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[ccr]

Wondering minds gotta wonder why every railroad track, manhole, bump in road cause pain to go shooting up arms into the middle of the back. I stopped at a HD store to ask their opinion, and from one man at the parts desk (service is closed on Sunday, as all good business should be) and he said he would have no idea. Another man, kindly talked to me while smoking on his break and asked all the obvious questions, has the bike been lowered, are you hitting bumps at excessive speed (I don't consider speed limit plus 5 excessive), etc. and he asked what kind of fork oil I had in.

[Twolanerider]

And I am wondering, can fork oil really do this?

[ccr]

OK, Thought about it, and no doubt, the shock is coming from the front. It was what I'd calculate as one of the firmest shocks I could imagine. Now I have hit holes in the road in the past that lifted me off my seat while flying down a hiway.

[LeRoy]

Hi,  this is my first post to this site ,but have been sitting in the background for some time now...Getting right to the point about the fork oil question...
All of us 2004 and 2005 FLHTCSE owners have a Cartridge fork on the left side and a conventional fork on the rigt side...Having raced motorcycles for a looooong time, I can tell you that fork oil weight and ammount can have a drastic influence on the front end of our CVO. In very simplified terms the weight of the oil along with the rate of the mainspring controls the initial reaction to the fork reacting to a bump or chassis imputs(turning ,braking ,accel...) The heavier weight of oil will slow down the compression and the rebound stroke of our fork...The AMMOUNT of oil will (along with the rate of the spring) will influence the bottoming resistance of our forks.  It does this because more oil in the forks means less air chamber on top to compress at max stroke..I.E. bottoming.

So the way to tune your forks is with oil weight , oil ammount , and spring rate as well as on a cartride fork changing the shim stack of the cartridge to accomodate your style and preference.

The best way I have found to adjust the front end to suit your weight riding style and preference is to change the main spring rate ..

If it feels like the front end is diving or wallowing I would go up to the next (stiffer)main spring weight first then work on oil weight and oil volume.

Since you already changed to a heavier weight oil and you said it feels harsh when you hit things I would start by incrementally reducing oil volume EQUALLY in each fork leg by small ammounts and road test. keep track of how much you take out and dont go over about 2 OZ .

Let me know how it went..I still have some more ideas to help you but this post is too long as it is...
LeRoy, Montana.

[WaSEEG]

hoverp, I'm not sure SEEG's have a cartridge on the left side.  I know there was an issue about that on another forum so I pulled out my parts manual (FLHTCSE2) and checked; no cartridge.  In all other respects the tuning advice is spot on; spring rate, oil viscosity, and oil level are all valid and important tuning parameters.

Dan

[JCZ]

hoverp, I'm not sure SEEG's have a cartridge on the left side.

[ccr]

This came up in an earlier post on this web site.

[ccr]

[Twolanerider]

And I did mean freedom up front on my bike... in the forks.... not on me...... Just before we go there.

[jmorton10]

The simple answer is yes, SE fork oil produces a rough ride.

I tried it last year in an 01 Heritage I had at the time,  & drained it out & went back to Harley *E* oil one week later(I hated the SE oil)

~John

[ccr]

Since you already changed to a heavier weight oil and you said it feels harsh when you hit things I would start by incrementally reducing oil volume EQUALLY in each fork leg by small ammounts and road test. keep track of how much you take out and dont go over about 2 OZ .
 
Let me know how it went..I still have some more ideas to help you but this post is too long as it is...
LeRoy, Montana.

I think the description "Tight" over "Rough" is more what I expected and wanted.  LeRoy, If you know how I can drain a little of this oil, or if you know where to point me to where I can read about how to drain a little, I'd be very apprciative. The theory behind using it is very sound to me, and I am very willing to reduce the volume and road test it till it is right.  Still amazing to me, but a wrencher I am not, nor will I ever be.  Thanks all, and sorry for taking up so much room for what most of you do not care one lick about.   [smiley=laugh.gif]

[hdnut]

I talked to both service tech's at the dealer I go to and they said the cartridge in the front fork's is in the left side.

[LeRoy]

I think the description "Tight" over "Rough" is more what I expected and wanted.

[MObe]

Umm, I have an observation to add.
 When I actually measured the amount of oil that drained from the fork legs on an "04 SEEG, the exact amount drained from each fork leg. I do not think our bikes have a cartridge fork. I believe that ours is a non cartridge set up like the road kings.
[smiley=beerchug.gif]

[LeRoy]

Umm, I have an observation to add.