I call it the "Hospital Hop", cause thats how its gonna end up one of these days if I don't find something to get that $hit under control.

 

ehhh-ehhemmm......if i may

i'm sorry but these might be some of the more retarded comments i've heard yet.


first of all....why don't you go ahead and lay your bike down on the pegs and see how much of the contact patch area of the tire is still exposed. HD doesn't make a bike (anymore) that will hit the edge of a tire without dragging major parts. and no, that doesn't mean your kuryakyn super highway pegs or the corbin bags, i mean frame and primary. while i am quite certain that you don't, i regularly drag my primary, i still have "strips".

i occasionally ride with a mounted instructor for metro and after watching this guy ride at a competition, where he drug every low part of an FDXP (that's the "police" model for the "hang arounds" like you) i am 100% sure that 99.99% of the riders out there don't ride to any machine's design limits, including myself and the least of all you. if you did ride it "hard" as you put it, you might have a clue as to what we are talking about. true-track has been selling these for 12 years. i don't think they have been buying themselves out to inflate their stock prices.

...well, this is a foregone conclusion and you should have stopped yourself there.

secondly....grab a flashlight, a crayon and your kid's big fat yellow pad and go out side and get to know your bike.

as you look around, you might notice that the motor is attached to the transmision and you might also notice that the exhaust bracket is mounted to the transmission. you might then notice that the swing arm is attached to the tranny. and further, you might notice that this entire drivetrain system is only attached to the bike by 4 points: shocks, two lower motor mounts and a lateral mount up top (i don't count the belt). it's ok...now is a good time to admit that the motor, tranny and exhaust are all bolted together and where they go one, they go all.... i.e. no flexing. and i'll let you in on another secret, exhaust on a softail or hard tail can be mounted to the frame why....anyone....anyone? .....the motor mounts are hard mounted to the frame.

but i digress.

back to the bike at hand. this then causes the bike to be broken into 3 movable parts: front end, frame and drivetrain. all of which can move (how ever minutely) in small amounts but move independently of each other none the less.

i'll go ahead and let the cat out of the bag here....you might notice that while all of these are quite good at keeping vertical movement to a minimum, they are poor at keeping lateral movement suppressed; it is not rocket science that rubber motor mounts are highly susceptible to shearing loads. this has been a known problem for all rubbermounted HD's. why is this acceptable you might ask...cause they are designed for comfort..not lateral performance.

as a bike leans into a turn, the loads put on the system and cause the whole thing to flex. it doesn't take much to make major issues. try riding a bike with a loose steering stem. throw vertical movement of bike on the road (that's the shocks working) tegether with a 1/4 or 1/2 inch lateral movement...and it gets fun. if you don't believe me, turn your palm up and grab your middle finger. pretend it is the swing arm, your hand the frame and your wrist the neck. now jerk them around real good (please, please tell me you did this..)

now, it you paid half as much attention to the design of the true-trak as you did to the tires, you will notice that the heim joints go lefty-righty, not uppy-downy and therefore they prevent lateral movement. and while this might be a little advanced but yes, their short geometry will also restrict some vertical movement but it is negligible. you might also notice that the rear is attached to frame and the motor mount, which is attached to the tranny, with is hard bolted to the motor and the thefore the exhaust mounts and they all move.....oh, tell me i don't have to go over this again....

if you don't think all this is a problem wiggling around. fire up the old email or sharpen your crayon and write a letter to your favorite nascar driver and ask him what happens when nylon bushings fail in a suspension and what lateral movement will do.

in the immortal words of joe pesche

"i'm done wit dis guy"

 

thanks waterman.
that's the best post I've read in the forums since I joined up almost 2 years ago.

sometimes the movement of the rear end scares the crap out of me - i have a better understanding now - and i was entertained at the same time. i'm going to seriously consider the true track - and i hope Muddy does a follow-up post once he puts more chicken **** miles on

 

Thanks Waterman

 

very well said!!!

D

 

here's the original comment, no mention of the above
not sure how anyone can argue this.

 

I was wondering what the hell that thing was on the 2001 Road King I just bought. now i know. i don't know how it handled before it was installed but it seems pretty good now. except it scrapes way before i could really put it to the test on anything but a long sweeper, especially on the right side.thinking about attaching a handle to the right floor board so i can use it for a hatchet when i go camping
sooo glad i kept the Dyna and maybe I'll put Tru- trak on so i can sharpen up some stuff on her too.

 

Well fella's thanks for the support but im calling TROLL.....anyone who's ridden a Dyna on the highway knows exactly what im talking about never mind laying it over, dragging a knee or whatever the hell he's talking about. My bike wobbled and now it dont im happy. Im not overthinking the engineering, worrying about whatever just wanted to get rid of the wobble. Anyone else who has a bike that wobbles and dont want it to anymore....maybe this is an option. Not interested in what a guy who's had nothing of signficance to say for the last year he's been here other than "great laydown plate mount" has to say. So all set. Now on to my next project and alot more important if I may say.............

 

See waterman7474's comments. Also, if you lower the rear and / or front of the bike by changing tires, wheel size, shocks, etc. , then you may have affected the rake and / or trail. A bad set up (combination) will definitely cause the bike to hop when turning. There is a very good thread discussing rake and trail for the dynas somewhere on the forum.

Good luck and please be careful!!

 

Thanks Muddy for the write-up and Waterman for the extra info.