I had 2 Gl1800's and never really liked the anti-dive feature. I found that when it activated, the front end seemed to hop over roadway imperfections. That said, the Harley touring bikes really do compress the front end quite a bit during hard braking.

 

my '14 sgs hardly dives at all. During hard braking the dive is just about right for me, maybe an inch/inch and a half at most.
I am wondering if something is wrong with your build. Have the dealer check it out first. My 2 cents.

 

Just what I was wondering when I read the complaint. The 14 SGS is night and day from my 11 Ultra. To me, the amount of dive on the SGS is very manageable and in fact, hardly noticeable. But, maybe I'm just used to the squishy front end of my Ultra.

 

Coming from a '12 SG, the lack of front end dive on the '14's was the first thing I noticed in reference to handling. I'm good with stock and I ride quite aggressively most of the time. But if you want better, check with Howard at Motorcycle Metal for some new Ohlins cartridges.

 

I was just bragging on how much I love the handling of this 14 model the other day. Handles better than my 2010 SG did, I'm happy.

 

Same here. And I did check with Howard. The cost to do the Ohlins (not including taking them off and putting them back on) is around $1700 if you don't need any extra parts. For now I'm going to be happy with the vast improvement made by the changes on the 14 fork. I will be getting some rear shocks from him as soon as funds are available. Once I have those installed I'll have a better feel for whether or not I need the front end work.

As an aside - even with the Ohlins upgrade, you still don't have an anti-dive fork fwiw. The only reason I mention that is because if you are comparing a Harley to a Goldwing or a BMW you will still notice some sort of dive on hard braking regardless of what you do to the front end short of making it so firm it won't absorb bumps at all.

 

Ya know, that's weird. When I got my 2014 Limited it felt to me that the front end dive was noticeably more than my '07 Ultra was. I guess it could be the much better brakes this '14 has over the '07 that just make it feel that way but I noticed it right away.

 

When I purchased my 14 Limited I struggled a bit with the Reflex braking system. I was so accustomed to applying most of my braking force to the front wheels that I was causing the front end of my new bike to dive.

Once I figured out a good balance; light front and back brakes with just the right proportion, the bike stops plenty fast without a real dive issue. The brakes are so good that I had to adjust my braking habits.

I don't know if this would work for you, it sure did for me.

Good luck

 

Maybe it's just me, but I find that when I ride defensively and utilize engine braking, downshifting, etc. I experience little if any front end dive...

 

ok, so there is the suggestion to replace the fork oil and how long that takes. The forks on the 14 flhx no longer have the fitting to drain the oil. As difficult as it was on my 09 flhx, I would drain the oil, remove the ignition switch, remove the access panel and refill the oil through the top of the forks all in about an hour. For the 09, Minimizing the front end dive and a more compliant ride, I would change the fork oil every 20k miles, I put 100k on that 09.

>>> So.... On the 14, you would have to remove the forks, drain, refill, re-install. Figuring on at least 2 hours to do the 14 does anyone have any working solutions?