New 49mm fork modification
#1
02-15-2009, 09:22 PM
New 49mm fork modification
I was cruzin' the XL forum and came across a fork mod thread and then came across this,
http://store.ricorshocks.com/Product...49%2D20%2D1001
The sportys seem to be reacting to it well and it appears to be a very impressive improvement, not cheap, but neither is the true-track. I imagine it would compliment it well. I am dying to try this and the true track, but my pockets don't run that deep anymore. Hope someone checks it out? Maybe a group buy?
CB
http://store.ricorshocks.com/Product...49%2D20%2D1001
The sportys seem to be reacting to it well and it appears to be a very impressive improvement, not cheap, but neither is the true-track. I imagine it would compliment it well. I am dying to try this and the true track, but my pockets don't run that deep anymore. Hope someone checks it out? Maybe a group buy?
CB
Last edited by NoLongerAmember; 02-15-2009 at 09:34 PM.
#3
02-15-2009, 09:50 PM
Elite HDF Member
#6
02-15-2009, 10:03 PM
Read through this, might help understand what is accomplishes. This is on a sporty, we have the same damper tube fork and in my opinion they suck just as bad. Oh, these guys know their S**T on shock valving.
My first impression was the front end was higher, but I don't know how. Then I rode 1/4 block and turned across a little V junction, sort of a rain channel, between the intersecting streets. I feel the front wheel move down and back up, but I didn't feel the chassis follow the motion nearly as much as it normally does. I find it sort of strange, so I hit a few more and and then ride over a speed bump. Same thing, it feels the front wheel is moving, but the chassis moves so little, it feels like the bumps are much smaller. Strange.
One of my habits as an old dirt bike rider, is anticipating how much any particular bump will upset the bike. Seems like that old mental program will need some updating. The bike is not reacting to bumps and dips like it used to. The wheel reacts, but the chassis reaction is greatly reduced. Then I ask myself how would I interpret what the bike is doing if I did not have any idea how the Intiminators are supposed to work. My answer would be it just makes the bumps feel smaller.
Then I get on streets where the speed limit is 45 mph. I still feel bumps, but they feel different. My impression is the bike feels more stable. The chassis just doesn't bounce around like it used to.
About 5 miles later, I realize normal size bumps just are not pounding my back like before. I turn down a dirt road that I normally use for suspension tuning on my dirt bike. 4" rocks and 4" pot holes, gravel, water puddles, sand. Trabuco canyon, for the local guys. It's dark, it's cold, but here I am at 35 mph on a dirt road. I friggen can't believe how stable the bike is. I only do about 1 mile because I'm afraid of breaking a rim.
Then I head to Ortega Highway, a 2 lane paved road over a mountain. Then I turn down another road that narrows down to one lane, very bumpy, very curvy. South Main Divide. This is a road that you never see another Harley on, only Adventure type bikes. I have been on this road with my Honda XR 650 R, my Ducati Multistrada, and just a few weeks ago on a Buell Ulysses. Water is running across the road in many places because of the recent rains. Sand is all over the place. Some of the bumps are 2 feet high. I don't care. This is getting fun. The more confidence I get in my new suspension, the faster I go. After awhile, I am getting real close to the speeds I normally do on the Ducati and Ulysses, they have over 6" suspension travel. This is insane.
(EDIT: I want to clarify my comment about approaching the speeds I normally do on the Ducati or Ulysses. I have a certain pace I am comfortable at and no matter what bike I am on, I realy don't want to go any faster. It is somewhere above street legal speeds, but not race bike, knee dragging speeds. The Intiminators, in combination with all the other suspension mods I have made, makes it much easier, and more comfortable, to ride my Roadster at a much higher speed than before. However, The Ducati Multistrada, Buell Ulysses, XR 1200 still have serious handling advantages over the standard Roadster which even the Intiminator cannot overcome. I was assuming people understood that.)
There is a lot more going on with these Intiminators than just isolating wheel movement from chassis movement. The coupling effect between the front are rear is much less. Normally, I would have been bottoming the Whittlebeast shocks at least a dozen times while on South Main Divide road. I only bottomed them once. The more the front wheel moves over bumps, the less force is being transmitted back to the shocks. It's like reducing shock preload a notch or two to get a softer ride, but without bottoming.
Wheel deflection is also greatly reduced. Wheel deflection occurs when hitting a bump kicks the wheel out to the side. Obviously, the less wheel deflection, the more stable the bike is over bumpy roads.
Chassis stability is also improved dramatically because the front end height is much more constant. I could still use all the fork travel I had, but fork compression in response to hard braking seemed to be slower, therefor less abrupt. I had a plastic tie around the forks. It frequently seemed the forks were compressing only half what they used to.
The only place where I noticed no improvement was over the expansion joints in concrete highways at speeds around 70 mph. So Brian and Shocknerd, how do I tune out small, sequential bumps that produce a high shaft speed in forks/shocks?
