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My '05 Softail springer bounces a lot, more in turns. The fork seems crooked. See the attached pics. Its the only springer I have ever owned, so I cant compare it to anything. I have filled the neck with a greasegun, and the grease comes out a lot. It only has about 7,500 miles, but it doesn't seem right to me. Is this normal? Any ideas would be great thank you.
I'm still learning a lot about springers myself, but shouldn't that bottom bearing (race) surface on the fork be more in line with the neck? Maybe it's just the camera angle...
Also, do you have a shock on the front of the fork?
I've ridden a few springers and some have pogo'd while going down the road. Not sure if it was worn out springs, mis-adjusted rockers, or what. I'll be doing a service on my springer soon and subbed here to learn more right along with ya!
The grease portion is normal. I grease mine every few rides and it's always dripping out. I usually keep a roll of paper towels just to wipe off excess neck grease in the saddlebags. Grease until it pushed out, wipe it off, then more seems to leak just from vibration and ambient heat. Wipe when I get to where I'm going, then wipe again when I get home :/
Far as the crooked fork, someone more versed in springer details will be along shortly, pictures are a bit too close for me to figure out exactly what's going on. But I can say this, springer by it's nature is kinda bouncy, at least mine is. Only bike I've had though so not exactly a lot of experience to go by.
But if the forks were crooked, in theory, first thing I'd do would be to go down the road at 30. A known FLAT road. Lotta roads around here have a curve from center to gutter to direct rain so you gotta keep that in mind. When you find your flat road, let up on the handlebar grip a bit. Hover your hands around them. Don't sit back and cross your arms, just ease your grip and hover your hands around the grips like you'd have them normally.
It starts pulling left or right instead of in a straight line, or the bars start to wobble and hit into your hand? Well then you might just have something else going on.
Look up the rake and trail specs for your springer, with a tape measure, and a level or plumb bob you should be able to see if your are in spec. that gap looks at least a 1/4 inch.
looks like ball bearings are missing that bike is not safe to operate in this condition
Last edited by Paintslinger16; Sep 19, 2022 at 07:59 PM.
If you cant do it yourself take it to someone who can now. We have two springers in our garage and neither one of them bounce or more correct term pogo. Neither did the other two Ive owned in the past. The bottom race is amiss for sure.
I haven't owned my Crossbones Springer too long, but I would say it's supposed to feel pretty close to regular forks, in terms of how it behaved in a turn. Mine definitely doesn't bounce or pogo in turns. The spring shown in your photo looks OFF, as it is not supposed to bulge, but rather be a straight line from top to bottom any way you look at it. As you may/may not know, the Springer front end has a fairly frequent recommended maintenance intervals, (at least every 5K miles) so if your bike is overdue for this, just get it done.
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Springer Bouncing - Fork crooked?
