that may be something to try, not sure what weight oil; comes stock, 10wt does seem very light. is a single rate spring better for this application? I am not really an expert on suspension.

 

This is the thread harley_jeff is talking about. Might be easier to read from pg 50 on as it got really long but there's a ton of info to be had

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/dyna-...e-springs.html

 

Mrfreeze - If you still have the Ricors in there you may want to consider ditching the progressive springs in favor of the single rate Traxxions, as Xknucksx suggests. Also, you need to reduce the amount of fluid (increase air gap) from the factory level to something around 130 mm below the top (5-1/8") or so. How do I know this? I read the entire Traxxion mega-thread! I think you will wind up with better results.

 

Here's a spreadsheet with rider weight, spring rate and spacer lengths from that same thread

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...mdgY/htmlview#

 

RaceTech single rate springs matched to my weight and riding style.

OEM progressive rate springs are a compromise seeking to accommodate a wide range of rider characteristics. While you're into the forks anyway, you may as well drop in springs matched to YOU. They aren't that expensive and you'll almost certainly appreciate the custom difference.

 

I'm running the Racetech springs (.95kg) and Gold Valve Emulators with 10wt Belray fork oil.


In answer to the OP's question, I think you'd have to find someone who's had both systems to say one way or another which is better. I think the actual single rate springs offered by both companies would be comparable. I've had Traxxion single rate springs in my previous bike, Suzuki SV1000 and they worked well. Having a Switchback, which has 41mm forks (standard damper rod on the right fork and "cartridge" style on the left fork) makes things a little different than the standard 49mm Dyna forks. Also, Raceteck offers emulators for the FLD forks, not sure if Traxxion has the same. No question, fork dive, bump absorption, stability and tracking are all very nicely improved. However, because of the FLD's fork configuration, preload adjustable fork caps are not available.... very frustrating and time consuming to experiment with different preload settings. While the Gold Valves do have adjustment, it requires a full tear down of the forks to get to the adjustment.


Racetec lists out how to take the measurements to get the "set" length for preload. I'm an additional 5/16" over set length and may back off to an even 1/4" as the ride is a touch too jarring, but the bike tracks very well through bumpy turns. The bike has gone from downright scary with the right combination of road imperfections, to now confidence inspiring.


I'm pretty happy with my setup, and when I recut the spacer for preload by 1/16" to get 1/4", I think, the front suspension will be rally dialed in.


If I had to do it all over again though, for an additional $150 or so over the springs and emulators, I'd get the Andreani cartridge kit and call it good. It's the only kit I know of that is made for the FLD and has full adjustment.

 

Sorry bro, I missed this earlier:

With my Ricor Intiminators, 5 wt fork oil and RaceTech 1kg springs,,, Nose dive = gone ! At the same time road surface bump absorption shows a definite improvement. Yes, its the best of both worlds. You get a smoother ride and a major correction in front end dipping.

I have to say MRFREEZE57, that some of what I'm reading in this thread about fork oil, seems oddly contradictory to what I understood and have, in fact, put into place with my own fork mods. For my 2014 Breakout with 49mm forks, RICHOR SPECIFIED SPECIFICALLY 5 WT OIL was to be used !!

Your OEM damper tubes were designed with 10 wt oil in mind. Ricor Intiminators override the OEM tubes "without altering them" by tuning the Intiminators to the use of 5 wt oil. I'm confused by suggestions that 10 wt or even 15 wt oil can be used with the Ricors. Ricor's techs pre-adjust the settings of the Intiminators for use with 5 wt oil and if they were, for some reason, altered to work with 10 or 15 wt oil, damping would default to the OEM damper tubes which "remain in place" inside the forks.

I strongly suspect that if oil heavier than 5 wt is used with a Ricor Intiminator mod, that one might experience marginal if any improvement,,, at best. The whole point of both the Ricor and RaceTech emulator, (Intiminator), systems is to override the old tech "fixed aperture" damper tube in essence replacing it with the more advanced "variable aperture" valved emulators. RaceTech's system accomplishes this by drilling out the damper tube aperture holes and keeping the 10 wt oil. Ricor accomplishes this by going to a significantly lighter oil for which the OEM damper tube apertures are too big.

My $0.02

 

Interesting...I put Ricors in a few years ago when I had the forks apart to install 2" over fork tubes, and I really didn't notice a significant difference, but again it was nearly 6 months over the winter between rides, so its not like I rode it back to back as would have been preferred. And I didn't spend any time dialing in the spacer, just went with the recommend setting, and adjusted for the 2" longer fork tubes. And honestly I don't remember what weight fork oil I used (I'll have to check when I get home, I know I still have the bottle on my shelf).

I think I'm going to go with the Traxxion springs in the near future, and switch to 5wt, assuming thats not already what I have in there...

 

HKMark23 - in the very beginning, Ricor recommended 5 weight Amsoil "shock therapy" and later on switched to 10 weight shock therapy for the Dynas. When comparing different shock oils, it is difficult go by oil weight as it is not an apples to apples comparison. You have to use viscosity. Bottom line with Ricors is use of the Amsoil product.

 

Understood bro and I do understand the whole cSt thing as well and you are absolutely correct as far as I know. "Wt" isn't a standard. I'm just not sure as to how the industry applies this "Weight" parlance to "fork" oil which is obviously not designed to have a viscocity of 10 cSt at 212 deg F as motor oils typically are. You really can't talk viscocity without relating it to a temperature. I can assure you though that Ricor does recommend the use of 5 Wt fork oil over 10 Wt, "in contradiction to its own website" for this particular application. They will verify this if you call them.

I used RedLine 5 Wt fork oil to great effect. Here is the protocol that is generally being followed:

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...ools-tips.html