Go Sportsters

[gusanito]

Originally Posted by wishin4woods

I should have been a bit more clear in my post. I tried factory oil height but the extra room taken up the cartridges didn't allow the forks to compress properly. I lowered the fluid level to what seems like good compromise between "shit I blew out my fork seals" and "man these are squishy". The cartridges are something I decided to try out in place of Gold Valves or Intiminators. They are a self contained sort of mini shock that goes into the fork tube: Take a look at the bottom of the page in this link: http://www.worksperformance.com/html/new_products.html They built them to my specs and so far so good. I will play with the adjustable preload and oil level to fine tune them. I will keep you posted how they turn out.

Dave

Those look pretty good, and easy to install. I'd never seen those before.

Originally Posted by Wanna Ride

Race Tech Emulators are valve bodies that can be added to damper rod fork. Race Tech Gold Valves are have larger holes for the oil to flow through before the oil gets to the shim stack in cartridge forks. They are not inter-changeable.

Is there a question there somewhere?

You're right. I thought he was just replacing the springs so the Emulators would be the right thing to go with. My Duck has a cartridge system, which uses the Gold Valve.

George

[Berto]

this is why These are such great bikes.Your making the suspension better and I am getting rid of mine all together.Springer front end and a hard tail. same bike different riding styles. Chopper or sportbike all in one. you can do anything you want with these bikes.Looking for factory forward controls if anybody has any.

[theKite]

Originally Posted by wishin4woods

Thanks George.

It's the only thing that I have really spent any money on for the Sporty since I bought it a year ago so I splurged a little. The front is the new cartridge insert setup from Works. It includes dual stage springs. I'm still playing with oil volume in the fork. I have pulled around 3oz out of each leg so far. The inserts seem to have made the bike feel like it has real suspension now rather than the pogo stick sensation that you get with the stock fork. The rears are freakin' great but I need to put some miles on the setup and get it dialed in a bit before I can really give it a review. I can tell you that going form 11.5 eye to eye to a 13.25 has drastically improved the lean angle and turn in when cornering.

I put Intiminators in the forks, 342ml of Motul sae5, and replaced the HD shocks with Progressives, 14". The longer shocks did not give me any more travel, which is what I wanted, for the rough and broken seal of Queensland roads.
But the longer shocks gave me more ground clearance and I rarely touch down now. And I get quicker steering, which I also like.
So I have had a Homer Simpson Event; where you do every thing wrong, but it works out OK anyway.

2004 883/1200.

Rob.

[Ginger Beard]

Originally Posted by gusanito

Those look pretty good, and easy to install. I'd never seen those before.




George

They were ridiculously simple to install. Shocks and fork inserts took less than an hour and I wasn't rushing. Kerk the Jerk had posted a link to them a while ago and I had been dicking around with getting them. Finally pulled the trigger and am super stoked with the results. I only have a couple hundred miles on them but they are light years ahead of the stockers. What really gets me is how much they improved 2 up riding.


Dave

[studad]

Just posting up that my mustang vintage with backrest arrived today. It's pretty sweet. I really think a backrest with no windshield is the best way to go. I guess as long as it's not too cold anyway.

Also, it's a regular front with the wide rear. I never could find pics of that combo when I was shopping so il follow up with pics tomorrow.

[theKite]

Originally Posted by theKite

I put Intiminators in the forks, 342ml of Motul sae5, and replaced the HD shocks with Progressives, 14". The longer shocks did not give me any more travel, which is what I wanted, for the rough and broken seal of Queensland roads.
But the longer shocks gave me more ground clearance and I rarely touch down now. And I get quicker steering, which I also like.
So I have had a Homer Simpson Event; where you do every thing wrong, but it works out OK anyway.

2004 883/1200.

Rob.