My next step will be to replace the fork oil with 5 w, standard Harley recommended amount, and put on my WP 3 way shocks.
The Intiminators are a radical change in suspension technology. They are like adding 2" suspension travel. Big bumps feel smaller and the bike is much more stable. The harder you ride, the more important they are to have in your bike. They made a bigger improvement than anything else I have done except loosening the drive belt.
Stay tuned.
..........
My first impression was the front end was higher, but I don't know how. Then I rode 1/4 block and turned across a little V junction, sort of a rain channel, between the intersecting streets. I feel the front wheel move down and back up, but I didn't feel the chassis follow the motion nearly as much as it normally does. I find it sort of strange, so I hit a few more and and then ride over a speed bump. Same thing, it feels the front wheel is moving, but the chassis moves so little, it feels like the bumps are much smaller. Strange.
One of my habits as an old dirt bike rider, is anticipating how much any particular bump will upset the bike. Seems like that old mental program will need some updating. The bike is not reacting to bumps and dips like it used to. The wheel reacts, but the chassis reaction is greatly reduced. Then I ask myself how would I interpret what the bike is doing if I did not have any idea how the Intiminators are supposed to work. My answer would be it just makes the bumps feel smaller.
Then I get on streets where the speed limit is 45 mph. I still feel bumps, but they feel different. My impression is the bike feels more stable. The chassis just doesn't bounce around like it used to.
About 5 miles later, I realize normal size bumps just are not pounding my back like before. I turn down a dirt road that I normally use for suspension tuning on my dirt bike. 4" rocks and 4" pot holes, gravel, water puddles, sand. Trabuco canyon, for the local guys. It's dark, it's cold, but here I am at 35 mph on a dirt road. I friggen can't believe how stable the bike is. I only do about 1 mile because I'm afraid of breaking a rim.
Then I head to Ortega Highway, a 2 lane paved road over a mountain. Then I turn down another road that narrows down to one lane, very bumpy, very curvy. South Main Divide. This is a road that you never see another Harley on, only Adventure type bikes. I have been on this road with my Honda XR 650 R, my Ducati Multistrada, and just a few weeks ago on a Buell Ulysses. Water is running across the road in many places because of the recent rains. Sand is all over the place. Some of the bumps are 2 feet high. I don't care. This is getting fun. The more confidence I get in my new suspension, the faster I go. After awhile, I am getting real close to the speeds I normally do on the Ducati and Ulysses, they have over 6" suspension travel. This is insane.
(EDIT: I want to clarify my comment about approaching the speeds I normally do on the Ducati or Ulysses. I have a certain pace I am comfortable at and no matter what bike I am on, I realy don't want to go any faster. It is somewhere above street legal speeds, but not race bike, knee dragging speeds. The Intiminators, in combination with all the other suspension mods I have made, makes it much easier, and more comfortable, to ride my Roadster at a much higher speed than before. However, The Ducati Multistrada, Buell Ulysses, XR 1200 still have serious handling advantages over the standard Roadster which even the Intiminator cannot overcome. I was assuming people understood that.)
There is a lot more going on with these Intiminators than just isolating wheel movement from chassis movement. The coupling effect between the front are rear is much less. Normally, I would have been bottoming the Whittlebeast shocks at least a dozen times while on South Main Divide road. I only bottomed them once. The more the front wheel moves over bumps, the less force is being transmitted back to the shocks. It's like reducing shock preload a notch or two to get a softer ride, but without bottoming.
Wheel deflection is also greatly reduced. Wheel deflection occurs when hitting a bump kicks the wheel out to the side. Obviously, the less wheel deflection, the more stable the bike is over bumpy roads.
Chassis stability is also improved dramatically because the front end height is much more constant. I could still use all the fork travel I had, but fork compression in response to hard braking seemed to be slower, therefor less abrupt. I had a plastic tie around the forks. It frequently seemed the forks were compressing only half what they used to.
The only place where I noticed no improvement was over the expansion joints in concrete highways at speeds around 70 mph. So Brian and Shocknerd, how do I tune out small, sequential bumps that produce a high shaft speed in forks/shocks?
My next step will be to replace the fork oil with 5 w, standard Harley recommended amount, and put on my WP 3 way shocks.
The Intiminators are a radical change in suspension technology. They are like adding 2" suspension travel. Big bumps feel smaller and the bike is much more stable. The harder you ride, the more important they are to have in your bike. They made a bigger improvement than anything else I have done except loosening the drive belt.
Stay tuned.
..........
Last edited by NoLongerAmember; 02-15-2009 at 10:06 PM.
#7
02-15-2009, 10:30 PM
Trending Topics
#8
02-15-2009, 10:35 PM
Elite HDF Member
#10
02-15-2009, 10:43 PM
Stellar HDF Member
Looks like there similar to the Race Tech set up? http://www.racetech.com/SubMenu.asp?...howPage=harley
