Over the past year I have become more and more dissatisfied with the front forks on my 2014 Street Glide. As many riders know, it was mushy, easily dived during braking, and very dangerous during cornering. Using the front brake in a turn or curve was close to disaster.

I read all the posts I could on others experiences looking for a solution. I considered the Progressive kit and the Legend kits as possible remedies for the problem. While pricing out my options I spoke to a mechanic I've met et my local dealer. He has many years of experience and years of riding heavy bikes. He said before I spend the money on those kits, which there are mixed reviews on too hard, too soft and general not happy, for me do try just a fork oil change. He said to try the Screaning Eagle "heavy" oil the dealer stocks. There is no oil weight on the label but us the heaviest oil HD branded oil sells.

The oil change was fairly straight forward. During the service I measured the amount of oil I took out of the forks. One had 22 oz. and the other had 20 oz. service manual calls for, are you ready for this, "slightly more than 24oz. Per fork." I'm not sure how much slightly more was, so I just used 24oz per fork. The good news was amazing! The bike rides like the new 2017 SGS I rode a couple weeks ago. Smooth on the street, great on bumps and railroad tracks and best if all front end dive is vertually gone.

If you have the symptoms I've described, for about $25 in oil, do a change. One other comment, the mechanic I mentioned said fork oil change is part of their 30,000 mile service and they put the heavy oil in standard on Rushmore bikes. Good luck, I hope some find this helpful.

 

I'd like to do the same to mine but don't you have to pull the forks out of the bike? My 15 doesn't look like it has drain plugs.

 

Yes you do.

I swapped my sliders to chrome this past summer and went with Screaming Eagle oil too and did notice a difference.

 

thanks for the reminder. I have read the posts just like you and I am about ready to do the same thing. I am switching over to black, so I am going to give it a shot. I liked the legends and the reviews are mostly positive, but they are not serviceable or rebuildable. I figure if Im happy with it, I can rebuild the stock ones over and over.

 

Nice info! Thanks!
Not much to lose to at least try it ... $25 and a little time!

 

I'm going to black sliders and cowbells this winter so I will make the change to heavier oil also. Thanks for great tip because I was considering HD's "better" front suspension components... man do I get tired of forking out the big bucks for an "improvement". I would rather pay for the "improvements" from the factory and avoid the waste of my "under improved" parts. When is HD just going to make the bike at their best in the first place and leave the customization to true add ons that may or may not be a basic feature that should be there in the first place?

 

I bit the bullet and went with the Legend AXEO in my front end when I put chrome sliders on - I'm happy with my decision

 

The reason why they want you to put more than 24 oz is that you have to remove some of the fluid with a fork oil syringe

 

Our service manager just changed to SE fork oil in his bike. Sat on mine, mashed the front end up and down, sat on his, mashed the front end up and down...VERY noticeable improvement.

Felt more solid, smoother, more resistance both up and down. I'm definitely going to give it a try.

 

Just curious, why wouldn't Harley do this upgrade to begin with? If it's so simple and so cheap and such an improvement. It seems like a no brainer. Not being smart guy here, just curious.