Awesome, Crusader (A), I'm glad you have it installed. I'm really looking forward to another ride report, once you feel it's properly sorted. I'll be certain to watch the video as well, which I haven't done yet. It's encouraging to hear your early feedback about handling, as I really don't want to lose anything in that department (and won't...).

I was also glad that I found the original front mounting bracket... Sometimes it's good to be a packrat!!!

 

Update #2:
wanted to update you on what I have been able to achieve today.
1st attempt: re-torqued all the bolts, in the sequence outlined in the video. This was with one shim (provided) and a washer on the top bolt (due to the large gap I tried to fill it with a larger washer). Vibration got worse.

2nd try: I loosened all mounting bolts and started over. This time I used the two shims provided, leaving out the washer I had used. Vibration was much better contained.

3rd time is a charm they say...loosened all mounting bolts, re-torqued the front (frame ones) leaving the horizontal ones loose. Ran the bike for a minute, then tightened them up. Vibration was marked improved.

I road the bike for about an hour with both slow and higher speeds up to 80 mph and it was much smoother, in fact I really didn't notice any real excessive vibration and the bike just feels as stiff handling wise as it did with the Predator mount. I was able to do a few long sweeper type curves and it tracked really well with no wobble or weave. It feels very similar to the predator in tightening up the chassis but the big difference is in vibration control, where with the predator I had a very uncomfortable vibration between 2200-2450 Rpm, with this mount, I still have a bit of vibration there, but it has been really reduced. My Mirrors are almost usable now....I do have some new handlebar bushings, just need to put those in but overall I was very happy with the way the bike feels.

As a side note, when I did my Switchback, the stock horizontal mounting bolts were finger tight. The ones on the frame were good but not the ones in the mount. Makes me wonder if they just came loose or if the previous owner set them that way to help reduce vibration...anyway, after a quick test ride, I can say that its night and day better then the stock mount. This bike is very smooth to begin with but with this mount it just tightens up the handling....and it was only a 15 min job as I just removed the old mount leaving the bracket attached to the engine...so 4 bolts....I used one shim on this install.

So for now I am going to leave it as is and ride it for awhile, I will up date if anything changes as well as letting you know how it is working in the weeks to come.

I am in need of a rear mount as well, so when you get those dialed in, please let me know.

Thanks

 

Wow, very encouraging! Thanks for the report!

 

So update 543....I replaced the handle bar bushing, and was still not super happy with the way my bike was feeling, something just didn’t feel right, I still felt that I was experiencing more vibration than I should....so today I went out for about a 200 mile ride, mostly highway speeds, and I was still getting hit right in the RPM zone I ride in 2200- 2450....

while sitting in a coffee shop I noticed my AC cover was really close to the tank, so after my coffee I went and looked at it..low and behold the cover actually was hitting the tank, even scratched the paint off the tank were it hit.

when I got home I removed the cover and noticed about a 10% reduction in vibration....I was able to pull the tank up a bit and now have about 1/4 gap where as before you might have been able to slide a piece of paper in between....so that was the first thing..

then I turned my attention to the mount again. I was going to just throw on my old stock mount to just get back to the start ...while I was loosing off the bolts I had another look at the gap, and after wiggling it around I put 3 shims in...torqued it in sequence again, took it for a ride and it felt much better...I would estimate about another 20-30% reduction...

if the the weather is good, I am going to ride it again and see where we are at.

Now my bike (Superglide) has always had more vibration then my Switchback ...something I just accepted, so for me, if the 3 shims works out, and it’s noticeable reduction in vibration it’s a big win...if not, I am going to go back to stock just to see...I do believe that Tarik is right when he says twin cams vibrate the most between 2200-2500.

 

Mine,, when it had the original mounts, was smooth as silk at cruise (2000-3000 rpm). After the front mount failed, idle range became very shaky. Replaced the entire mounting system (plus Sputhe rear) at once and got that buzzy vibration around 2500. Nothing I can't live with, but if I can reduce it without losing stability...i'd do it.

 

Update again....1st let me state that I am dealing with a bike that even with stock mounts, had the same vibration in the same RPM range..meaning from day one this bike was a shaker....

this morning I was able to get out and put on about 25 miles...and can say, with 3 shims, and moving the tank away from the AC, there has been about a 60% in reduction in felt vibration...this to me is a win...

