Ok ok I know this is an old thread but I came across it and had to comment.

1.My Springer has 127,000 miles and counting and never needed anything adjusted or replaced. Many of the high mileage Harleys I see, if they aren’t touring bikes they are Springers (ride like Cadillacs)

2. As far as handling power. Mine is a Modified 106” kit. They made a whole line of CVO Fxstsse Springers with 110” Se engines. I’ve seen plenty of 124” and bigger engines in a Harley Springer.

I would take steel front forks with heavy duty springs and a mono shock over a couple aluminum tubes any day.

 

I'm with you! I owned 2 springers over the years and absolutely loved the way they handled and the way they swallowed up the bumps. They vastly out-performed the pre-M8 softail rear suspensions. In the real world (where powerful engines do not shake apart front ends), I suspect HD discontinued springers due to braking limitations. The 60 to 0 distances were certainly longer than what could be achieved with conventional forks, so product liability might have been on their minds. I'm not smart enough to explain what it was about the springer front end that limited braking, but on both of mine I could easily lock up the front wheel and feel it hopping or skipping while trying to peel off speed. This might have started once the forks were bottomed out, but I really don't know.
Surely somebody has grafted a springer onto an M8 softail by now, how about some pics and commentary?