97 FLCHRI. Front brake upgrade. Power(speed) increase advice needed.
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Stage III
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: SoUtah
97 FLCHRI. Front brake upgrade. Power(speed) increase advice needed.
I am lucky enough to have a low mileage RK in good condition.
2 issues: front brakes are weak compared to similar bikes of the same era. Any ideas for caliper upgrades.
I have primary used the bike in town because it has trouble maintaining interstate speeds. I live at about 6000ft and the bike has a hard time maintaining 80 mph especially climbing any grades or with a headwind. No issues at 70-75. Bone stock bike.
Thank you and ride safe!
2 issues: front brakes are weak compared to similar bikes of the same era. Any ideas for caliper upgrades.
I have primary used the bike in town because it has trouble maintaining interstate speeds. I live at about 6000ft and the bike has a hard time maintaining 80 mph especially climbing any grades or with a headwind. No issues at 70-75. Bone stock bike.
Thank you and ride safe!
For front brakes, I'm totally pleased with the Wilwood GP310's I put on my Electra Glide. I also switched to Russell brake lines.
Plenty of grip and great feel. They are a direct bolt-on, so you don't need an adapter bracket, and they work with stock rotors.
There are other aftermarket calipers out there as well. Performance Machine comes to mind. I don't have any experience with those, so no opinion.
As for performance, your description (running out of oomph at 80) pretty much describes the way my '90 ran until this spring. I went with Scott at Hillside, and he got me into a Woods W6H cam, Wiseco 10:1 pistons, and porting and valves done by Scott. All that is on a carb'd bike, and I'm rarely at 6,000 ft, so I'm not clear how applicable it is to your situation. I can say that the results on my top-end rebuild have been exactly what I wanted. The bike has that easy, relaxed power at 80 that it didn't have before. Passing on two lanes is way less of an adventure than when stock. Best advice I can give is to call Scott and talk it over with him.
IIRC, your bike has the MM fuel injection, so tuning options are limited. Don't be surprised if people come along and start talking about a carb conversion. (Mike, that's your cue...)
Plenty of grip and great feel. They are a direct bolt-on, so you don't need an adapter bracket, and they work with stock rotors.
There are other aftermarket calipers out there as well. Performance Machine comes to mind. I don't have any experience with those, so no opinion.
As for performance, your description (running out of oomph at 80) pretty much describes the way my '90 ran until this spring. I went with Scott at Hillside, and he got me into a Woods W6H cam, Wiseco 10:1 pistons, and porting and valves done by Scott. All that is on a carb'd bike, and I'm rarely at 6,000 ft, so I'm not clear how applicable it is to your situation. I can say that the results on my top-end rebuild have been exactly what I wanted. The bike has that easy, relaxed power at 80 that it didn't have before. Passing on two lanes is way less of an adventure than when stock. Best advice I can give is to call Scott and talk it over with him.
IIRC, your bike has the MM fuel injection, so tuning options are limited. Don't be surprised if people come along and start talking about a carb conversion. (Mike, that's your cue...)
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 5,649
Likes: 430
From: MASS_hole
Breaks are the single most important functioning part of any vehicle. When you need to stop of course LOL
Suspension is second IMO
Then getting it up up and ahead of the pack is where the fun starts
Suspension is second IMO
Then getting it up up and ahead of the pack is where the fun starts
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 8,852
Likes: 2,494
From: Decatur, Alabama
Ok, hold it a minute before we bankrupt this guy. I got this.
If you take your brakes apart, clean all the moving parts, regrease the pins and the pad wear points/rub blocks, those brakes will stop you fast enough to throw you over the handlebars. Rinse and repeat every 5k miles.
carl
If you take your brakes apart, clean all the moving parts, regrease the pins and the pad wear points/rub blocks, those brakes will stop you fast enough to throw you over the handlebars. Rinse and repeat every 5k miles.
carl
Dirt don't hurt
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 21,065
Likes: 4,561
From: Haslet Texas
Ok, hold it a minute before we bankrupt this guy. I got this.
If you take your brakes apart, clean all the moving parts, regrease the pins and the pad wear points/rub blocks, those brakes will stop you fast enough to throw you over the handlebars. Rinse and repeat every 5k miles.
carl
If you take your brakes apart, clean all the moving parts, regrease the pins and the pad wear points/rub blocks, those brakes will stop you fast enough to throw you over the handlebars. Rinse and repeat every 5k miles.
carl
As for the power issue carb it with either an S&S E or Mikuni 42 and an EV 13 cam and you will be fine.
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Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,898
From: Bedford UK
Braided brake lines, as an absolute minimum IMHO, with aftermarket pads.
That's what I found, it was marginally cheaper to find a set of as-new take-off sliders, ditto Brembo calipers.
For many years I used 6-pot calipers with 13" rotors, but maintenance costs was an issue, so I have rowed back on my excesses in that department!
For many years I used 6-pot calipers with 13" rotors, but maintenance costs was an issue, so I have rowed back on my excesses in that department!
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Joe Kucinski
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
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From: Bedford UK
John, several of us have done fork and/or wheel swaps, in slightly different ways. In my case I also used a later 18" SG front wheel (to go with my 17" Deuce rear wheel!), so have later spec wheels at both ends, using 1" bearings in both. To use a genuine Evo front wheel with tapered bearings it may be possible to find a later spec 3/4" axle, or simply machine down to size a larger one. I have modified a 1" axle to take my front wheel speedo drive. When the MoCo went to sealed ball bearings they mixed 3/4" and 1" across the model range, before standardising on 25mm. We have several threads about front end swaps in this section, which may be worth seeking out.