The Switchback which has been smooth since day one, is still very smooth, no noticeable difference....where the difference lyes is in how the chassis feels more stiff...

In the end vibration is very subjective...what is excessive to you might be totally acceptable to me, some vibration is normal, and Harley has been on a quest to quell it since they started...

I do believe there is no magic pill in this regard...some bikes are just paint shakers

the question now becomes..how long will these last....

 

Okay, it's installed! But don't get too excited yet, it started raining yesterday afternoon before I was finished, and it hasn't stopped yet. Hopefully I can get out for a checkout ride tomorrow after work.

Install was straight forward, as one would expect for a motor mount swap. In my case, I went from a Predator to the new Kinetic Structures mount. Just to be clear, I've been very happy with the Predator for about three years now, but I do get a lot of engine vibes at certain engine speeds and I've been curious enough about these new mounts to warrant a try. Cornering stability is more important to me than complete engine isolation, so I'm a little skeptical about the lack of a stabilizer, but the manufacturer's explanation of using different spring rates for isolation in each direction makes sense to me. I made the install a little more involved than may be necessary, as I wanted to perform a proper vertical alignment after swapping the mount. Before getting started, I put the bike on the J&S lift and removed the seat and gas tank (for access to the top link). While in the air, I cracked everything loose on the Predator.



I also took a moment to loosen the jam nuts/bolts on my rear Sputhe stabilizer, thinking the engine may align more accurately without tension back there.



Before switching lifting methods, I also popped of the oil filter for full access to the motor mount area. Last year I switched to K&N filters, largely for the ease of install and removal. I recently changed oil and filter, so I didn't drain anything (other than the few drops lost from the filter). When I was done, I popped the same filter back on and checked level (one note for accuracy: 11/16 is not actually the right socket size, it's 17mm).



At this point I took the bike off the J&S stand, as it doesn't provide proper access to the bottom of the engine. I used my old Sears yellow jack with one height extender on the rear side, positioned under the very back of the frame. This held the bike securely vertically, and allowed a scissor jack to fit under the engine itself. You don't need to lift it enough to take the front wheel off the ground, just enough to keep the bike vertical.



Fortunately I found the upper mounting bracket on a shelf, which was removed when the Predator was installed. I watched the install video on the Kinetic Structures site first (https://www.kineticstructures.com/ha...ne-mount-video), then installed everything hand tight to evaluate the need for shims. The KS mount ships with two shims, I decided one seemed to position things properly.



The KS mount doesn't ship with hardware, so I did what I always do... Ordered a bunch of polished ARP stainless from Alloyboltz in Florida. It took some figuring to decide what goes where (hardware is included for all three mounts). Since the top link was already exposed, I swapped hardware up there too, but left the rear alone.



Annoyingly, the shouldered bolts which seem intended to hold the upper bracket to the engine cases are a little longer than needed, and hang out the bottom a bit. Maybe I'll cut them at some point, but they don't interfere with anything. I tried a pair of the shorter non-shouldered bolts, but they only just threaded and really seemed too short. Anyway, it's all installed now. Bolts are torqued, oil filter is back on, alignment is checked (still spot on from my last alignment), tank and seat are installed.





I started the bike on the lift (back on the J&S for alignment), and I can say that at idle the engine moves a lot less within the frame than it had, as is demonstrated in the comparison video on the KS website. I'm not yet sure whether this is a good sign or not though... I mean, if the mounts were completely solid the motor wouldn't move at all within the frame. But I don't think hands, butt or feet would be very happy... I know crusader1xxx had to mess with his a bit before it really felt good, but I'm pretty sure mine is now shimmed and aligned properly.

Hopefully I'll find out tomorrow evening!

 

Looks super nice. Hoping for a revelation come riding time!

 

Front mount looks real promising. Has anyone tried the rear mount yet?

 

From my last conversation the rear mount is not ready yet. They were still trying to find that sweat spot of vibration dampening and stiffness for stability control....he told me maybe another 6 months of testing.

But I can say that I am running this KS mount on both my bikes and really like the way it feels. Because with mounts its about how it feels, there is no other quantifiable or measurable result you can get...its how it feels and like I said earlier in this post, vibration is subjective.