I need some help on my front end. I have no dampening. The awesome qualified mechs at the HD shop that I refuse to ever go back to replaced my front end 1.5 yrs ago on my 07 FXDL. My waranty is expired. I had a new rear tire put on at a small shop, and they pointed out that my front end needs to be checked b/c it is very spongy and he thinks it has no fluid. I told him to hold off because I HAD to go to Daytona last weekend. It has felt this way since they did the work 1.5 yrs ago. The shop told me the front end needs to be taken apart.

I looked in my service manual, and what do you know... the darn thing needs to be taken apart from the trees and taken apart to check the fluid. I am going to take the forks off myself, and bring just the complete fork tubes to the small shop to have them service and inspect them.

Does this sound like a good idea, or would you recommend digging deeper myself. Anyone taken their's apart and have any advice for inspection and disassembly?

I have been to 3 HD dealers, and every one of them has earned the great customer dis-service from me. I have a job and a life. I have no desire to keep driving all over Florida to find a shop that takes care of a customer who invested 17-20g's on their product. I get better service when I buy a case of beer from circle K. Sorry for the rant. I love my bike, but what a peice of crap. Thank god I can turn a wrench.

 

My stock forks were very soft and bouncy from the start (07 SB). I replaced the springs with a heavier set from Progressive and used Heavy SE fork oil. MUCH improved.

 

I re did my fork springs @ 3000 miles. When I took them apart there was 20oz of oil in one side and only 4 oz in the other side. The manual calls for 26 oz per tube. Maybe this is your issue as well. I upgraded to a progressive lowering kit and put in the correct amount of fork oil and problem solved.

 

I think you could start by taking off the top cap and measuring the amount of fluid in the shocks. I think there is also a distance from fluid to top of shock that can be measured to determine this without full disassembly. Measure the oil distance and add as needed.

 

You should be able to do the work yourself no prob.
I would do what was suggested above, upgrade with Progressive springs and add SE heavy fluid.

 

We must be in a parallel universe because I have the same exact problem. However mine is on an Electra Glide. Was Space Coast Harley one of the dealers? Good help is just had to find these days.

 

1.5 years you probably should replace the fluid anyway and pulling the tubes off is the easiest and proper way to do it, especially since there are no drain holes in the lowers and it keeps the mess to a minimum and less of a chance to screw up your tank, etc. I would just go with the factory fluid amount opposed the measuring, never seems to match the manual anyway. Rider sag should be about 1" when done. I would also recommend going to a aftermarket springs and the new Ricor intiminators.
CB

 

I just went through a similiar process with mine, front felt bouncy(poor rebounding), I installed a works performance triple rate spring kit, much better. still not there. Took it apart again, and put in Ricor IAS valves, and put in heavier wt fork oil(15 W). Easily doable by anyone with a jack, don't forget to strap bike down when it's on the jack, the weight can shift when you pull wheel and brake caliper off. Fluid level is measured from the top of a fully compressed fork, 100MM from top(about 26 oz) Better to measure in case you don't pump all of the old fork oil out.

 

The "very spongy" front end is a typical characteristic of the 49mm forks. They look awesome and are more rigid but they have VERY little dampening stock. One of our in house test bikes is a 2004 superglide and it was challenging to get acceptable dampening to say the least.

If you are able to get the forks off you should be able to take them apart. You will need a vise with soft jaws to hold the tube. You can also put the fork back in the bike after you take the wheel off and use the triple tree as a clamp to get the top cap off. Be sure to either raise the fork tube above the triple tree or to loosen the top clamp. Other wise the top clamp may bind the threads when you are trying to loosen the top cap.

BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU TAKE THE TOP CAP OFF, IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE IT BEFORE IT CAN GET EXCITING ON THE LAST TURN BECAUSE OF THE SPRING PRELOAD. THE CAP IS GOING TO WANT TO FLY OUT OF THERE.

Next should be spacer tube, then a washer and the spring. Pull them out drain your oil then you have several options depending on how much you want to spend and what you want to accomplish.

1. Refill with HD recommended oil, I believe it is type E. Aprox 15 w. This will leave you with a very similar ride if not the exact same ride you already had.

2. Refill with HD heavy or extra heavy, I believe they are aprox 20w and 30w. This will reduce the spongy feeling, it will also increase the harshness of the front end. It gets painfull, trust me I have tried both but this is a very cost effective way to slow down the front end.

3. You can add spring rate, a stiffer spring. One of the problems with this is that with a stiffer spring comes faster rebound. It may help with the mild braking, reducing brake dive, but under heavy braking now you are compressing a lot more energy and that energy is going to want to go somewhere. The net effect is more of a pogo stick ride because you didn't change the rebound dampening to compensate for the spring. You can increase the oil viscosity when you add spring rate to compensate for the increased rebound forces but that will make compression harsh.

4. You can take advantage of all that we have learned about the 49 mm damper rod front forks. I personally have had that front end apart more times that I'd like to count, remember or admit to working on a tune that not only dealt with the lack of compression but also matched a rebound response. Not to throw my arm out patting my self on the back but I believe you will love our combination of Intiminator and 10w oil. Try it first with your current spring rate. Once you take the front end apart you will find it easy to change springs at a later date if you want without removing the forks from the bike.

If you don't like the way your bike rides I will refund your $$ if you send it back within 30 days. We have not had ANYBODY send it back.

Our system will make your bike feel like it has 30 weight oil when the chassis tries to move and 5 weight oil when the tire moves.

Even if you don't buy our product and have any questions about your front forks you can call me any time, 888-425-1333.

Brian

 

Has anyone installed the Ricor unit in an 06-08 wide glide yet?