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[spada84]

Anyone tried these?

http://www.ccesd.us/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=207&zenid=214bbd233f3115260d72e59c1755148f 

[Zipper104]

I have one sitting in a box at home ready to go on, but that'll be in the spring. Sorry.

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[Zipper104]

Finally getting around to it tomorrow. I will check back in.

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[Zipper104]

Just got in from a 13 hour marathon. Job was pretty straight forward.....I was recently in there checking my steering head so I sort of knew what to expect. I've also had the forks apart in the past so I was familiar with that part of it as well.
I did the job alone which explains part of the length of time, but while I was swapping out the top TT I was also tearing apart my forks to tweak my Gold Valves, and put new chrome sliders and cowbells on the CCE kit supplied fork legs. Tearing apart the forks and putting them back together again alone is a bit of a drag. The CCE TT kit utilizes longer fork legs so there is more overlap in the top TT versus stock. The CCE TT itself is billet aluminum so the weight is about half of the spindly stocker.
So, the kit supplies the longer legs, the top TT clamp, and spacers to make up the difference in your preload given the new legs would mess up it up if you were to put the forks back together without them, and new fork leg caps. While I was at it, it was a given that I changed out all the seals, bushings and oil.
The bulk of the work is just what you'd expect. Pulling the fairing, if you have one. Removing the front wheel, fender and forks. Pulling the stock top TT, pulling the rubber bushings from the handlebar risers and re-installing them in the new top, then torquing down the steering head again, rebuilding the forks with the longer legs, and putting everything back together.
I only took the direct route home, so I didn't get a chance to see the diff it'll make, but one look at the replacement top clamp tells the tale I figure. It's seriously beefy next to the stock POS. I was planning on taking some pics, but there really wasn't much to see other than the new upper clamp versus the stocker, and you can see that on their website.

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[Twolanerider]

Congrats on getting all the work done.  Will be interested to read some before and after direct comparisons over similar roads and conditions as this is an upgrade I'm not sure I fully "get."

Is there an issue of flex or other movement in the stock triple tree that this new piece corrects?  Obviously the new piece looks beefier.  But that it in some ways obviously looks better doesn't directly imply the stock piece wasn't already good enough to the task at hand.

Understand I'm not saying there's not some improvement to be had and felt there.  I just never knew of a particular problem with this particular stock part.  And if the stock top tree allows for some ill behavior or movement wouldn't it be assumed or at least considered that the bottom tree might also?  It is a mate to the top and as its mate still a simple old forged part.  So if there is a problem with the trees is changing just the top a panacea to that problem or just a partial band aid that still leaves questions in the lower piece?

Hope you do really have some real improvement here as opposed to this being a case where the riding community is again offered an expensive part to "fix" a problem that wasn't really a big problem to begin with.  That crap happens too often.  With luck you'll be writing soon detailing ways this improvement really makes the bike better.

[Zipper104]

You raise some good points TLR.
In my own experience, I find the front of my RK 'whippy', if that makes any sense. At speed I find the front end is slow to respond to inputs, and when it does it is late and seems sloppy.
It could be the forks, I can't say, and you make a good point when you say it just might be somewhat pointless to change the upper part of the TT if the bottom one sucks as well. And, let's say it isn't the fork legs, it makes sense the lower clamp has to handle some big loads, maybe even more than the top, given the lower clamp sits in the middle closer to where the loads are being generated.
Assuming that someone has maybe done some homework, and has arrived at the top clamp being 'the weak link' so to speak, one look at the replacement part and it's huge amount of overlap on the fork leg compared to the stocker, it's no surprise it would make a difference. Whether the stock one is adequate, and hence replacing it pointless, is the question we're asking.
The decision I made to replace it is simply based on this 'whippiness' I feel. I'm not that far removed from modern sportbikes, and they sure can't be accused of being whippy or sloppy. Of course, clip on style, short bars don't allow generous inputs we can with long bars. (of course, not required on those bikes to get 'em to turn with the difference in the geometry of the two)
On my bike I can simply go out on the highway on a straight stretch at those speeds to easily initiate slop, and I'm attempting to reduce it. I'm an old bugger and when I want to go reasonably quick on tight roads I don't like scaring myself as often as I do now.

Granted, maybe expecting to eliminate the slop from a 700+ pound bike is pointless anyway. We don't buy Harleys to tear up corners.

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[Twolanerider]

Granted, maybe expecting to eliminate the slop from a 700+ pound bike is pointless anyway. We don't buy Harleys to tear up corners.

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Good luck with the work making the bike feel better behaved.  There are times when the quirks we find with these bikes are a case-by-case affair.  Will look forward to some ride reports.

[DrSpencer]

I'm thinking about adding the Custom Cycle Engineering triple tree to my 2011 Street Glide.

Did it prove to make a dramatic difference on your bike?

Thanks

[05Train]

I had these installed and finally got to ride the bike yesterday.......

The front end.......Oh Lordy the front end......

I won't need to shop for a 2014 anymore. I only did a couple of quick blasts down the road to test the tune, but the initial impression is "WOW". The CCE clamp includes longer upper tubes and the clamp itself. It positively locks the top of the tube in place rather than the stock method of the cap sort of holding it in. Bottom line is that the forks are far more solid and they're not hinging at the lower tree.

What this means in practice is that there's next to no slop when you turn the bars. This is apparent immediately. At speed, lane changes become telepathic. The fork tubes themselves may still deflect a bit, but damn if I could feel it. This felt every bit as good and direct as the '14 Limited I rode.

Between the clamp and the Monotubes, the front end now performs as well as the back end with the JRIs.

[DrSpencer]

The CCE kit sounds appealing.

Regrettably, niether CCE or Traxxion Dynamics can confirm if their kits are compatible.

I wish these companies would communicate with each other, and give some definitive answers.

[05Train]

Rode the bike 250 miles home today, and I gotta say that I'm thrilled with the CCE upper tree.  Steering response is light years better than stock.  It's damn close to what I had with the BMW's Telelever.  There's still a little dive, but not much.  The big difference is that I don't feel any deflection in the tubes.  The Ohlins or Traxxion cartridges might be better than the Monotubes, but $1000 better?

Damn, I just can't see that.


Sent from my iPad, probably while I'm pooping.

[DrSpencer]

Rode the bike 250 miles home today, and I gotta say that I'm thrilled with the CCE upper tree.  Steering response is light years better than stock.  It's damn close to what I had with the BMW's Telelever.  There's still a little dive, but not much.  The big difference is that I don't feel any deflection in the tubes.  The Ohlins or Traxxion cartridges might be better than the Monotubes, but $1000 better?

Damn, I just can't see that.


Sent from my iPad, probably while I'm pooping.

I had Monotubes in my 2011 Street Glide, then switched them out for Traxxion Dynamics.

I feel the Traxxions are better in every respect, and would do it again tomorrow.