easy job on a dirt bike but not so on HD touring bike.
Race Tech Cartridge Emulators are a very good start.
DK Custom now produces the Intiminator which is going into my 2019 FLHTP with RaceTech springs for my weight.
Cartridges may be good for some folks. But for me, putting on 15k miles a year, means having to rebuild those cartridges every 18 months. That means sending them back the manufacturer.
Not sure what Bruce's forks can do for a 900 touring machine in comparison to dirt bike with 1/3 the weight and double the suspension travel.
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VortecCPI (05-01-2024)
#13
05-01-2024, 07:06 AM
Road Captain
DK Custom now produces the Intiminator which is going into my 2019 FLHTP with RaceTech springs for my weight.
Cartridges may be good for some folks. But for me, putting on 15k miles a year, means having to rebuild those cartridges every 18 months. That means sending them back the manufacturer.
Not sure what Bruce's forks can do for a 900 touring machine in comparison to dirt bike with 1/3 the weight and double the suspension travel.
Cartridges may be good for some folks. But for me, putting on 15k miles a year, means having to rebuild those cartridges every 18 months. That means sending them back the manufacturer.
Not sure what Bruce's forks can do for a 900 touring machine in comparison to dirt bike with 1/3 the weight and double the suspension travel.
Weight is not a problem with DR fork tuning. However... Fork oil IS a problem because it changes weight and viscosity as it heats up and damping is reduced. Bruce has come up with an interesting solution to that problem. The man is a genius.
#14
05-01-2024, 08:07 AM
Club Member
We use Bruce Triplett, owner of Bruce's Suspension, here in NC for our vintage dirt bike suspension. We have often discussed HD forks as they are so bad compared to modern forks. Harshness at low speeds (suspension speed, not vehicle speed) is typically due to excessive spring preload in DR forks. "Race Tech's Motorcycle Suspension Bible" by Paul Thede is an excellent resource for such information.
The only way to get old HD forks similar to modern metric forks is to replace the internals with cartridges, which is fine if you want to spend the time and money doing so. Bruce can modify the damper rods and provide springs with correct rate for bike+rider for far less cost but these internals will never perform as good as cartridges.
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The only way to get old HD forks similar to modern metric forks is to replace the internals with cartridges, which is fine if you want to spend the time and money doing so. Bruce can modify the damper rods and provide springs with correct rate for bike+rider for far less cost but these internals will never perform as good as cartridges.
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That is what I was alluding to in my post
I do have Ohlins front, and rear.
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VortecCPI (05-01-2024)
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