Front Fork Springs - Page 2 - Harley Forum

#11 11-19-2007, 08:07 PM

Hey MTY EVO

Hows it going. I went with the Progressives. Buttoned it up and took a test ride. Much improvement over the worn out stock ones. Bike hold a line better in the clover leafs, etc. The nose was getting a bit mushy. Not anymore. Next will be the motor mounts. Mike Thanks to all for the input.

03fxst · #12 11-20-2007, 08:15 AM

I know it's an 07 so this shouldn't be an issue -- but, did you check the fluid? A new bike shouldn't bottom out on rail-crossings should it?

94flhtcu · #13 11-20-2007, 08:25 AM

Hey, '03 Happy Holidays to ya...

repairguy · #14 11-20-2007, 09:30 AM

Just had it serviced so I am sure that the fork fluid was checked also. But, to play save I will check that today. Thank you for the idea. Never would have thought that since it has done it for awhile now.

o-sixs · #15 11-29-2007, 01:54 AM

I used race tech springs and gold valve emulaters in a Dyna fork, pretty good stuff! They can be installed to lower the front or stock height and you can tune them for the ride you want.You order the ones for your wght.

mediaguy · #16 12-22-2008, 02:27 AM

Progressive makes springs for "stock" replacement length and also "lowered" springs which can be either 1" or 2" lower. For superior springs than stock. Harley's are too soft (notice how much your bike dives under braking?). Progressive makes their springs in a progressive rate (which means the rate starts out nice and soft but gets stiffer as the travel increases). Some mgf make a "dual rate" spring which means it starts out at one rate and then crosses over to the other stiffer rate at some point in the travel. Either are far superior to the stockers.

Softailzz · #17 12-22-2008, 05:35 PM

I used the Arlen Ness custom damper, you reuse the stock springs. Gave me a two inch drop in the front. Replaced fork oil with Scream'n Eagle heavy duty racing oil. What a difference in ride and looks.
Before:

After:

milindh · #18 12-23-2008, 03:42 PM

I had a '87 East Bay style Sportster slammed front and rear and it had the worst front dampening I've ever experienced. Bottomed out and topped out way to easily. Seals were fine. Correct oil amount and type but not heavy duty. Stiffer springs and improved dampers would have helped a lot. I often wondered if the poor dampening had anything to do with the shortened front end.

In '68 I was working at the Buick Final Assembly plant in Flint, Michigan and I met an up and coming AMA flat tracker named Rex Beauchamp. He was a relief man on the line I was on so for a while I saw him a couple times a day. He told me that he was a good friend of Bart Markel (the great AMA champ) and they would go out to this place called Hog Backs to mess around during the off season. They both rode factory supplied matching Harley 250 Sprints with Ceriani front suspension. He said they liked to drain all the oil from the front forks when racing flat track to somehow give the forks better response on the hard surface. It didn't make sense to me but he swore by this. The only downside to this setup, he said, was that when the forks topped out (fully extended) they made a loud clang.

So, anyway, one time they were riding out to Hog Backs together on a gravel road and Rex decided he would have a little fun and pass Markel while doing a wheelie. You know, just showing off and having fun. So he cranked on the throttle and pulled the front end up quickly. So quick in fact that not only did it clang when it topped out but the retainer that held the sliders on broke right off and the whole front wheel and lower fork fell cleanly off! He rode it like this for quite a ways looking over at Markel as he rode past. Markel was laughing his butt off! Eventually Rex let the front down and crashed pretty hard. No serious injuries though. Both guys just rolled on the ground laughing.

True story.

83XLX · #19 06-24-2009, 05:49 PM

Here's my suspension tale:

I'm finally happy with the suspension on my bike. It handled OK before, but the stock rear shocks were worn out, and weren't that great even when new. I decided to go in a mild cafe' direction with the old XLX. I picked up a pair of FXDX rear shocks last year, and while they are quality units, the bike handled worse after installing them. They are 3/4" longer than the 12.5" stockers, and that extra weight bias on the front end brought to light how sacked-out the front springs were. I installed a SE fork brace, but the bike wallowed pretty bad when cooking through any corners that weren't smooth.

Next step was to buy new front springs. I bought a pair of Progressive springs and put them in. I was unsure of the proper preload for these springs, so I installed them with no spacer, for a preload of about 3/4". Put in Bel-Ray 15wt fork oil, 5.5" from the top of the tube with the front end collapsed (before I put the springs in). Put it all back together and went for a ride.

Still wallowing somewhat, too much sag (not enough preload) in the front, and the rear shocks aren't damping enough, creating a pogo effect. Went back home, pulled the caps again, and put a 3/4" PVC spacer in each tube, which left the front sag at about 1/2" unladen, and about 1.5" with me sitting on the bike. Then I played with the damping adjustment on the rear shocks to slow the rebound, and settled on click 8 out of 10, with the springs on the lowest preload, for a rear sag of about an inch with me on board.

Went for another ride, and WOW! Like night and day - the old Sportster corners like it's on rails. No wallow, no pogo, no headshake. The suspension is very controlled and the bumps are absorbed with no undue chassis movement. Much less front-end dive when grabbing a handfull of front brakes, too. Rode some pretty twisty stuff and some rough roads I used to avoid, and I'm happy. It's still just an old Ironhead with 35mm forks, but I think it's about the best performance I can get out of the stock front end and frame. Posted this as info for anyone else looking to upgrade the suspension on an older bike. Here's a pic I took while measuring the fork oil level with the front suspension compressed - I thought it looked cool, sort of like a drag racer.