Front forks on my roadster... They are shot.

[supervetteracer]

First HD for me. But I don't think this bike was meant to have front forks this soft. Thinking that I need to change fork oil and the actual springs. Do you guys suggest any specific spring? I still do moderate sport riding. IE: I still ride with rice and keep up on my 1200.:42:

Which springs do you suggest? Is there a proceedural on changing these springs?

Thanks

 

[HDDon]

Try progressivesuspension.com

 

[supervetteracer]

Is one model spring considered to be more high performance than the others? Keep in mind that under thr right circumstances I would not hesitate to hop on a road race course on my sporty. :newsmile034:

 

[Jack Klarich]

I would try heavier oil first its the cheaper way to go, next step would be to change the front springs Progressive would be my first choice:s

 

[supervetteracer]

put in progressive srings for compression and up the oil for rebound, as for spirited riding the model you have is the one to do it on, if i said fast sweepers can be taken flat stick, i have ridden corners faster on the one i got over anyother HD other than my Buell, also remove the stock shocks and fit some nice Ricor or progressive up back

Which progressive spring would you advise? I don't need the bike lower.

The rear shocks seem to be adequate for now. I just bought the HD tool and tightened them up. They work a LOT better now.

I let a HD mechanic sit on the bike yesterday and he said the front springs were in fact dead. So i guess that would be the logical route to go.

 

[supervetteracer]

i remember you saying the bike has 8000 miles on it yes?
if the springs are shot in that short distance i would be really really worried, do the simple stuff 1st before forking (no pun intended) out for the springs, drain the oil and refill with fresh and slightly heavier, as for springs stock length and progressively wound so they ramp up towards the bottom , i use progressive in the UK for front and Hagon custom units for rear

Sportster suspension is not the best damped or controlled units, infact my Mountain bike has better suspension than either my sporty or my glide!!!!!
my sporty could not handle 12ft drop offs without summat breaking :bigsmiley20:

The guy I bought it from had a really (edit) as a girlfreind. I think they both rode on this bike. Probably bottomed out the suspention on a reg basis.:small3d012:

One 12 foot drop onto rocks and that would be it for any sportster.

How tough of a job is it to drain and refill the forks? I've never done this before. Is there a proceedural on it?

I know I keep asking about proceedurals. I'm into racing corvettes and if you go to the corvette forum you will find a proceedural on how to do just about anything.

 

[sgt_1230]

Never changed the fork oil on any of my HD's, but have done it on several rice bikes(showa forks like your Sporty). On the top of the main page of this forum is "Self Help Tips". Try reading tip #'s 97, 109, 159 & 163. I used to have an 08 XL1200R and replaced the rear shocks with Progressive heavy duty 412's. They were less than $250 and if you think the stock HD shocks are OK (they are really junk) you will love the progressives. With decent suspension on your 1200R, you can't go as fast as a rice crotch rocket, but you can maintain a very "brisk" pace. Flat out my stock stock Sporty with just cycleshack slip ons would run 120 MPH which is pretty fast(OK my 91 ZX-11 would go faster) but it wasn't nearly as cool or as much fun! Good luck and have fun!