Hi all,
I don't want to rock the boat here, I love Harleys, But....
I feel like my XL883N handles poorly in corners.
I'm trying to do what I can to improve the handling, but feel like I'm feeling every pot hole through the bars, and the rear suspension feels like a rigid bar, instead of suspension.
I've changed out the fork oil, as the stock oil was engine oil. and have replaced it with lighter 10 weight fork oil to soften the front suspension.
I have the rear stock suspension on the softest setting for preload, but it's not quite there yet.
Suspension seems to only be half the picture...I also feel that in corners, with a 19" front wheel, it wants to steer to the outer edge of the corner on me all the time.
I'm considering pulling the forks back up through the triple clamps maybe 5mm.
I'm only maybe 5' 8", and about 65kgs
Any ideas? Please keep it positive
Im 5'6 and 60kilos, i had the same problems when i got my iron, what i did was : ikon rear shockers 11" (because im a short ass) ikon front progressive springs Ricor Intiminators using their oil 5w 15mm preload spacer stock oil level (79mm) minus 21mils i found this to be the best it can be without doing much more, i have a set of dyna damper rods here that im thinking about doing to my front end as i have put them in a few bikes and found them to be better than my setup when it comes to bumps.The stock iron springs are of a progressive type, but like most stock harley suspension it deserves to be in the bin. Also keep in mind that a sportster suspension is designed for a person about 85kilos. Its very important to get the correct springs for your weight.
I have had my forks open 16 times now changing things little by little to set these settings, so my advise to you is take baby steps and only make small changes at a time or you will loose yourself.
Idealy a good setup would be 12" rear shocks, a progressive type front springs, dyna damper rods and screaming eagle fork oil.
T1
Had similar problems when i first got my Sporty Custom. I put Ikon shocks front and rear and got rid of the Dunlops replacing them with Pirelli Nightdragons. Completely different bike and a pleasure to ride now
For what it's worth, Sproties are not designed to be sharp handlers. But they can be made to handle okay (look at the old Roaring Sporties race series to see that).
Good springs up front and a decent rear shock (usually an inch longer) is the start. Then adjust the springing in both ends so when you sit on thebike they sag equally (not the front more than the back, or vice-versa). Once this is done, take dampening re-bound down (if you have it) to around a third and compression up to around two-thirds. Try that out and adjust accordingly. Also, fit the stickiest tyres you can afford and keep them properly inflated.
Thanks for the PM Badcooky! i like to hold onto stuff like that, makes for good memory refreshing. UG - Same kinda thing as the golds, but from what i can find they preform much better, there is plenty of info on their site http://store.ricorshocks.com/category_s/62.htm , the preload spacer that comes with aftermarket springs are usually plastic so you can cut them to size, without the ricor intiminators 25mm spacer was spot on for me, with the intiminators i had to drop that back to 15mm as the intiminators add 10mm. Half the problem is that these sporties (irons, 48's and 72's) have very limited suspension travel only 100 total in the front, so unless you use the dyna dampers on the front and 12-13" rear shocks you will have to deal with some harshness. My setup is 11" rears and still only 100mm travel in the front but Compraired to stock my setup is 100 times better. I've only kept it this low as im too fucking short.
