Hello folks. First time poster.
Just bought an 04 Road King. I was looking to install some Intiminators and want to confirm that the 41mm size is correct. Also for those of you who have lowered your bike...I want to lower it an inch front and rear. Any issues with rubbing the rear tire under the fender or bottoming out the front end? I only weigh 160 lbs and the wife is around 115 lbs. I just can't stand the nose dive when I hit the front brake. They really helped the front end on my Sporty. The bike is just for lazy touring, so not aggressive on it at all. I have my Sporty for that kind of thing.
Thank you in advance for any comments and advice.

 

The nose dive thing seems to be common for someone moving to a RK from a Sporty. I just did it a little over a month ago ('07 XLC 1200 Custom to a FLHRCI '04 Classic). Braking is totally different.

On the Sporty, seems like the front brake did about 80% of the braking but after learning how to ride the RK, its about 75% rear brake. Especially if you have a passenger behind you. That difference took some getting used to but I love the ride on the RK Classic. You can't even compare the 2 bikes, they are built for different reasons and nothing alike.

 

Ok. Thank you guys. I appreciate the input. BTW, we love cruising around on the new bike. Especially the wife. She's in heaven. The Sporty (XL1200N) used to beat her up pretty bad even on short rides. Glad I kept it tho. Got it all set up for solo and really enjoy tearing it up around town.
Edited to ask rhlhamlet, what size is your windshield? It looks shorter than mine and since the upper edge of mine is right where my field of vision is, I need to get a shorter one. Really irritating looking over or under the edge all the time.
Oh, and, they are 41mm tubes?

 

That windshield is really "not" a windshield. It comes up about mid chest is all and is used to knock the bugs down. I still get full wind from mid chest up but don't care because I really like the style. I haven't seen one like it yet and don't know where it came from (was on the bike when I bought it)

 

rk, you can trim your windshield yourself. easy to do, did mine and many others here have as well. there was a video on you tube that shows how its done. pretty sure the forks are 41mm

 

Ok. After some thought, I've decided I'm going to lower the new bike by 1". Also, I would like to improve on the general performance and get rid of some of the nose dive caused when braking. I've searched around quite a bit and have read threads by others, and would appreciate some input.
There are two ways I'm considering to lower and improve performance with regard to the front end.
1) A set of lowering springs (Progressive, Harley etc) and a set of Intiminators. or
2) A set of the Progressive lowering monotube units.

Costs aside (although it works out pretty close either way), which of these do you feel would give me the best setup? Does the monotube setup work as well as the Intiminators with front end handling? I know the Intiminators work very well because I have them in my Sporty.

With regards to the rear, it's between a set of 12" Ohlins from Howard or a set of 12" Ricors. Right now I'm leaning towards the Ohlins because Howard set my Sportster up really nice with a pair of the #3 #1s. I love them. But, I must admit the Ricors look as tho they're a pretty nice shock too and are worthy of a second look.

So, anyone gotta a couple of words for me on the subject? A simple #1 or #2 will do. You don't have to go into a long explanation if you don't feel like it.

 

If you're getting nose dive when stopping you're using too much front brake, and that's a bad thing. Learn to use more rear brake before you go down. Another thing you should do is change your fork oil and use Screamin' Eagle Heavy fluid, you'll be happy.

 

On my touring bikes (FLHTCU and FLTRU) I've found that just changing to a heavier fork oil, like "Screaming Eagle Heavy" made a world of difference. Front end dive much much better, and so is control during quick stops. There are plenty of threads on here about changing the fork oil... it's easy to do without completely removing the forks.

I've lowered the front of my FLTRU with the Progressive drop in kit and put 12" Street Glide shocks in the rear. Rides great. Only issue is that the angle while on the jiffy stand has changed and I have to be more careful about the angle of the surface when I park. Level surface is just barely ok; anything leaning to the right and I need to turn the bike around to make it lean to the left.

 

Hate to come across as an azzhat but quit your bitchin and learn to ride your bike. You got a great scoot and the only issues with lowering as far as I am concerned is bottoming out in the twisties. Ask me how I know..... My bike is also lowered and frame back side as well as floor board brackets take a beating but I ride serious twisties and bottom out regularly. On a more positive note I hope you and the wife enjoy those extended rides you are now able to take. If your seat is stock you would do well to upgrade to a Mustang or something that will not kill your butt like the stock seat will after 200 miles.

 

Didn't realize I was bitchin strtarrow. Just looking for some info on best options for replacing the factory suspension from those who have already done some experimenting to save myself some wasted time and money.
In any case, thanks for the help guys. I can take it from here.