In one of my first posts, Road King “Float”, I mentioned that at highway speeds 65mph + my 2010 RK seemed to lose stability and ‘float’ rather than ride stable on the road. A lot of suggestions were offered with “put more air in the rear shocks” being the leader. So I checked the MOM and for me, a 320# rider, it suggested 45 psi. So I added air.

That helped the overall ride in town but again, on the highway getting up to the posted speed limits of 65 and 70 mph is still not fun. So I tell the dealer about this when I turned her in for her 1000k check-up. Operator error they say, well, in not those exact words but they claimed it was just “wind buffering the wind screen”. I never knew there was so much wind between 60 and 65 mph but after the check up it did ride better at higher speeds. But still not at speeds to keep up with traffic on I-70. That was the first opinion.

During a ride with some buddies I tell them of my problem and one of the riders had me push on my handle bars and said “there’s your problem”. Seems the second opinion is mushy front shocks. A couple of other HD riders agreed there should not be that much “play” in the front forks. Their recommendation is to have the dealer put “heavy duty” fork oil in and that will cure what ails me. During my most recent visit to the dealer to spend my hard earned ‘hundred dollars’ I talked to the shop again about this. The maintenance guy said it’s not the fork oil and for me to take the wind screen off and ride at 70mph to see if rides better. Well, honestly, if I wanted to ride with no wind screen I would have bought a bike with no windscreen but I digress.

So, here are my questions:
a) Any other RK rider experience the same thing?
b) Should the [stock] windscreen really matter that much between 60 and 65 mph?
c) Would heavy fork oil make that much of a difference?

Again, this is a stock 2010 Road King FLHR hauling a 6’0” 320# solo rider.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

I would venture to say it's a suspension issue in relation to your weight. There's absolutely no reason for the windshield to affect your stability at 65 mph IMHO. I think you should try to put progressive springs in your front end and take it from there. You're able to adjust the psi in the rear but then leaving the front as is would only put more stress with a shift in weight when you're moving or coming to a stop. I'm no light weight myself at 235 pounds and was having the same issue with my 1200 Sportster, so I decided to upgrade recently to my RKC as well instead of dumping the money into the Sporty. The issue would probably be more predominant if you ride 2 up.

If you don't want to lower your bike you can get a progressive kit for factory height as well BTW.


Good luck and let us know how it goes.

FM

 

You need to measure your suspension sag and my bet is you need heavier springs. So far the answers you've received are just guessing. Measure the sag and check with Race Tech or Motorcycle Metal for some real solutions. And be sure to have the air pressure correct before doing anything. That means exactly what the manual states, not what is on the tire. I prefer running 2 pounds over because the suspension tends to work better but I'm always riding faster than most others.

 

I've experience that floating feeling a couple times in the past 3000 miles.
Both thime at 40 mph and on the same stretch of road. This particular road is overly crowned for ****-poor drainage I assume. Got me wondering too what causes this wierd feeling. Half of my riding is two-up and I have messed with the rear shock pressure a few times to find a good setting for both loads. I haven't experienced it again for quite a while. Not sure if tweaking my rear shocks had anything to do with it...
My first thought was tires. I had a car once where the belts in the tires were moving about as I drove and it felt similar. Turns out the tires were recalled and replaced before I even put 1000 miles on them.

I would try without the windshield just for the hell of it. 80% of my riding is at 70 mph. Sometimes with or without the windshield. I never noticed the windhield making handling too much worse unless the wind was really blowing hard like crossing a large bridge on an open road. See if your forks have any oil in them at all and that they are the same. Front end lift comes to mind..

 

I'm a customer of Motorcycle Metal and Howard there is well worth talking to. ktm990's suggestion to measure static sag is great. Howard will explain all about that!

Kevin, did you add air to both tyres? I would try a couple of pounds over stock then four pounds over, to see if you get any improvement that way.