I haven't had a chance to contribute to the Forum in a while, but I rode down to Deals Gap and rode 129 last week. I've ridden the Tail of the Dragon before, but this was the first time with the Ohlins shocks(36PRCLB) which I bought from Howard Messner at a good price. The shocks are 340 mm eye to eye or 13.4"- 1.4" longer than the stock StreetBob shocks. I put dual Brembo brakes and Racetech cartridge emulators on the front, Metzler 880's on front/back before installing the Ohlins. The shocks are fully adjustable- compression, rebound, preload. Front end rake/trail was stock specs before raising the shocks, so the raised shock length gives a little quicker response on the corners, but not so much as to change stability at speed. Trail is still sufficient to ensure high speed stability. Here's what I experienced on the Dragon:
The bike was MUCH quicker in the corners on Rt 129. On the tight turns I easily maxed out the lean angle scraping pegs(even with the increased shock length) without losing any stability in the turns. It was amazing what a difference the Ohlins shocks made. The bike changed from right to left lean turns in the tight S turns like a panther. No oversteer, understeer; significantly increased speed from my last trials. I didn't have a stop watch on the performance, but my "feel" for the road was much improved over the Progressive 440's I had on before.
I took my time coming home- secondary roads through Kentucky and Tennessee. Beautiful ride on the Cherohalla Skyway, etc. When I got to Indiana and Ill. I hit the interstates. At one point I was riding at about 65 on concrete pavement, and the ride felt rough. I reached down and decreased the compression damping(not the best way to make changes on your suspension, but I wanted to experiment) and noticed a very significant improvement in the ride. The point I took away from this little experiment is that a fully adjustable suspension can make a huge difference, not only on making a bike quicker on the track but also remarkably more comfortable under different street conditions.
Boy, do I recommend improving the suspension with a good set of shocks! The Ohlins are expensive, but they have made a huge difference. BTW, so did the dual brakes. The rear brake was smokin' hot, but the front brakes did their job- no fade on the 300+ turns of Rt. 129! No fade! Jay

 

You did'nt have much to say about the Racetech emulators. Iam planning on putting them on my 08 Dyna when I put my chrome fork legs on. Did you have to play with the adjustments to get the front end working properly ? What weight oil did you use. I have the progressive front springs in my forks now and was wondering if they will work ok with the racetech parts ? I was also thinking about the Ohlins. Can they be shortened any I have 13.25" shocks on my bike now and Iam not sure I want to go any longer then that. Do you know where the cheapest place is to purchase the Ohlins ?

Thanks >>>> Inthered

 

I am looking at the race tech emulators also. When I called they have not figured out if my bike is the same as others, 08 fatbob. I think it is but not positive. Would like to hear some feedback on the emulators, from someone who has them in

 

Great write-up. Love to read-see-hear about guys who add stuff to their Harleys to actually improve rather than degrade performance.

 

Hello Jay; haven't seen you on here for a bit. Just did a 4000km round trip to Sturgis on the old T-Sport; sure some nice roads down there, but a bit crowded. Enjoying your summer so far, I see.....

 

+1 on Ohlins. I had a set fitted on my previous bike (a Yamaha). They were superb and transformed the handling compared to the stock shocks. A great product with a real pedigree.

Expensive but worth every single penny.