DAMN thats nice!1! how about something for us guys with 41mm forks?

 

The real question here should be, Why? If you want a bike that handles you don't buy a Harley.

 

[QUOTE=FastHarley;6934688]I am making a Video this weekend (raw) of a girl who will show you all how to re-build your forks (all HD by making some common sense allowances) and at the same time install this cartridge system into a 49 mm bike. Since Geico Insurance took all of the available caveman, I took the next best thing I could get.

She will show you how to re-valve the cartridges and change spring rates on the kitchen table. No spring compressor is needed but simple specialized tools can be made or purchased.

Do not confuse this system with anything else out there. There is no comparison with anything on the market currently. This unit is exactly the same used (with changes to make it work in your bike) on the track and is currently winning. There is no difference between the track and the street in terms of ability to let the suspension/tire move up and down to keep constant contact with the road. Lose traction, loose the race. That is the short version as there is way more to it.

For street: the bike is set up more compliant to absorb road irregularities when desired. In January the forks and some model Ohlins shocks can be retrofitted with servo like mechanisms branded "Mechatronic" system. This is an electronically controlled remote system that can be accessed from: Dashboard/handlebars, (race only) from the pits, GPS, and from an onboard camera for visual recognition. The latter application are used in conjunction with each other to pinpoint within inches where you are on the track and the suspension is than adjusted for that condition. This system is currently available on Ducatti's.

I plan on having a complete kit ready today. This is for changing over (the Dyna I own) 2005 and below Dynas to 49 mm, dual brakes, and 30 mm cartridges using the stock 05 fender. The other bikes with the exception of the 49 mm wideglide Dyna has already been completed. I do not have one of those bike to test this unit on so hence the delay. I personally test everything I design prior to release. When that is finished this weekend I will than offer it up for purchase.


Sounds cool Howard. Anything for us with older Dyna's and the 41mm's?

 

why no mater what you do you are limited by the frame.

 

Like the old Budweiser commercial used to ask ... 'why ask why ...?' If someone has it in their mind to do something, they're going to do some homework ... see if it is possible, then if it is (economically) feasible .... That is an analysis each one has to do at his or her own personal level ....

You dig on your Harley (Street Bob, Super Glide, whatever) you want it to handle a little better ... you do some homework ....

You may find out eventually you're wasting your time ... or you may decide that spending a small fortune to get it where you want it (perhaps something less than what you could've gotten from a ricer, or whatever) is worth it to you ... to each his own ....

That is what keeps guys like Howard in business ... that and the fact that he is very candid about the potential upside and the systemic limitations ....

As soon as I get back, I'm installing some (Race Tech gold valve) cartridge emulators in my 41mm forks ... hopefully it'll be a vast improvement of my stock front end ... should be from what I've heard ....

Got a kit with the gold valve and some stiffer springs .... Looking forward to trying it out ....

R/
'Chop

 

All bikes "handle". Some are more responsive and track better or more predictably than others. There are few production bikes which can't be improved upon. Stock, the Dyna is a pretty fair handler, compared to some of the turds I rode in the sixties, seventies, and eighties, but can certainly be improved upon.
There are bikes which are faster, and bikes which are better tourers, etc. But the Dyna is a good generalist. Like my old Triumph Bonnevilles and Tigers. Not the best at anything, but straightforward, simple, and flexible. Handsome, too. I took a 78 Tiger on a trip very much like the trip I just did on my Dyna, but with a passenger. I used a 68 "Tigerville" as my main transport for eleven years, 90K miles plus with only one, very unusual, mechanical failure and an electrical quirk that still is the subject of a good story. Never pushed it home. Hope I'll be able to say that for the FXD in a decade.

 

Allow me to turn your question around and ask: why do you ask?! I own an FXDXT and, having fitted a True-Track kit, am happy with it as it probably has the best suspension of any recent Harley. If every Dyna came with the same quality stuff, we might not be discussing suspension here, but Harley are cheapskates when it comes to fitting suspension.

Harley owners spend the budget of a small foreign country improving their bikes, but most of it goes on chrome or tuning. Seems entirely reasonable to me that some of us should seek to improve the quality of the ride, with better suspension, and improved handling as well. Think FXR!

My interest in Howard's forks are for my dresser, which is already significantly modified to improve ride and handling, so I will be following his fork progress with interest!

 

I'm looking forward to see the video too and show it to a couple of friends of mine that are sportbike mechanics and hear there comments.

 

The original question was about sport bike suspension which to me implies trying to make a Harley handle like a sport bike. Anyone with a shred of honesty knows that the Harley chassis can best be described as archaic, so throwing modern suspension at it will only magnify it deficiencies.

You can put lipstick on a pig.....

 

I gotta disagree with that thought. Modern suspension would only serve to enhance an older style chassis. While it may be true that an old style frame design like the one on our Harley's may not be the optimum solution, it can still benefit from adjustable shock and fork technology. Throwing money at the problem is not exclusive to HD owners either. I know more than a few sport bike owners who have spent lots of cash with Ohlins and Penske. Hell even a company like Ducati comes out with higher priced special models with $$$ spent on upgraded suspension components.

Oh... and wouldn't that be putting lipstick on a hog?