I've been researching motor mounts and planning this project since I first learned about the problems with the OEM setup, and what you can get out of upgrading them. I hope this thread will be useful for me and for anyone else looking to do this specific combination of upgrades here in 2019: Big Bear Performance rear mount, Predator front mount, and stainless heim joint top mount.




I knew the front mount was on its way out, but since the bike as a whole wasn't able to do a good shakedown until recently it was actually further gone than I realized. I just rolled over 50,000km on this bike, but only 12k of them are mine. A few days ago, I was sat there in the parking lot of a gas station drinking my coffee and looking at my bike. I do this partly because it really helps you notice things if you let your mind wander while resting and just look at it for no reason in particular. This time I noticed there was a splattery oil leak on the front of the motor. Was it mud from when I pulled off the road into one of those little spots in the woods? No, that would be dry by now, and this looks wet and clings to the engine. It looked like it was coming from the bottom of the oil filter, and splattering down and back in the wind. I got it home and looked at it more carefully: the bottom plug was backed out a few turns. They are called 'plug' in the book and are Harley Part #765. It probably definitely happened that day, when I finally wore out the front motor mount that was now touching metal on metal.




Luckily I found some threads on here that warn to not over-torque these because they're actually tapered threads and can crack the cases. I plan on taking both of them out, cleaning the threads, using and hopefully finding a torque spec to get them to. Advice here would be appreciated. It ended up being a good thing because it got me to look at the motor mount sooner than I would have, and stopped me from taking it out in that condition.

I've chosen to buy an OEM Harley front mount to use temporarily because I'm not done researching which upgrade to get, and because summer ends quickly here. I don't want to be down for weeks on end waiting for parts if I can avoid it. Until I saw the Rear Sputhe thread, I was pretty sure I was going to go with the three mounts listed above, but now I think I need to do some more research before I chose. I like the Big Bear Performance rear mount, but I may just be biased because it's the first one I heard about. I think their front mount looks great but it's overkill for my purposes so I'm going with the Predator up front. F86's post got me wanting that stainless top mount he uses, but I'm not sure if I can get a high quality one here in Canada. His eBay link's seller does ship to Canada so I'll probably go with that one. One commenter on a similar item on Amazon said theirs rusted right away so I'm trying to see if I can source a high quality one here. This is not a part I want to be redoing, and since I live half-way out into the north Atlantic, corrosion is something I have to take seriously.

I really want to get these parts ordered soon, but I also want to make sure I do a good job of researching this. My priorities are function, performance, and stability in turns, not in vibrations or comfort for this particular bike. Is anyone running the combination of Big Bear rear and Predator front? I have the angle finding tools to do the alignment afterwards and I'm really looking forward to learning about that and getting it dialed in just right. I already love this bike so much, and I can't wait to see how much better it will be when it's actually aligned and upgraded.

As always any comments, ideas, experiences, jokes and insults are appropriate and welcomed, thanks.

 

I'm very happy with OEM rear and Predator front.

 

Same here. Predator and oem.

 

I actually ended up following cggorman's lead and "upgraded" the top link after a bit... While it was stainless and never showed signs of corroding, the rod ends were a little squeaky and sloppy. Not terrible, but they just weren't super nice. I ordered new ends from McMaster Carr, but retained the original center turnbuckle, which works well. Now I feel it's a proper, high quality link throughout!

 

I have a predator front, top turn buckle replaced with one from a v8 Chevy, and I have the vibratronics rear mount on order....I’ll do a review at the end of riding season as I want to have some miles on them before offering an opinion...

 

I have the same squeak. Took me a while to trace it to my new heim top mount. I could make the squeak come and go by leaning the bike over while standing still. Ordered some hi quality teflon lined ends, but have'nt installed them yet. For now, WD-40 does the trick.

 

I did find that a squirt of wax-based dry chain lube kept it quiet for awhile...

 

Hi, Gleam and welcome to HD Forums.

I am currently running the stock oem rubbers but I also have both front and rear Sputhe stabilizers. I've used them for years with no problems. Reworked forks and 14.5 inch Ohlins rear shocks have produced and very good handling bike for me. Sumbich will run with my BMW on a curvy road! I hope to ride it to Newfoundland sometime later this year; up your way.

On the leaky oil cooler tap plugs, just put a little Teflon tape on them and snug them up. Be careful when changing the oil filter and always wash off residual oil that can easily splash on the front motor mount.

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Predator front mount and OEM rear works fine for me.

 

Predator front, oem rear, and heim joint on top but I put some lock tight on the top because it was extending on it's own every thousand miles or so.