Good to see this thread. This is the main reason I joined this forum, but was expecting to get nothing but serious flak for doing it. I'm wanting sportbike frontend, wheels and brakes on my FXDB.
Thanks

 

Want hear no complaining from me, I like all the idea's going back and forth. Makes for fun times to own a bike and making it your own.

 

My problem is that for the last 15+ years, all I've owned are 1000cc sport bikes (all Honda's fwiw) and performance comes above all else. I know no matter how much money I throw at this thing, it'll never handle, accelerate, brake on par with any crotch rocket, but I gotta do the best I can. Thanks for the encouragement, gump

 

Interesting post, please keep us updated.

 

Johns bike has the best of the best, 1427 Ninja 200+MPH, heads up display in his helmet, a rear video with a screen in the dash, you can see all of the switches in the dash but the left grip, Carbon rims and a "Harley" front end yep it's an HD front end, I'll try to find out what one it is, he told me but its been a while. The bird does ride with him, he said it can handle 70 with no problem.

 

Its prob Buell front end, just found some info about that a few minutes ago. Its the only HD front end w/ upside down forks, unless the XR1200 has 'em. Wonder what was wrong w/ Kawi front? Although I've found the Ninja family to be a little 'nervous' on the front end.

 

Recently did my front end with Howard from motorcyclemetal a few months ago. Converted the 39mm narrow glide to a 49mm mid glide. Used Nightrod Special lower forks in order to retain my dual disk brake setup.

What makes the front end pretty special is what you can't reall see; the Ohlins FGK 30mm cartridges. They permit full adjusability for compression and rebound. The adjuster for compression is located in the top of one tube, and rebound in the top of the other. I'll post up a couple of pics when I get home from work.

Got to ride for a couple of months before the winter hit and posted a writeup a while back. Bottom line, the new front end coupled, with Avon Venom tires, is a great performance set up, and a huge upgrade over stock.

 

If you want something to look racy than you can slap on a "Sport Bike" set of forks. The problem with that is the fork tubes (Inverted & not sliders) as they are made for a 400# bike. The fork tubes are thin because extra weight for the application is the kiss of death. Once you got that figured out than it is time to move on to the internals.

The cartridge fork is the best application developed currently. There is nothing better, not BMW Telelever, not the Showa "Big Piston", none of the so called instant wiz bang newest thingy, there is nothing else as of today. The size of the piston and the internal design must be matched to the application it is applied to. 20mm cartridges are better than the stock HD 1948 HydraGlide with is currently OEM on most HD's. A XR1200 and dresser use to have a single 20mm cartridge system as does the Buell. Better but not good by any stretch of the imagination. You can go to my site and see what is inside of the Buell cartridge system (under Buell).

A 20mm cartridge system is not large enough to to stop a HD enough to control it. Once you get to a 25mm cartridge system are you doing something but again it is primitive compared to a great set of internals. Slapping a set of 20mm cartridge inside of the GXSR 1000 forks than onto a bike is a step in the right direction but why not do it correctly as it costs the same? Deal with the thin fork tubes as your outcome might not be the best if it should ever fold up. People doing the job but not knowing the knowing.

Next is the steering geometry, You just do not drill a couple of holes and stick a steering stem and a set of forks through the other holes. There are things called rake and trail that must be considered. that is what takes time and lots of experience retrying what works and what does not.

When that is all said and done than you must move on to the wheels/hubs. Sport bike wheels are designed for Sport Bikes. They look like wheels that should be on a sport bike and are designed for that weight & not for a HD that weighs 250# more.

Yes you can slap a set of "Sport Bike" forks onto your HD but there is a whole bunch more to know about how the world goes around. I have this bike with vastly worked over 25mm KYB double adjustable cartridges that have been re-valves so many times I have lost count. The sliders have wide bushings to hold the fork tube in line due to the enormous 28* of rake, and I had the thick 43mm fork tubes made for me. I built this fork to my specifications to do what was needed. I corrected the trail by making my own triple trees. bigdaddy33 forks are far superior than mine. How do I know? I have the same ones in my 2005 Dyna. I am machining a new set of axle clamps today to accept the Ohlins 30mm cartridge kit and installing them into this fork. Hope to have it done for Daytona on March 9th.



And this Dresser looks like it has Sport Bike fork but it has little resemblance to one, part to part. You can not buy this fork without having someone make it for you.



You may try an actual front end that will fit a Sportster or Dyna. The Kawasaki ZX-14 is too short for the Sporty to sit with riders sag to run level, you must either lengthen the fork tubes, make extra thick triple trees, or chop the rear shocks and loose all of your ground clearance. Every one of the aforementioned bikes utilize the same hub that can found (measurements) on a HD.



There you have it & yes I do know what I am talking about. Can it be done and it an Inverted fork a great improvement: Yes! All is what you have to do is know the knowing before hand. Good luck with your build.

 

Howard (motorcycle metal) is in the process of rebuilding a set of forks to accept the Ohlins FGK 30mm cartridges for me. I am also converting from my single front disc to his dual disc front brembo brake set up.
Last summer I purchased a set of Ohlins rear shocks from him....best purchase I have made to date...period!

 

I'm still thinkin of getting this http://www.phatperformanceparts.com/...DRPNDRFKSPRNGS for me 41mm tubes of my bike, but I would really like to hear some feedback on it before!