I have never given much credence to spending money upgrading suspension on a Harley. Consider me a non-believer because my thought was "I'm essentially riding a couch compared to a true performance bike" . It is what it is, right?

My buddy put new suspension on his Street Glide and he was raving about how much better his bike felt. I took it around the block and was impressed.

I decided to put some effort into my suspension after that.

In the process, I turned the corner from having bike A.D.D. where I bought and sold bikes every two years or so to realizing I really liked my Road Glide and HD was not really putting anything out that would be much better than what I had and could build from in the near future.

I went all in and decided to do a lot (full black out, bars, lights, controls, seat, gauges) on my mostly stock bike with the suspension being the central item.

One of my big gripes with my RGS was ground clearance. We ride much more aggressively than the average rider from what we've been told by new people who join us. So everything on my bike was scraped. Even the bottom of the primary.

I decided to raise my bike 2" and install Ohlins suspension front and rear with some other little tricks to achieve the lift.

All i can say is that my bike feels like it's held to the road with Velcro AND is on rails at the same time. It feels like I have a new bike and frankly, the stock suspension sucks. You wouldn't realize this until you ride a bike with primo suspension.

This is the best bang for the buck you can do. Take it from a non believer!

That said, if you ride don't ride hard in corners you may not care and the stock suspension will serve you fine.




Comparison of the stance of my upgraded and lifted Road Glide to two CVO Ultra Road Glides. I have soooo much extra lean angle. It's awesome.

 

Greg - No disrespect but I cannot agree with you on your PSA. I have been riding HDs since 1982 and I never had a bike that I was unhappy with. I have owned FJ1100, CBR 1000 Hurricane, Triumph Daytona so I know what a 'suspension' is going to feel like. My HDs are exactly how I want them. My 2018 FB114 is set up PERFECT. Thank you for the opin, its just not mine.

I have a few questions for ya..

A) The type of riding you're describing sounds best on a GT1600 or a Trophy - Are you sure your bike meets your objectives?
B) Raising the bike, doesnt that throw the geometry / Center of Gravity off causing a push in the turns - I honestly dont know, thats why Im asking.. I was under the impression the raise kits were for heavy travelling so the onboard load doesnt bottom the bike, not for canyon carving..

General question toward the crew - does this help on the Dragon? lol

 

 

It's still no K1600 or Ducati but it is infinitely better in the corners than stock. No comparison. It falls into the the "it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast then fast bike slow" category for me. If I really want to hammer it, my GS will still kill the Road Glide but I definitely closed the gap a bit.

The height raises the COG but it makes the bike much easier to drop into a corner IMO. It's much more responsive to input.

The Dragon.... Lol

 

Good suspension, sprung and valved for your weight, is probably the best money you'll ever spend on a motorcycle.

 

 

The higher the center of gravity, the quicker and lighter it turns.

The lower the center of gravity, the slower and heavier it turns.

That's one of the reasons that lowering a motorcycle is such a bad idea, especially if it's a motorcycle that doesn't turn very well to start with. With typical Harley-Davidsons, you're already fighting against an awful lot of weight, a long wheelbase, seriously limited cornering clearance, sub-optimal tire profiles, and steering head angles that range from the slack side of touring geometry, to utterly ridiculous. Raising them, especially if you're raising the rear more than the front (to reduce the steering head angle) can only help the handling. That's why the various XR1200 racers raised the rear of their bikes about 2-1/2", to get them to turn.

 

Great job. Your bike looks awesome.

Phil

 

Good suspension makes the bike & the ride so much more enjoyable. Stock Harley suspension leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Theres a company called Big Bear Choppers (Big Bear Performance) that seems to have pioneered this stuff. Personally I don't understand it. I have two Ducati Race Bikes that I take to the Racetrack. I listen to music on my Street Glide and go slow. I'd be lying if I didn't say theres a part of me that wants Ohlins on my Harley just because every other bike I own has it. I used to race the streets and go to the mountains (I'm from Cumming and recently moved to Beech Island - Near Augusta GA) all the time. After I got into the race track, beating up the streets became noticeably more dangerous to me and increasingly less fun. I haven't ridden my sport bikes on the street in about 2 years now and now have both of them converted over to track only (No headlights, taillights, kickstands etc.)

My only point behind posting is it seems like you enjoy going fast. Do you have a sport bike? Would you be interested in riding a sport bike on the racetrack?