2014 Street Glide Suspension Upgrade

[SG19]

Never been happy with my 2014 Street Glide "Touring " suspension ,it was pretty disappointing really. I test rode a special in July of 14 , bought mine in Dec 14 and my memory sure recalled a much better ride. Well it was a special that I test rode , I bought the FLHX so after 60 miles I found a set of take -off premium ride adj shocks to swap out the OEM air shocks , and that certainly made a difference ,but the front is just as bad IMO, just harsh is how I would describe it.

Well I decided to finally get a hold of Howard at Motorcycle metal for an upgrade. Howard is an authorized Ohlin service center , he builds custom suspensions including building his own custom triple tree's for Harley's.

I went with Ohlin HD039's for the rear , these come as HD039's then Howard re-valves them to your specs ( weight , riding style , 1 up , 2up , ect ) so they will perform better than any off the self HD039's . There his #2-#2-A's on his site . He offers the whole Ohlin line of shocks for Harleys , customized to your needs.

In the front I had originally wanted the Ohlin FKC102 cartridges , Howard talked me into his new 25mm adjustable cartridges that he's building to order. He sources the parts and custom builds each set , he's telling me these are better than the Ohlins plus there adjustable. I've been waiting 5 weeks for them and the package finally arrived today so along with new brake pads , head bridges , plugs , and OEM fork rebuild kits I'm ready to get at it .

 

[500dollarbartab]

how do the front cartridges handle? I just installed ohlins shocks on the rear and am thinking about doing the fronts now.

 

[Malx]

Looking at some Ohlins for my 14 SG as well. Not happy with the stock air shock system, just way to stiff..

 

[OldMike]

I have the same rear shocks as the OP on my 2014 SGS. Even though they are the entry level Ohlins, they work great, got rid of the spine jarring hits from every bump.

 

[Malx]

I have the same rear shocks as the OP on my 2014 SGS. Even though they are the entry level Ohlins, they work great, got rid of the spine jarring hits from every bump.

So which model Ohlins did you go with..

 

[OldMike]

So which model Ohlins did you go with..

#2-#2(A)
From here:
http://www.motorcyclemetal.com/gpage32.html

 

[SG19]

Yesterday ( 4 -12 -18 ) I was able to get out for about a 60mile ride after work , the only good day of the week, weather wise.

Keep in mind I still have the HD adj premium ride shocks on the rear. Bumps haven't vanished but they are defiantly less pronounced , the rear used to be the better riding end of the bike , now it's inadequacies stand out .

Just cruising on the highway it holds a line with ease , smoother but I have some dialing in to do , I think it can be even more to my liking.

Corners and curves are where I really noticed a change, it stays planted , I've scrapped boards / kick stand more in my short ride yesterday than I used to all day long , it used to feel like it was being pushed through a curve or corner, now I'm surprised just how fast I'm going with zero effort, I'm confident it can perform well past my skill set.

I have room for adjustments but I'm going to wait till the rear shocks are on before tweaking anything , the weather has went back to pre-spring here for the next few days so I plan on mounting the shocks this weekend and see what I really have.

(4 - 22- 18 ) I went with ,#2 #2 A's, finally got to test ride about 70 miles with them , think I need to recheck my sag , it's rougher than I anticipated but it was the maiden voyage , looks of potential tweeking to do yet, plus Ohlins need to be broke in 500 - 1000 miles.

 

[Malx]

I posted on another thread earlier today. I installed the #2-2B about 600 miles ago. Made another adjustment and have a bit more travel now. I decided to go with the 13" instead of the stock 12" Don't feel any difference in height but I would think that extra inch of travel helps. Haven't experienced any bottoming out like with the stock shocks.

 

[Tonybfast]

Good Infornation. As a lighter weight rider on a 2016 SGS the stock shocks were a horrible ride. I switched to some Drags Specialty rear shocks and they were better than stock. I still wasn’t convinced the ride could be as good as it could be. I came across some CVO touring shocks off an Ultra Classic. This was the ride I was looking for. Way Happy Rider these days.

 

[Malx]

I posted on another thread earlier today. I installed the #2-2B about 600 miles ago. Made another adjustment and have a bit more travel now. I decided to go with the 13" instead of the stock 12" Don't feel any difference in height but I would think that extra inch of travel helps. Haven't experienced any bottoming out like with the stock shocks.

Updating my experience so far from my original post over a year ago. Probably have approx 10 thousand miles on the Ohlins. I can't say enough other than I have yet to bottom out where that was a common occurrence with the stock shocks..

 

[FLHX14]

Updating my experience so far from my original post over a year ago. Probably have approx 10 thousand miles on the Ohlins. I can't say enough other than I have yet to bottom out where that was a common occurrence with the stock shocks..

Thank you for posting this information. I found it very informative and something I need to research but you gave a great start! I also find the ride on my 2014 FLHX atrocious!

 

[sbeamer]

I also have Ohlins from Howard. Absolutely love these things. Had them for about 4 yrs now. Make sure to get the spring tension right! I think I had to tighten them up about 3 full turns. But once you get the tension right, it's hard to keep from smiling!