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Racetech Springs, and emulators i can deal with


Hoblick

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so after going through stock forks, bitchin baggers 1" drop kit, HD low profile fork kit, and the progressive mono tubes, i am not at the race tech fork kit with the gold emulators.

so far i like them, i like the adjustability of the system, i dont like that to adjust them you have to pull the forks off to pull the emulator to make an adjustment.

i have had the forks off about 3 times now tuning the suspension.

a little advice, whatever the directions say for the preload spacer, forget about it. youll need more preload.

im using the 64# spring on the emulator with 4 turns on the adjuster. i think i may need to back it off some thinking 1/2 to a full turn.

its a little stiff over sharp bumps

and i may add another 1/8 - 1/4 of preload.

my main complaint about all the other setups (aside from the hd profile kit) was the front would wallow in corners. which is a result of not enough preload i found out. i had the mono tubes maxed out on preload and it still wallowed in the corners. hell it would even wallow on the highway over some bumps, and would get crazy on tar strips.

the HD profile kit isnt a bad kit, but it was so super stiff it was unbearable. i contribute this to the only way to increase or decrease dampening is to use heavier or lighter weight oil. also the progressive spring doesnt help. i could actually feel the suspension get past the soft spring rate into the heavier spring rate which gave an unpredictable feeling in corners.

the race tech kits linear spring rate, that is matched to my weight, along with the adjustable emulator does a pretty good job of keeping the tire planted and making cornering the bike more predictable and more pleasant.

again though doing the adjustments is time consuming and takes patience to get it right, but in the end i should be satisfied for the short term. in the end ill be picking up the traxxion dynamics kit probably over the winter.

so for the money and the products out there in that price range, i feel the race tech kit is your best bet for a controllable ride that will be confidence inspiring in the corners.

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oh come on now.

im nearly there lol.

i honestly love the street glide.

its almost everything i want in a bike.

its about 85% of what i would want in a bike.

any other bike i have ridden is not that close and it would be harder to get any other bike closer that starting with the street glide and getting it were i want.

you need to ride my glide sometime, youll be surprised how this thing handles now that i have gotten alot of the "harley issues" fixed.

if i didnt ride 2 up all the time.

i would still have my viffer.

but i do ride 2 up all the time, and we try to tour as much as possible. and this bike just works very well for that.

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I would suggest trying to incorporate forks off a Warrior or similar that is a more modern fork to begin with and can be internally updated to be even better.

Wallowing is not just pre-load. If it is under sprung, sure. However, having rebound and compression adjustment is something that sounds to be lacking.

Racetech stuff is really entry level stuff and again, had you picked up something like a Warrior front end, an Ohlins 20mm or larger kit could have been installed giving that more aggressive/sportier ride as well as more adjustability.

Sounds like you want it to be an aggressive handling bike which it was never designed for. However, they can be made to handle like anything else can, but sometimes, you need to ditch stuff and replace with items that make more sense.

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unfortunatley there isnt a solution for a entire fork swap.

if it was possible, i would already be on that route.

the next best thing out there for the bike is the Traxxion Dynamics AK-20 fork Catridge kit

that is rebound and compression adjustable.

most likely that is the route i will take, but i didnt feel like shelling out the $1100 for them right now.

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unfortunatley there isnt a solution for a entire fork swap.

if it was possible, i would already be on that route.

the next best thing out there for the bike is the Traxxion Dynamics AK-20 fork Catridge kit

that is rebound and compression adjustable.

most likely that is the route i will take, but i didnt feel like shelling out the $1100 for them right now.

Actually, you can have anything fabricated to get what you desire...

That being said, $1100 is cheap, man. Plus, with the Traxxion kit, it can be modified to work with other forks and can be used for a long time. Plus, you will NEVER ride beyond the kit so, once you buy it, you will be set forever...

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Actually, you can have anything fabricated to get what you desire...

That being said, $1100 is cheap, man. Plus, with the Traxxion kit, it can be modified to work with other forks and can be used for a long time. Plus, you will NEVER ride beyond the kit so, once you buy it, you will be set forever...

yeah i figured i would be very pleased with the Traxxion dynamics kit, but i have spend enough money at the moment and im gonna hold off on the kit till winter. i dont really want the bike to be down for a few weeks either. i ahve to send my forks out to them so they can install there catridge kit.

im sure it will be well over my expectations and finally be completely satisfied lol

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Racetech emulators are great for the purpose they were designed: turning a damping-rod fork into one that has more adjustability than just preload.

Messing with them is a bitch and a half. Your forks might be too long, but I used to use a $2.99 harbor freight part's grabber to get mine out without having to actually remove the forks. I still had to lift the front end of the bike and pop the caps, but no dumping oil, etc.

mine is kind of like this, except it has three "fingers" http://www.harborfreight.com/24-inch-2-in-1-pickup-tool-94162.html

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yeah i figured i would be very pleased with the Traxxion dynamics kit, but i have spend enough money at the moment and im gonna hold off on the kit till winter. i dont really want the bike to be down for a few weeks either. i ahve to send my forks out to them so they can install there catridge kit.

im sure it will be well over my expectations and finally be completely satisfied lol

Send em to Reuben at 35 Motorsports. He's an authorized Traxxion dealer anyways...

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oh really.. maybe ill have to call him, see if he can do me a better price than Traxxion's website.

i know that if you get the externally adjustable model its about $300 more, but it would be worth it

He's gonna tell ya he doesn't work on anything other than sportbikes, but tell him I sent you and that he really should consider this deal as he is a Traxxion dealer...

Plus, he is always getting updates and is pretty tight with the fellows down there...

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