Suspension Technologies Products, The Best Upgrade Bang For The Buck

By: Hank ThibodeauWidowmaker Custom Design & Repair Inc

Everyone 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,

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-

press the fork, slide two pieces away from each other in a rapid motion. Do this repeatedly until lower fork leg is removed. Remove the lower cup washer at the bottom of rebound dampener rod protruding from fork. A lot of times it will stay in the lower fork leg. Simply remove and discard (for this kit it will not be reused). Remove the top fork cap. Different year model forks will require different tools. Use caution when removing as there is spring tension on fork cap. Once cap is removed, remove and discard spring and rebound

dampening rod and top out spring. Clean all parts with a quality degreaser. It is very important to remove all of the old wear debris that will be built up in the base of the lower leg and inside of the fork tube.

Assembly is simple. Install new cartridge into fork tube. Install lower fork slider onto fork tube. Install retaining bolt into base of lower fork leg. Be sure to use thread sealer and a new sealing washer. Install your new fork seal and retaining ring. You will need a fork seal driver to install seal. Pour in slowly the required amount of fork oil. Different year model kits require different amounts. 1994-2013- 6 oz. and 2014-2019 – 8oz. The oil is to lubricate seal and springs. It is no longer used as part of the actually working of the forks. Reverse assembly of bike. Be sure to refer to your service manual for all proper torque specs for your specific model bike.

You are ready to ride. First impression will be that the bike is much more stable. You will have more control in corners and balance of the bike. You will also notice that you will no longer have hard dipping in the front end when applying front brakes. The bike will lay flat and give you a much more controlled stop.

If you have any questions about having this job done, feel free to give us a call at 336-364-8535 to schedule an appointment.