Long story short, my bike was recently involved in a minor accident. While parked, a lunkhead backed into it, crushing the fender and other minor cosmetic damage. The guilty party had excellent insurance which covered all the damage. With some creative accounting I was able to upgrade to the chrome front end kit for a whopping $106 out of pocket. Anyways, I picked the bike up today and the front forks feel much tighter than I remember. Prior to bringing it in to the Stealrship, the front end seemed to be a lot more bouncy. If I were to hold the front brake and shove the bars for and aft, the front end would move up and down.......a LOT. Now, it seems to be much tighter. The bike rides and handles as well as it ever has, the only difference seems to be less dive and rebound when I'm shoving on it in the driveway. Is there some sort of break in for the new bushings in the new sliders? IS it likely that my old 17 thousand mile forks had just worn in a bit over the years? Is this perfectly normal, or cause for concern???


Any input appreciated.

 

They probably used the Screamin Eagle oil which is heavier and slows down the diving front end. Although if it is lowered as much as your signature photo shows, its hard to say what they might have done.

 

Yeah, that's exactly what my brain was telling me. Yes, it has the Progressive Drop In Fork It. This kit is adjustable, and can be set from stock height to a 2" drop. I ran 3/4 inch spacers, which gave me a 1 1/4 inch drop. The rear is lowered 1 inch but is getting a full 1 1/2 inch drop when I get around to sending my shocks into bitchin' baggers. The ride really seems great, I'm just way obsessive/compulsive and no matter how I wrap my head around it, they seem stiffer. Sigh.

 

I'd say it's the new front end kit. My neighbor installed the Progressive kit and had the same outcome. He seems to love it so I'm planning on doing the same when I get around to changing my lower legs.

 

I'm sure that it is stiffer. the two dealers in my area both do the same thing. if you have them install the chrome front end kit, when they put the forks back together, they use the se heavy oil. it does give a little stiffer ride, but most folks prefer it. if you feel it is too stiff, you can easily drain it and refill with a 50/50 mix of stock and se heavy. or you can go completely back to the stock. with a lowered front end, I wouldn't recommend it.

 

This is the thing that's buggin' me. I don't dislike it. It's riding and handling as good as it ever has. All I can feel is that it's different. Something I kinda wasn't expecting from a slider swap. I asked the service guy and he said they definitely put the SE heavy oil in it. But I had heavier than stock oil in it before, because of the lowering kit. I guess I will give it a go for a while, and see what happens.


Thanks for all the excellent replies.

 

Update:

Ok, wow. After about twenty miles, the whole issue resolved itself. For whatever reason, the problem went away. Go figure. Maybe air, maybe the bushings needed to break in???? No idea, but the forks are 100% back in action. Whatever, right?