Suspension Upgrade for 2003 Harley FXDWG Overview and Outcome
#1
11-27-2017, 08:33 PM
Suspension Upgrade for 2003 Harley FXDWG Overview and Outcome
Last December 2016 I posted a request for advice regarding a planned suspension upgrade for my 2003 FXDWG. At that time my plan was to replace the current Dunlop tires with Michelin Commander ll tires, install a Ricor Intiminator valve and Race Tech .95 springs in the front forks and replace the rear shocks with Hagan, Ricor or some other rear shock that might have been recommended. The upgrade was completed in October 2017. The changes I made were differed from my original plan and probably a bit more costly, but the end result has been all good and has had me smiling since completion. Given the advice and information I have recieved from this forum, I thought it only fair that I take the time to provide a descriptive overview of my experience and the thought process involved while trying to decide what changes to make as part of my upgrade. My hope is that my experience may assist someone else considering a similiar upgrade.
It all started at the end of the 2016 riding season when I realized that my bike was handling poorly through the curves and felt unstable and uncomfortable on uneven roads. My initial thought was that I needed to replace my tires and that is where my investigation began. I began perusing the forum and elsewhere on the internet seeking information and finding out what other riders were using I quickly realized there was a range of tire brands to choose from with each having differing performance paremeters and rider preferences with no absolute consensus on which tire was the best. There was also a question of size for my front tire as the OEM tire was a 21" 80/90. Research and advice I received indicated that a case could be made to change to a wider tire possibly a 90/90 width at minimum which would provide better tracking and less interference when encountering grooved road surfaces.
While trying to decide which tire would be best, it became apparent that I might need more than new tires to get the improvement I was after and began to look at replacing the rear shocks. Selecting a shock required that I overcome a learning curve such that I could understand the jargon. It was important to appreciate the functional pros and cons of hydralic spring vs air shocks, what was meant by emulsion and the function of shim stacks along with the use of air vs gas in the shock. To know what was meant by compression and rebound and the functional impact each has upon the suspension and how they were controlled within the shock. I needed to understand the differences between uniform vs progressive springs and all the many other details that go into how the shock works in order to make an informed decision and resolve the issue of cost to benefit...ie. was the additional cost of premium shocks money well spent?
As I was evaluating the rear shock issue it appeared that maybe I should also consider improving the front suspension. It became obvious that a change to the rear suspension would have an affect upon the front suspension usually causing it to feel much softer relative to the rear. I learned that the options for improving front suspension ranged from very simple to complete replacement as follows (1) change to a heavier fork oil (2) change to a different spring (progressive or uniform, heavier or lighter rating) (3) add a valving system to the internal fork components (Ricor Intiminator or Race Tech Gold Emulator) (4) 1,2,3 (5) replace fork tube internals with a cartridge system (6) change triple tree configuration (7) replace standard front forks with inverted forks. The least costly of these options was #1 and probably the most costly is #7.
As my quest to learn as much as possible about Dyna suspension continued I learned about the "wobble" and realized that it was also affecting my bike when going through curves contributing to the instability I was experiencing. Further inquiry led me to the TrueTrack System which was designed to provide 2 additional rigid anchor points between the motor and frame and deal with the inherent problem with the motor mount design.
After significant investigation and much thought I decided upon an upgrade plan....
(1) New tires - Metzler 888's (original size tire on rear and 90/90 tire on front...Tire selection is a personal choice and one can only try different tires to determine which tire works best for you based upon experience. You are only able to consider how and where you ride and match that with available information about the tire. Advice from other riders is helpful, but not absolute. I used a wider front tire on advice from many riders
(2) TrueTrack Stabilizer - a need to eliminate the wobble I was experiencing seemed imperative and the TrueTrack system seened to be the most robust and came highly reccommended. There are other stabilizers available.
(3) New front and rear motor mounts - seemed to make sense as the original motor mounts had never been changed. I used Harley OEM mounts per reccommendation from TrueTrack techs.
