I hope the post title caught your (yes, the collective you) attention.
I a less than 5000 miles away from the rebuild on my front forks as called for in the maintenance schedule. Instead of simply doing that I am looking at this as possibly being the time to upgrade my front forks. I also want to point out that I will probably upgrade my rear suspension as well.
I still have the stock suspension front and rear. As of now I have decided on the Legend Revo-A FLH 12" Heavy Duty shocks for the rear. For the front I believe I will go with the Standard AXEO FLH front end suspension. This is my current line of thinking. I like the stance the bike has stock and I plan on keeping (except for what I say in the next paragraph) the front and rear wheels as they are. So going with the setup mentioned above, purchasing chrome lowers with a hidden axle (because I'm taking it apart now anyway and what the hell, it's just money - credit I mean), and replacing my seals and fluid, I will get a much improved suspension both front and rear, satisfy the scheduled maintenance requirements, and have a snazzier looking scoot.
With that said, I have been pondering what makes a good suspension. I have read more than a few posts describing improved ride quality and that is good but they are general descriptions and not really quantified. If I upgrade my suspension, what specifically should I be measuring for improvement? Is it simply my ass doesn't ache at the end of a day? Is it that my front end no longer dives when I hit the brakes? In other words, in an ideal world, WHAT should the suspension be doing? How should it be performing?
Now for the next question. How does an air ride measure up? Is it simply for lowering the stance of the bike or does it actually contribute to rider comfort? If so, what are the pros and cons of air ride versus non air ride (spring/cartridge)? I'm not interested in the cons being air leaks, price, installation difficulty, etc. I am genuinely interested in the performance of HOW the suspension should be acting.
The last piece of the puzzle is the fat front tire kit. I love the look and as I said previously, what the hell, I'm taking the front end apart already, so why not go that route at the same time. How does the fat front tire handle? I know it should soak up straight riding but what about canyon carving?
I just bought a house on the top of a mountain and while the roads are paved, they quite simply suck. By the time i go the four and half miles from the main road to my house or vice versa, I ache from the bumps!
I hope somewhere in there I made enough sense so as to describe what I'm looking for in terms of information. I'm not so much interested in brands as I am with HOW the experience should be.
Thanks for reading this far! Ride safe!
I a less than 5000 miles away from the rebuild on my front forks as called for in the maintenance schedule. Instead of simply doing that I am looking at this as possibly being the time to upgrade my front forks. I also want to point out that I will probably upgrade my rear suspension as well.
I still have the stock suspension front and rear. As of now I have decided on the Legend Revo-A FLH 12" Heavy Duty shocks for the rear. For the front I believe I will go with the Standard AXEO FLH front end suspension. This is my current line of thinking. I like the stance the bike has stock and I plan on keeping (except for what I say in the next paragraph) the front and rear wheels as they are. So going with the setup mentioned above, purchasing chrome lowers with a hidden axle (because I'm taking it apart now anyway and what the hell, it's just money - credit I mean), and replacing my seals and fluid, I will get a much improved suspension both front and rear, satisfy the scheduled maintenance requirements, and have a snazzier looking scoot.
With that said, I have been pondering what makes a good suspension. I have read more than a few posts describing improved ride quality and that is good but they are general descriptions and not really quantified. If I upgrade my suspension, what specifically should I be measuring for improvement? Is it simply my ass doesn't ache at the end of a day? Is it that my front end no longer dives when I hit the brakes? In other words, in an ideal world, WHAT should the suspension be doing? How should it be performing?
Now for the next question. How does an air ride measure up? Is it simply for lowering the stance of the bike or does it actually contribute to rider comfort? If so, what are the pros and cons of air ride versus non air ride (spring/cartridge)? I'm not interested in the cons being air leaks, price, installation difficulty, etc. I am genuinely interested in the performance of HOW the suspension should be acting.
The last piece of the puzzle is the fat front tire kit. I love the look and as I said previously, what the hell, I'm taking the front end apart already, so why not go that route at the same time. How does the fat front tire handle? I know it should soak up straight riding but what about canyon carving?
I just bought a house on the top of a mountain and while the roads are paved, they quite simply suck. By the time i go the four and half miles from the main road to my house or vice versa, I ache from the bumps!
I hope somewhere in there I made enough sense so as to describe what I'm looking for in terms of information. I'm not so much interested in brands as I am with HOW the experience should be.
Thanks for reading this far! Ride safe!
