I went with Legend Axeo - less expensive, better system, better customer service, less wait time....

 

I have heard that those are also very good, although I am not sure they are necessarily "better".

 

Actually there is. The oil doesn't flow through the same hole back and forth, it flows through different holes, based on the check valve. Rebound and compression rates are different.

From your linked source:

 

Did you go with something else, like cartridges or such? If so, I'd be quite curious to hear what you thought of both and why you're abandoning the Intiminators.

 

For the complete explination:

http://www.racetech.com/page/title/E...%20They%20Work


Installed race tech 1.0 springs and emulators for only $250 complete. springs and emulator valves, seals, fork oil... A much bigger bang for the buck then the cost of even the least expensive rear shocks. It works very well and is adjustable/tune-able. If you wrench, no need to pay some one else to change the suspension characteristics. albeit, proper installation and emulator setup is important.

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I ran both. Intiminators in the softail with stock springs. And what I posted above. The ricor intiminators did decrease brake dive and smoothed out the ride, but perhaps with less road feel. Some have installed intiminators with race tech springs but found the ride too stiff and would change the intimintors. I spoke with Bryan at ricor a few times about this and he explained that intiminators were designed for the soft, stock springs. With the race tech springs and valves, the ride is more compliant, predictable and more adjustable then the intiminators. "For me", no need to look for anything else.

 

No one seems to tell folks that the cartridges need to be rebuilt periodically. Definitely about 20k to retain the ride quality. The emulators are 'rebuilt' with a fluid change.

But, after looking at many used Harley's for sale, most do not ride 10k annually. Which is great for me buying used bikes.

 

Those RT diagrams are generic, not Harley-specific. In any event the oil flows through plain holes, as the only means of providing damping. Performance and ride quality, compared with more recent damping systems, is frankly lamentable.

My first bike, a 1959 BSA, had the same damper-rod style of forks and H-D has yet to move on. It's bad enough that my 1990 Glide has the same style, but that my 2011 Sporty does too is just disgraceful. What is infuriating is that my '03 FXDXT had fully adjustable springs and damping at both ends, so we know that the MoCo can do much better, but presumably chose not to....

 

I went with the intiminators 4 years ago. There were no good proven cartridge systems available for my bike then. Having them reworked by Jason and upgrading the springs made a huge difference. As I mentioned in my previous post I was already familiar with the benefit of a cartridge style system and am changing now because it was time to rebuild my fork internals anyway.

 

Properly rated springs are easily over looked or taken for granted. Its surprising the improvement springs make when hitting the twisties. The front end does not compress nearly as much when cornering, lean angles are increased and the bikes geometry, rake and trail, changes less. All this for a only hundred dollars worth of springs.