The buddy's Road King got worked on today. He lived closer to the stretches of road I wanted to try it out on so carried some tools over there. In so doing grabbed tools and forgot the camera. So no pics of what little you can see of the differences from the outside.
First observations is that the adjustability can make a real difference. At least it could on the Road King or other bikes where it would be relatively readily accessible. On the Glides you're likely going to get it where you like it, or at least where it seems ok, and leave it there. Won't be worth chasing if you're satisfied it feels good.
Simple enough installation. Just change the forks. So nothing special to report there. They'll come to you ready for installation. No work on the units necessary once they come back from the company. This only leaves the important part.....
Stop and go/city riding. Here was paying more attention to how it lifted on acceleration and, more importantly, how it felt on hard braking. Comparison has to be to the red bike with it's heavy SE fork oil as that's the feel I'm currently used to.
The red bike went from bottoming out under hard braking to being firm and solid with the change to the heavy oil. It was a very necessary change. It has, however, very little "give" to it. I tend to prefer the firm feel so never really cared. The difference here is that it is still as firm as you wish to make it but it is no longer as abrupt. Hitting as speed bump a little too quickly, or a pot hole, for examples, won't feel as jarring. It's honestly not a hugely important improvement (unless you regularly hit a lot of stuff), but it is an improvement nonetheless.
There was a short-ish couple miles stretch of decent twisties not far from where we worked. I was so used to the red bike anymore that I automatically accustomed to how it "feels" on such things. It doesn't surprise me so it doesn't worry me. Again, the heavier fork oil made it "better" in such environments though it was still obviously always a big bike whose primary mission was an environment slightly straighter. It would handle it ok, enough to carve floorboard brackets at will on those rare days I might be so inclined. But it's obviously not a sport bike.
A pass through this stretch of road with the Road King before the work also gave me a bit of before and after comparison with it. It didn't feel much different than the red bike. The difference before and after was not quite what I might described as "dramatic" but it was definite. And it was an improvement. Staging in to a turn is better. This is the biggest area of improvement actually. There was a bit of wallowing in the red bike and the Road King that I was so used to I really didn't realize it was there anymore. It happens at that point of being off power entering the curve and stays with you until geometry grabs the bike further through the turn and pushes down on it a bit. That wallowing effect was there, mildly, in the Road King to begin with. It was gone afterwards.
I did not push the bike terribly hard. There is still ice and snow at the edges of the road. Ice, debris and gravel mess from graders and traffic protruding beyond the edge on to the surface. And no shoulders. The road was clear so it was ok to play a bit. But I wasn't going to screw with anything that might seem me slip a wheel out to the edge of the road. So while the Road King was ridden to the point of just barely touching a board bracket a couple times that was all. Can't say how the entry in to turns or other radii might be different if one were riding it more aggressively. I also really felt no difference at all from that point in a turn when one would start to accelerate again and drive on through it. That all felt the same.
The last comparison the Road King was put through was on an old messed up stretch of road that is almost washboarded. It has the visual effect of black top laid over some oversized cattle guard that had slowly deflated between the rails over time. Might also think of it as uber rain strips that happen to across the road rather than longitudinally.
It lasts about an 1/8 of a mile on a stretch of a road that is actually a drive back to a farm house rather than a public road. At least I guess that's what it is as the old house is the only thing at the end of the road about two miles back there. If you hit these bumps unexpectedly at too high a speed they can ruin your whole day.
The Road King could be ridden over this and still be controlled without shaking your hands and arms apart of off the grips up to just less than 25 mph. That was it. At that point the bike was ready to hop out from underneath you in any particular direction.
After the work was done it could be ridden over the same stretch at about 35 and the front end was still manageable. Where before really both ends were getting away from you now obviously the back end was the weak link.
So, all tolled, the bike was more comfortable and better handling. The harder you ride it the more dramatic will be the difference. There is a difference that anyone should be able to feel in just about any riding type though (with the exception of cruise locked on, feet up on the super slab). In town it's better, two lanes playing it's better, rougher road it's much better.
I've been on a couple of touring bikes that had emulators installed. They were better than stock, not quite as good as this, but probably a little more than half way there. The company's cost for this job isn't just a few bucks. So hopefully this little comparison will offer some insight if anyone is considering it.
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Topic: Traction Dynamics? (Read 13662 times)