I am reposting this from the Softail Forum sorry if that is bad form, but I get replies from different people in this forum and I want to get your take as well. You can see the preceding discussion in the Softail forum.


I have been occasionally scraping the board on my softail and I want to understand how concerned I should be about getting close to something bad happening. I have heard from some that it is a normal part of riding this bike. I have heard from others that I am pushing the bike beyond the way it was designed to be ridden. Others have said I need new shocks and other have said I need to adjust the existing shocks.


I had my first hard scrape yesterday. I went past the point of the board hinge and hit something with no give. Not sure what it was. I was merging onto a four lane highway. Accelerating from ramp speed to 55 mph or so as I was making a 90 degree turn. More like a 90 degree curve. I did not feel I was doing anything super aggressive and I was surprised to scrape at all, much less hit that hard. I was merging into right side of the right lane and the scrape bumped me to the left part of the right lane. So no big deal, but it made me realize I have more to learn about the handling characteristics of this bike.

I could not tell whether it was the board support that hit or something else. It felt very solid. Since I was accelerating, I wonder if it was sitting into the rear and something in the back hit. Since it is a 25 year old bike, I wonder if replacing the rear shocks would help the bike stand up to riding in a more spirited manner would help. I have discussed the idea of replacing shocks before. Progressive 422s have been suggested. Others have said the bike seems to be sitting as it should and does not need new shocks.

Or perhaps I should look at something with a touring frame. But I do like this bike. And I do not ride super aggressively. On the other hand, I am not a very experienced rider and I want to make sure I am not on a bike that is going to bite my novice ***.


Appreciate any thoughts. Thanks

 

I scrape the boards on my FLHTC all the time.

As you found out, that's a warning that you are nearing the limit.

You can mod your bike (new shocks, etc) to increase ground clearance, or you can dial back your riding a bit. Your call.

 

I've learned to lean my body more and the bike less when I'm pushing my old Heritage into corners faster than I should. At times I'll even hang my butt off the saddle to the inside of the turn to transfer more weight, like you see road racers do.

 

I have the floorboard extenders on my Softail, and also switched from the stock half-moon boards to the older style rectangular boards. With both of those, I scrape a little bit earlier than I would have with the stock setup. I don't scrape that often, but am grateful to have an 'early warning system'. Kind of like when cars in the 60's had whiskers so you could tell when you were getting close to the curb.

 

Here you go, ride like this guy if you want to really go fast. Skip to 2:12

 

This guy's pretty good too!

 

Just don't be this guy.

 

That was about as graceful a fall as they come. I'd still be lying in a pile of dirt. I rode Mullholland a few years back on a breakout, and took it real easy around the hairpins. There was a guy videotaping riders as they approached the last big corner at the bottom in hopes of catching some 'action'.

 

If the bike has a lowering kit on it, take it off.

Your shocks might be adjusted to the lowest ride height. If so, adjust them higher.

I used to scrape all the time with my original shocks. Not only did the shocks suck, they also were set very low.

Long story short I ended up with Works Performance light duty shocks adjusted taller than what most people have. Now it rarely scrapes.

You need to lay on the ground next to your bike so you can understand what is going on. The floorboard itself is hinged but there is also a solid piece underneath that is not but doesn't stick out as wide.

While you are laying down raise and lower the floor board while looking underneath it so you can understand it then you won't be as scared and you will understand the corrective action to take.

Lowering a bike to me is one of the most functionally defeating things a person can do. I understand people like a certain look, but I'd rather ride my bike than look at in the garage or God forbid a trailer.

 

In stock form I believe you should have 5" clearance from the frame to the ground when standing straight upright. Also the rear swing arm when standing straight upright should carry a straight line from the frame to the upper swing arm to resemble a hard tale. That was the whole Idea behind the softail. depending on how old the bike is and how heavy you are will make a difference in ground clearance. Obviously you are scraping so maybe it's time to upgrade the suspension. Yes I suggest the 422's you can set the ride height as well as the spring pressure. And for $100 you can upgrade the front springs with the Progressive kit and when installing make the plug 1/2" longer and use 1 more ounce of 15 weight fork oil. It will firm it up and help to relieve the scraping. But all this does rely on how aggressive you ride....