http://store.ricorshocks.com/product_p/039-20-1001.htm

Ok It's Saturday the 7th of may,,Just Ordered the Intimidators.
I'll update as I Install.

As per XLXR and Whittlebeasts advice I will go with the stock
springs and 7 wt oil to start.
I will keep my 3/4" preload spacer, that and the Intimidators size
will give me 1 1/4" total preload and that should set sag just right.
I will also reduce fork oil by 1/2 oz from stock specs to compensate
for the size/volume of the valve..

 

You'll love em!! I went with the Progressive springs when I redid my frontend.

 

You'll have to give us a review once you've put a couple thousand miles on them.

 

Going to change my fork oil this week and install the chrome easy fill fork caps . Have 30,000 on my intiminators and still like the way they feel and handle . Keep us posted !!

 

Did you loose any total travel with the progressive springs ?

 

Not a bit.

 

Got home today,5/11
Intimidators have arrived,,,
Tiny little things for 300 bucks,,
I have Hi hopes,,am pretty confident,, we shall see,,
Hope to Install friday afternoon and shake em down Saturday..

Quick ?
When pumping out the forks do you guys do It with the caps off and
springs out ?
Last time I had the bike front end hangin and I just lifted the front wheel
several times till I got no more fluid out,,,springs out caps off,,,,

 

Ok,, The Intimidator rundown,, I still need to do a real test run,,Rain only let me do 3 measly miles,,
What It Is :
It's a 2 stage valve that sits on top of the useless stock damper. It has two circuits/functions.
When the wheel moves UP,,tiny bump or a biggun the thing goes wide open so the wheel moves up fast.
and the wheel comes back down fast...It Is also used with 5 wt oil,,,,,maximum flow ya know..
5wt gives good spring compression speed and we need that.
That Is circuit one.
5 wt also gives terrible damping on the rebound and allows an excessive amount of fork dive on braking.
The Intimidator covers this by using both circuits.
Stay with me boys,,,,,
Circuit two:
When you get on the brakes It senses chassis movement, and the valve closes down,,mostly,,It fights front end dive.
It does not eliminate dive as we need it to load the front tire for maximum braking.
It slows it, makes It a more linear dive, Unlike a progressive front spring that drops fast untill the progressive part kicks in and who knows
where the hell that Is or If It's sudden. It usually Is very abrupt.
Ok the 3 mile rundown...
I'm gonna keep this simple n short.
Bike feels good when braking,, kinda nice having some travel left when hard on the brakes and a bump shows up.
My tires were cold so I had ta take It easy.
The 45 mph run on the lumpy not bumpy road,,less chassis movement. not profound but less.
Can't wait to do 80 on the superslab.

 

Ok I got to ride today,,,an about damn time to.
Reporting on my Intimidators Is kinda hard because of my rear stock shocks so here Is what I felt.

The Good:

I took my usual fast twin sweepers about 60 mph as opposed to 70,,I Don't trust a new mod,,ever.
These two fast curves are 2 lane, the first Is about a 75 degree right hander,,then a 100 yard straight followed by a 150 degree
left hander. After that I top a slow to rise overpass and there Is no way a cop can surprise me so this Is where I do my 1 ton runs,,,
I very rarely go for a ton, just every now and then to make shure the bike Is 100%.
If you belive that I've got a helluva deal on a used car for ya XD
I only got about 1/2 mile before a dual entrance ramp means I gotta get real and slow down.
The tiny little bumps,,real small ones are gone,
Just like XLXR said If I hit three or four real bumps I will feel all of them as opposed to just half of them.
That seems to be telling me the front tire IS getting back down way faster,,Just what I hoped for.
I had already tuned my Roadster to track a line real well and It still does.
The Front tire feels like Its a bit softer like I dropped the pressure 2 lbs,,yes I can feel a pressure difference of 2 lbs btw.
My forks seem to be working better, like a cartridge unit..I'm Real Happy.
I have to be I spent 300 bones,,right lol

The Bad:

Now I know how really bad stock HD shocks are.
They are about as useless as hen **** on a pump handle.
I'd throw the damn things right In the trash can but Monk wants to play with em
on his custom,,so be it.
The back end really shows Its ugly side now that the front Is behaving.
These crap shocks have 3 preload settings,,Middle one Is a spine banger,,the most preload
does not let me have 1/4 to 1/3 total travel In bike/rider sag,,more like 15 to maybe 20% at best.
It's really sad that HD uses such shitty shocks,,No wonder most old farts and first time riders can't handle a Sportster.
I'd bet a paycheck they do this on purpose.
Every time the rear shocks move they show how badly they are Under damped on compression and how little rebound control
the shock has on the spring,,Friggen terrible.

The Ugly:

I doubt anyone could see this effect unless they were a skilled HD rider and followed me but the bike reminds me of a
Pickup truck with a buncha crap In the back and shitty shocks.
I plant the bike with a bit of trail braking or maintenance throttle and the back end fights me, I get hard on the throttle
and the back end gets Loose,,,yeah Loose.
Not Scary loose but like riding two up with a fat chick and not enough air In the back tire,,can you say pogo ?

Conclusion:
I won't know **** till I get the Works shocks on the back and learn how to set them.
I will say the Intimidator made a real change because the back shocks never gave me this
much trouble with just a fork brace and 10wt fluid up front.
I also noted that the reccomended 5 wt fork oil was correct..For hard sport riding or a big bike I think 10wt
would be a viable option.
I'll be decreasing and Increasing fork fluid levels buy 1/2 oz to see If that fine tunes the forks,,
they should respond to this.

 

Thanks for the review, Osco! I may have to get a set of these myself...