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The Carolinas’ Full Throttle Magazine
Suspension Technologies Products, The Best Upgrade Bang For The Buck By: Hank Thibodeau Widowmaker Custom Design & Repair Inc veryone wants to be the fastest. Hell, I want to be the fastest. The one thing that we often forget is that more than 70% of our riding is NOT strait line. Ask yourself, when you go out riding are you looking to carve up the road on all the straitaways? Or are you wanting to carve up the twisties? Myself, rip it through the corners. You want to be fast? Upgrade the rideability of your ride. In the Widowmaker Custom Design & Repair shop, we use Suspension Technologies products. We have had great success using their shocks and drop in cartridge kits for the front. Both of which are gas charged monoshock design and dyno tested and tuned before you ever get them. Ok, so this is not an infomercial. It is about your ride and ride quality. So, you have decided to put new shocks on your bike. Congrats. It is a simple process. First, secure your bike on a secure center stand. Raise the back of the bike just enough to take the weight off the back wheel of the bike. So, the wheel is just about touching. Now,
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remove the lower shock bolts. Why lower bolts first? Because there is more controlled movement in the suspension when you only remove the bottom bolt. Next remove the upper bolt and shock unit. If you are reinstalling same length shocks, simply reverse process. If you are installing shorter shocks, install upper bolts and new shocks. Lower the bike until the lower bolts are lined up with mounting holes. Torque bolts to factory specifications. I would recommend using thread locker on all bolts. It is that simple. In my shop, if you buy a set of shocks from us, we offer free installation. The front cartridge kit is more involved and requires some more tooling. But it is still a “Do it yourself” job if you feel comfortable. Again, secure your bike in a vertical position. Remove the front wheel and fender. Remove the brake caliper(s). Gain access to your fork pinch bolts, located on the upper and lower triple trees. On ’13 and earlier bikes you will need to gain access to the upper fork cap and remove it before fork removal. On ’14 and later HD touring models, this is not so. But you will need to take note of the fork protrusion from the top of the upper triple tree. Once forks are removed, remove the lower fork leg retaining bolt at the very base of the fork assembly. Once it is removed, drain all of the fluid from your fork into a drain pan. Once fluid is drained, remove the fork seal retaining clip. Now you are ready to remove lower fork leg. Grip the fork tube in one hand and the lower fork leg in the other. Com-
