Yup, Main street in my home town is like that. I have to ride down Main street near the shoulder to find the "smooth" part of the road.


The only thing I've done to my bike over the years is to add Progressive fork springs and H-D "Performance Heavy" fork oil. That helped a lot, but I realize that over the last 20 years there have been many advances in suspension technology, and I confess, I have no first-hand experience with them.

 

I've been noodling on these same questions all summer. I want this year's winter odds and ends to be suspension related, but I'm undecided how far to take things.

Lots of two-handed thinking: On the one hand this, on the other hand that sort of stuff.

At one extreme, for a budget approaching $4k, I could get the latest cartridge forks, billet top clamps, new swingarm, new shocks, etc, etc, etc.

At the other end, for a few hundred, i can get new fork springs and maybe some Intimators.

The question is where to draw the line between those extremes. A big part of the challenge comes from the difficulty in getting into the forks. I want to avoid having to dig through the batwing any more than necessary.

The other part of this is I wonder what the ceiling feels like. Even if I go the whole nine yards, this is still an 800 pound bagger. It's never going to handle like a sport bike, so why bother?

Oh well. There's a few months before winter.

 

0maha, there is a solution bang in the middle of your 'budget'! Ohlins FKC101 cartridges at full price are $1,000 and mid-range Ohlins shocks a similar amount. Our favourite suspension guru Howard offers discounts on those.

Why bother? Handling will be greatly improved, I can assure you, as will comfort. Especially with the shocks the contrast is dramatic. It is no exageration to say that your bike will be faster, simply because you enjoy such an improved ride.

No need to spend $4k, unless you have a burning desire to!

 

I have Progressive springs and HD Screamin Eagle fork fluid up front like Uncle G. It really helped my FXSTC because I don't bottom as easily. I live in the Chicago area and we have inept paving crews and tough winters.

 

Omaha,

Test ride one of the new 2017 touring bikes, then compare that to how your bike rides. That was the trigger for me to stop just accepting the jarring and realize better is possible despite the heft of these bikes.

It is also some kind of awesome to motor up on a sweet sounding Evo and everyone that was checking out the new models at the dealer suddenly focuses on your bike.

 

Those say they are for 97-13 touring models.

 

I've got them in my 1990! Nothing is impossible. If they look attractive give Howard a call. He isn't easily fooled by such trivial things.....

 

I had 15w fork oil in mine and it seemed like it was really stiff and sharp on the bumps so I swapped out the oil for 10w and the ride seems to have smoothed out some. I'll give this a go and see how I like it. If it starts feeling too soft I think I have enough left over 15w to mix with the left over 10w and see if I can get a happy medium. I'm using Bel-Ray oil.

 

I had 15 w then 10w and finally 7 w oil in my 97 EG
Progressive springs

The 7w is what I'm staying with.

WP

 

My bike is a lighter FXDL, but took the fork legs off, this spring & shipped em here:
http://www.gmdatl.com/
They are a authorized dealer & great shop to deal with & happened to be the closest shop , to me.
I had them put the Race Tech springs & Gold Valve Cartridge Emulators & so far have had great results with the modification. Smoother ride & bike doesn't pogo anymore.
Something I've been chasing for years.
They build the fork legs to match your weight.
Highly recommend!

Ride Safe,
Harold