Just recently did some work to my 04 Fat Boy. I had the forks taken apart...lowers powdercoated...then reassembled by a local shop. Since then the forks seem much stiffer, I feel every little bump more than before. I also did a comparison to another softail and there was an obvious difference. My question is what could be the cause of the stiffness?

 

Too much oil added? Heavier weight of fork oil added upon rebuild? Too much stiction from seals jammed into a now powder-coated leg?


CN

 

The oil may be heavier weight...did not check. Filled to five inches below top of fork as to manuf. specs. And the interior of lowers were not powder coated, in fact they were sealed up well.I will check on weight of oil, and look into the seals being forced into place.

Do you think that the weight of the oil could make a pretty significant difference. A buddy of mine stated that he thought that the forks felt like they were binding a little. The seals bieng jammed in or incorrectly installed would have that type of effect would it not.

 

I'd think now that you say the seal seating location was not powder-coated I'd be inclined to rule out the seals. (with exception that new seals make the fork movement a wee bit stiff initially)
When you added the oil were the forks collapsed with the springs out? On my forks (different than yours) the specs call for springs out and forks collapsed when measuring distance the oil is down from the top of the fork. Recheck your manual to see if that's what they want you to do for your forks. If the forks aren't collapsed, you'll have way too much oil. If you have too much oil that'll make 'em stiff, or never allow them to come anywhere near bottoming. (not that that is what you want, but they will hydraulic lock real soon in the stroke)
Also, once you've added the oil you want to pump the forks through a few cycles to get the oil where it needs to go and purge any air, before you drop in the springs and put the caps back on.

Depending on what weight of oil you went with, yes, it can make a big diff.
Also, when you re-install the forks and put the front wheel back on you want to tighten the pinch bolts, axle, and fender systematically between compressing and letting the forks rebound in order to eliminate the chance of the forks 'binding' as your friend refers to it. (stiction) The manual ought to spell this out.


Hope this might help a bit. Hey, I'll be the first to say I'm no expert, just trying to be of help.

CN

 

Thanks...I'll try some ajusting to see what may be the issue.