So on Sunday I'll load up my quarter horse and turn him into a pack mule and take him via the Desert to Darwin.
See HUBB>Ride Tales> Touring Sporty.
Rob

[zataomm]

Originally Posted by theKite

So on Sunday I'll load up my quarter horse and turn him into a pack mule and take him via the Desert to Darwin.
See HUBB>Ride Tales> Touring Sporty.
Rob

Good luck and enjoy the ride. Are you doing a ride report on ADV or just the HUBB site?

[theKite]

Originally Posted by zataomm

Good luck and enjoy the ride. Are you doing a ride report on ADV or just the HUBB site?

I suppose I'll just put it on the HUBB. Moderators get annoyed when you just shoot them a link.
Rob

[Ginger Beard]

Just wanted to give a quick update now that I have put a bunch of miles on the new suspension setup. All I can really say is that this had made my bike a totally different animal. Very minimal fork dive under hard breaking but the fork has a smooth initial stroke over small bumps. The front end feels like a front end should feel on a bike....Finally. The rear is equally impressive with what seems like spot on valving and spring rate and the adjustability with the the ARS has been great when two up or loaded with gear. I have yet to bottom the bike out with a passenger in tow...Maybe I need to try harder . One of my favorite things is due to raising the rear of the bike 1.75 inches and that is the quicker/lighter feel of the bike. The added lean angle is also a big plus. I am very happy with this setup and can definitely recommend it as a high quality suspension option to anyone looking to change the ride of their Sporty..

I wanted to give a bit of a shout out to Sandy at Works Shocks for all the help with spec'ing out and setting up my shocks and fork inserts. Thanks man, the setup is working out great!!



Dave

[Nitro Circus]

Originally Posted by wishin4woods

No XLCH. I was thinking about making a modern replica of a 61 high pipe scrambler XLCH similar to this one:



I plan on doing the TAT in the next couple of years and want to build a bike for the trip. Seems like it might be fun to do it on something less "convenient" than typically used as well as made in the USA.

Interested to see how this turns out, I've thought about this several times myself.

[theKite]

Originally Posted by theKite

I suppose I'll just put it on the HUBB. Moderators get annoyed when you just shoot them a link.
Rob

But now I have a problem with the HUBB.
I can not post pics.
So I'll post a few here.

Meantime: can any body help me?
My Progressives fitted on the back, turned out to be not up to the horrible dirt roads I have covered from Caloundra Qld, over 4000km, to Darwin NT. Now I have an oil leak from the LH shock which has lubricated my back brake!

So I need new shocks. I also need more travel in the back. So who makes a longer-travel shock absorber, suitable for Sporties?

Meantime: I'll try to paste some piccies of my trip so far.

Rob

Piccy below: Attempt on the Guiness Book of Records for "Bras on a Fence", Wyandra, Qld.

[skysailor]

So, off I go to my fav H-D dealer. Down payment/deposit neatly stuffed into my jeans to pull the trigger on a 2012 1200 Low. They had just soled the last of their '11's so I figured, what the hey, might as well get my foot in the door on a NEW one, right? Wrong. They've dropped the 1200Low for 2012. Seems if one wants a Sporty, you're stuck with a 883 super low (lower than the average toilet) with NO suspension travel at all, or the "new" (read UGLY) Custom, the equally unmoving "48" or Nightster, with with fuel tanks half the size of an 85 year old's bladder?? OR you can go for the XR1200X, which while it's a pretty good bike, H-D dealers have been less than successful moving them off the floor in the past. And there are herds of better bikes...if that's what you're looking for...out there. I like the very basic narrow look of the standard Sportsters......but they're GONE!
Lyle

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by skysailor

the equally unmoving "48" or Nightster, with with fuel tanks half the size of an 85 year old's bladder??

48 2.1 gal
Nightster 3.3 gal.

How much gas do you need? Put the 4.5 tank on one.

[Hughlysses]

From the "Girls and Bikes" thread in jomama:



THAT is a nice Sporty.

[PJungnitsch]

Wow, thanks for posting that. Great photo, too.