(4) New rear shocks and front fork cartridges - Shocks and fork cartridges were purchased fom Maxton Engineering. They are a suspension engineering company in the UK. Rear shocks are hydralic spring shocks with an internal shim configuration and piston separation of gas and oil compartments. Rear shocks are adjustable for preload and rebound. Fork cartridges are configured individually as either rebound or compression. The compression cartridge is located in the left fork tube and the rebound cartridge is located in the right fork tube. This font suspension offers complete external adjustment of both rebound and compression. I ultimately chose cartridges over the other options because they seemed to offer a greater stability and level of performance and adjustability as compared to the other options available at reasonable cost. The cost was somewhat higher when compared to the other options , but not unreasonable. I chose the Maxton product after careful review of the company and their product, comparision of other options and discussion with Maxton technical staff. The cost was not an issue as it was quite reasonable when compared to similiar products available elsewhere.
Outcome
The process I followed was to initially purchase new tires, new front and rear motor mounts and the TrueTrack Stabilizer. The tires were mounted and the new motor mounts were installed. After those changes i noted a siginificant improvement in the stability of the bike on the road, patricularly when managing turns. The wider front tire provided a more secure feel when steering and grooved roads became a non issue. However, the bike still had a tendency to take bumps hard and the front suspension was quite soft. I road through the summer and fall 2017. In early October 2017 I road my bike to the UK and had the rear shocks and front fork cartridges fabricated and installed.
At Maxton all elements of the suspension were bench tested, adjusted and set up for the bike, my weight and my ride style taking into account the uniqueness of the Harley design. After the work was completed I road my bike back to Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the ride home the bike performed like never before. I felt glued to the road. It no longer bounced acrossed bumps as previously. The bike was much more responsive and stable through curves and on straight aways and was less impacted by cross winds. When riding the tendency has been to ride faster without realizing the increase due to the improved stability and ease of handling.
I hope this narrative is helpful. I have benefitted from the advice and wisdom of many as I worked through this process and especially appreciate the time taken by Graham Brown and Howard Messner to respond to my many questions.
It all started at the end of the 2016 riding season when I realized that my bike was handling poorly through the curves and felt unstable and uncomfortable on uneven roads. My initial thought was that I needed to replace my tires and that is where my investigation began. I began perusing the forum and elsewhere on the internet seeking information and finding out what other riders were using I quickly realized there was a range of tire brands to choose from with each having differing performance paremeters and rider preferences with no absolute consensus on which tire was the best. There was also a question of size for my front tire as the OEM tire was a 21" 80/90. Research and advice I received indicated that a case could be made to change to a wider tire possibly a 90/90 width at minimum which would provide better tracking and less interference when encountering grooved road surfaces.
While trying to decide which tire would be best, it became apparent that I might need more than new tires to get the improvement I was after and began to look at replacing the rear shocks. Selecting a shock required that I overcome a learning curve such that I could understand the jargon. It was important to appreciate the functional pros and cons of hydralic spring vs air shocks, what was meant by emulsion and the function of shim stacks along with the use of air vs gas in the shock. To know what was meant by compression and rebound and the functional impact each has upon the suspension and how they were controlled within the shock. I needed to understand the differences between uniform vs progressive springs and all the many other details that go into how the shock works in order to make an informed decision and resolve the issue of cost to benefit...ie. was the additional cost of premium shocks money well spent?
As I was evaluating the rear shock issue it appeared that maybe I should also consider improving the front suspension. It became obvious that a change to the rear suspension would have an affect upon the front suspension usually causing it to feel much softer relative to the rear. I learned that the options for improving front suspension ranged from very simple to complete replacement as follows (1) change to a heavier fork oil (2) change to a different spring (progressive or uniform, heavier or lighter rating) (3) add a valving system to the internal fork components (Ricor Intiminator or Race Tech Gold Emulator) (4) 1,2,3 (5) replace fork tube internals with a cartridge system (6) change triple tree configuration (7) replace standard front forks with inverted forks. The least costly of these options was #1 and probably the most costly is #7.
