I am now a true believer!!!!!!!
I put the 412s on the back as well. The ride of certainly firmer, buy the improvement in stability of well worth it.
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 856
Likes: 9
From: North Carolina
My old 1988 has progressive springs and new-ish swing arm bushings. When I bought the bike the indie dealer said it rode better than tourers much newer and tracked straight as an arrow. Since I bought it I have rebuilt the forks. I don't know what the bike would ride like without the progressives so, I have no reference..
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 856
Likes: 9
From: North Carolina
Pull the outer cowling, stereo, handlebars (cover the tank with a couple of towels and lay the bars there) and ignition switch. Remove the anti-dive caps from the tops of the forks (which was a mild aggravation). Remove the front wheel, calipers and fender. Loosen the triple trees and slide the forks out, not the position of the rubber bumpers on the forks.
Harley forks are then some of the easiest in the world to rebuild. Take the caps off of the top, watch out because the spring will cause them to come off with enthusiasm. Pull the springs and drain the oil out. You'll need an impact wrench to pull the allen bolt out of the bottom of the fork slider. Pull that thing and the forks come apart. Remember the order of how they go back together. pull the fork seal and inspect the bushing. Clean up the business and reassemble. Use a few drops of fork oil and lube up the fork, slide the new seal on and seat it. I used a homemade contraption to seat the seals. I used some PVC I cut to fit and a hose clamp. Worked perfectly. A note about fork oil. It's basically transmission fluid. HD makes a stock weight and a heavy weight. I'd suggest staying with the stock weight. Everyone I know that used the heavy weight regretted it later. It's very stiff (That's what she said). Install the springs and put the caps back on the forks. You'll have to wrestle them back on over those springs.
Then reinstall everything in reverse order. Simple job..
I didn't measure before and after, but at a glance, no apparent change in height.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 9,332
Likes: 3,874
From: Upstate New York
In my Heritage, the bike sits a bit lower because the stock springs were too stiff. the bike, unladen, sat all the way at the top of the stock springs. To be set up properly, the bike should have a bit of sag in the forks under the bike's weight.
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Thread Starter
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Dirt don't hurt
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 21,066
Likes: 4,568
From: Haslet Texas
I don't think it lowered the front end at all.
I really don't see how it could without changing more than just the springs.
Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,376
Likes: 36
From: Round Rock, TX