Beautiful day here today and the day off,wonders will never cease.First chance I have had to get out and really test how the bike performes since I have fitted the 18"wheels and Avon tyres.Also fitter Arnott air ride rear suspension.Also new springs and emulators in the front .
Finally decided to do a couple of hundred Km up through the hills,that we call the blue mountains,up along the Bells line of road to Lithgow and then out to the Mudgee rd turnoff then back .A big varience in road types and conditions from smooth fast sweepers to wide open sweepers with broken surfaces,to slow switchbacks and normal suburban road surfaces.Firstly the wheels and tyres,I have read many reports on overseas forums and decided to form my own opinions.What I really like about this wheel and tyre combination is the fact that I have a lot less sidewall,which I find enhances the ability to be able to make the bike change directions much faster and with a lot less rider input needed,also the Avons give a greater feeling of security,with their ability to grip the road surface under all conditions much more so than the original Dunlops.I have run Avons on all my Harleys and have always been a fan,these new ones are a lower profile than I have run before,and thay haven't swayed my mind.They are a lot lower profile being 70 profile front and rear,than standard,and hence they do tend to produce a firmer ride,but having come from road racing,and sport bikes in a previous incarnation,I like the feedback that I get from the lower profile tyres.Also the Avons have the best load rating in an 18" tyre,which is important on a bike as heavy as a Harley,and especially on a Touring model,as I have seen the results of incorrect tyres fitted on heavy bikes,especially when they have been ridden long distances and get hot,not a pretty sight.
Secondly the Arnott Air ride rear suspension system:-A little bit more involved in fitting this system to an Australian bike compared to a U.S. model.As the compressor mounting location is right where the motor for the exhaust flapper valve is mounted.Nothing is mentioned in the instructions when you buy the kit,it all sounds so simple.But to remove the flapper motor,required the removal of the rear wheel,because there is one bolt that cant be gotten at any other way.Once the flapper motor is removed,wiring had already been fitted with a connector from Big Joe Choppers here in NSW,the compressor was mounted in its place below the battery box,wiring loom was attached and wired up,air hoses were connected,shocks were connected and air hoses connected to the shocks.The switch for raising and lowering the shocks found a home and all was ready for a trial,worked perfectly.Once the bike was back together and on the ground,a play with the compressor to find a height I liked and then off up the road,bloody thing felt like I was riding a rigid,I thought to myself,it will probably just need a bit of running in and it will be alright.Well a ride of about 20 km,showed it wasn't getting any better,so I left the bike in the garage for a few days,while I went back to work,which gave me a few days to ponder the problem.I remembered hearing of a similar thing happening to a friends bike many years ago,when he changed shocks,I remembered how after many days of headscratching,his suspension tech finally found the cure,so I thought I would check and see if it would work for me.So I undid the top and bottom shock mounts till they were loose,I then refered to the instruction booklet that came with the system,and tightened the mounting bolts up to the Torque setting listed useing a torque wrench.Back together and out today for another test.What a difference,a day makes.The suspension now works as I imagine the manufacturer wanted them to.The ride is firm,probably comparable to a Japanese sport bike,really good on smaller bumps ,and firm over larger bumps,but I can live with this,because it tracks really nicely and isn't thrown off line,and the rear although firm over larger bumps,it is no firmer than the standard Harley suspension,and over smaller bumps it is like chalk and cheese.All in all,for what it gives me in the ability to change the ride height of the rear of the bike,the ability to drop the rear onto the rear tyre when it is parked,another security device,the general look it gives the bike,and the quality of Bilstein shocks,I am more than happy.I can imagine this sort of thing wouldn't be for everyone,so those that want a plush ride should look elsewhere,also these shocks are shorter than standard,they are 12" fully extended,so those that want the full ride height of the standard shocks (13" should probably look elsewhere.But isf you want the ability to raise and lower the bike,and maintain a slightly lower rear stance at all times,I can recommend this system.
Lastly,I had fitted racetech springs and gold emulators,with custom made spacers fitted to the front forks,which lowered the front approx 3/4",different fluid and volume of fluid was fitted and then the thing put back together.All I can say is "What a difference".The front suspension actually does what it is meant to do,as opposed to the way it comes from the factory.It actually has rebound a dampening under all road conditions without any binding up or topping out.In combination the the modified rear suspension,it is hadrd to believe that it is still a Harley that I am riding,it is able to absorb bumps,it is lighter to manouvre,maintains it line much better,and I am able to g around bends much faster than before,even though the bike is lower,it is a much more fun machine.To say I am happy as a pig in shit would be an understatement.Now a couple of 52G's to increase the torque and I will be finished this project.....I think
nobody
RT
Nah the Avons I have are just the Venoms,I have 130/70/18 on the front and 150/70/18 on the rear.I will trade a bit of wear for grip any day,unlike on the U.S. forum,where they always complain about wear,can't have it both ways,and I love Avons on a Harley.
Karl
I can highly recommend the emulators as well as the Race Tech springs,made such a big difference to the front end of the bike.As I said in the write up,the only thing I needed to do was turn up some spacers,as I lowered the front of mine 3/4".But if you leave it stock height ,out of the box will be fine.