As my quest to learn as much as possible about Dyna suspension continued I learned about the "wobble" and realized that it was also affecting my bike when going through curves contributing to the instability I was experiencing. Further inquiry led me to the TrueTrack System which was designed to provide 2 additional rigid anchor points between the motor and frame and deal with the inherent problem with the motor mount design.
After significant investigation and much thought I decided upon an upgrade plan....
(1) New tires - Metzler 888's (original size tire on rear and 90/90 tire on front...Tire selection is a personal choice and one can only try different tires to determine which tire works best for you based upon experience. You are only able to consider how and where you ride and match that with available information about the tire. Advice from other riders is helpful, but not absolute. I used a wider front tire on advice from many riders
(2) TrueTrack Stabilizer - a need to eliminate the wobble I was experiencing seemed imperative and the TrueTrack system seened to be the most robust and came highly reccommended. There are other stabilizers available.
(3) New front and rear motor mounts - seemed to make sense as the original motor mounts had never been changed. I used Harley OEM mounts per reccommendation from TrueTrack techs.
(4) New rear shocks and front fork cartridges - Shocks and fork cartridges were purchased fom Maxton Engineering. They are a suspension engineering company in the UK. Rear shocks are hydralic spring shocks with an internal shim configuration and piston separation of gas and oil compartments. Rear shocks are adjustable for preload and rebound. Fork cartridges are configured individually as either rebound or compression. The compression cartridge is located in the left fork tube and the rebound cartridge is located in the right fork tube. This font suspension offers complete external adjustment of both rebound and compression. I ultimately chose cartridges over the other options because they seemed to offer a greater stability and level of performance and adjustability as compared to the other options available at reasonable cost. The cost was somewhat higher when compared to the other options , but not unreasonable. I chose the Maxton product after careful review of the company and their product, comparision of other options and discussion with Maxton technical staff. The cost was not an issue as it was quite reasonable when compared to similiar products available elsewhere.
Outcome
The process I followed was to initially purchase new tires, new front and rear motor mounts and the TrueTrack Stabilizer. The tires were mounted and the new motor mounts were installed. After those changes i noted a siginificant improvement in the stability of the bike on the road, patricularly when managing turns. The wider front tire provided a more secure feel when steering and grooved roads became a non issue. However, the bike still had a tendency to take bumps hard and the front suspension was quite soft. I road through the summer and fall 2017. In early October 2017 I road my bike to the UK and had the rear shocks and front fork cartridges fabricated and installed.
At Maxton all elements of the suspension were bench tested, adjusted and set up for the bike, my weight and my ride style taking into account the uniqueness of the Harley design. After the work was completed I road my bike back to Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the ride home the bike performed like never before. I felt glued to the road. It no longer bounced acrossed bumps as previously. The bike was much more responsive and stable through curves and on straight aways and was less impacted by cross winds. When riding the tendency has been to ride faster without realizing the increase due to the improved stability and ease of handling.
I hope this narrative is helpful. I have benefitted from the advice and wisdom of many as I worked through this process and especially appreciate the time taken by Graham Brown and Howard Messner to respond to my many questions.
Last edited by Bosnianrider; 11-27-2017 at 09:13 PM.
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CLTBREAD (11-27-2017)
#2
11-27-2017, 08:57 PM
Extreme HDF Member
#4
11-28-2017, 03:21 PM
I found them by accident while looking through many different forums besides the harley forum. There is no mention oF Harleys on their web page only British, European and Japanese racing bikes and cruisers. After contacting them and visiting their shop I was informed that they had done a few Sportsters and with good results and indicated that their products could be installed on my FXDWG with minimal problem and good results. When I took my bike to their shop they had done their homework. They offered a suspension configuration that differed slightly from what I had originally planned, but assured me that it would work well for me. Had I not taken my bike to them, and instead simply sent them the forks for modification and had the shocks fabricated and sent back to me, the result would not have been the same. They understood the how the FXDWG suspension configuration differed from the European racing set up and adjusted things acordingly to give me the best possible result. I cannot imagine being more satisfied.
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