Any Motörbike riders here?

AK99 · July 2023

Yeah. Nice wheelie - and good fence-vaulting form.

I'd say that certainly ain't that scrote's first rodeo

AK99 · July 2023

Box of goodies arrived from Germany today. A set of Progressive 412 shocks. I don't usually spend loads of cash on Bolt-on-upgrades, but the shocks on the FXR were the wrong length - as well as being bouncy as hell. The short shocks always bugged me as I imagined I could feel it in the turn-in. Probably bollox, all in my imagination, but I had to do it. (Besides, the black springs and dampers help in the de-pimping programme

)

And ... with only a limited amount of swearing and foul-language ... they're on..

Best guess at sag set, free length of the shocks is 12.5" - where it should be to match the longer front forks on the FXRT (the older ones were 11)"- and I think not looking too shabby at all. Seat feels taller, and the rear not as soft as before. That should cure the grounding issues when one gets a little too carried away with oneself - but the interesting bit will be to see if the turn-in feels any different. Haven't got out yet, but will shortly.

Emp_Fab · July 2023

I just stumbled across this guy....

Not your typical engineer type you get on YouTube! How about a Kawasaki Z2300 V12?

Or a FIVE LITRE TWIN ?!!

Dominic · July 2023

I've got progressives on my front end .....they're good
I don't think that they're gonna make a huge difference on the turn-in but should feel more planted and controlled on the way out....although I don't think any Harley can push the rebound hard enough to make a huge difference either way

AK99 · July 2023

Yeah, I suppose fine suspension tuning is a tad academic on a 30+ year old / 1/4 of a metric tonne motorcycle really.
Look the part though - and that is important

Did you go with the progressive-wound springs, or one of the cartridge kits on yours Dominic ?

AK99 · July 2023

Emp_Fab said:

I just stumbled across this guy....

He's on Henry Cole's Motorbike show which airs on the one of the Sky free-to-air channels (ITV4?) fairly regularly. Top man Mr Millyard

Dominic · July 2023

Front forks .......progressive wound I think (did them years ago because I'm running a 21 inch front wheel on a bagger and it kept smacking the fender every time I hit a pot-hole or gentle hump .....too much dive under braking too

Kittyfrisk · July 2023

Allen Millyard is a bona fide British homegrown mad engineering genius.
He cuts those crankcases with a fucking hand hacksaw!!!
I'm in awe of his casual attitude but superb skills & projects. Long may he continue.

Kittyfrisk · July 2023

Listen to this little handbuilt pearl of a Honda Mike Hailwood replica... what a fucking noise!

AK99 · July 2023

Yeah he's a mechanical genius. Any one of those things he has built would put you right up there with the best - but he has made at least a dozen I can think of that would leave you gobsmacked. And they all look like pukka factory made machines.

Kittyfrisk · July 2023

Also, he's a nuclear scientist, for real! Possibly a nucular one too, for all I know

He's dabbled in 'conventional' bikes too.
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/allen-millyard-part-1-2008.html
He is definitely one bloke I would hate to meet for real, as I'd just dribble & burble at him.

Haych · July 2023

Well the postman brought me gifts this morning, in the form of new shocks, too.

I was going to fit them lunch time today - the wife doesn't know I've got them and strategically they arrived while I was bringing the bins back in this morning (or I may have tracked the delivery until such time as I needed to bring the bins in), so I was able to pop the package in the empty wheely bin until she went to work.

Got it all unpacked and she unexpectedly came home! By then I'd shoved all the packing in the shed so only had to pop the shocks in.

Her train was cancelled, so now she's stuck at home with me, grrr. Could have got them on quite quick I reckon, although the front shock needs the fuel tank to be removed to access the upper mounting nut.

So I'll have to wait until she does her Friday evening thing until I get the chance to fit them. Until then, here they are languishing in the shed beneath the mahoosive box in which my J-45 was delivered.

Will provide an update in the comings days.

AK99 · July 2023

Looking good Haych. A lot posher and more adjustable than the neanderthal ones I got

(On the install front, just grab a few tools, wheel the bike into the kitchen and growl - here B1atch, give me a lift in with this NOW. That's what I'd do. Honest ..)

Kittyfrisk · July 2023

^ Has hospital food improved these days?

AK99 · July 2023

Kittyfrisk said:

Also, he's a nuclear scientist, for real! Possibly a nucular one too, for all I know
He's dabbled in 'conventional' bikes too.
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/allen-millyard-part-1-2008.html
He is definitely one bloke I would hate to meet for real, as I'd just dribble & burble at him.

Fkme - that's worth a read! And that was 15 years ago.

The man is unbelievable.

Haych · July 2023

Soooooooo……

Managed to get the new shocks fitted yesterday evening and my commute to work this morning was my first real experience with them.

They are noticeably stiffer as soon as you drop the bike off its centre stand. It doesn’t sag nearly as much as with the stock shocks.

30 miles down the M4/M5 is hardly the best way to gauge how good they are but if feels quite different. How can I put this, I can feel more of the road and less of the surface, if that makes any sense?

It feels like the bike is tracking the road surface much more accurately than the old shocks, but where a rough surface would send shockwaves through the forks and into my arms previously, the shocks seem to be handling those bumps and imperfections much better and insulating me from the buzzing and jarring of the bad bits.

There’s a quite bad section of road just as I turn into my neighbourhood off the bypass and I’ve deliberately hit that a few times now. Previously the bike would feel very unsettled - I wouldn’t say that I hardly notice it now but the bike copes much better and even on that rough section of potholed road it feels much smoother over the bumps.

If I was being critical I would say the ride is a bit too hard, but there is room to adjust the preload on the front and rear so maybe I’ll get the big spanner’s out and slacken things up a little. The rear has a HPA too but would rather get a good baseline dialled in and just use that for occasions when I’m carrying luggage and/or passengers.

I haven’t had the opportunity to do much on the twisties yet but the bike seems to turn in a bit quicker now and doesn’t resist changing direction like it sometimes could I got things a bit out of shape.

The bike feels more predictable in the corners and the new suspension copes with road imperfections while the bike is leant over far better than the tired stock shocks.

I’m expecting the twisty roads to be a lot more fun and to feel more confident in the bikes capabilities.

There’s definitely more “feel”, especially in the front end.

So far so good, the only downside is the hard ride has compromised the comfort ever so slightly but I’m confident I can tweak that.

The benefits far outweigh that though and they look damn cool on the bike to boot!

AK99 · July 2023

Haych said:

Soooooooo……

... and they look damn cool on the bike to boot!

I think that needs a photograph (or two) for the TFB massive

Haych · July 2023

I'll see what I can do in the next few days, weather dependent. It's all tucked away in the shed at the moment and there's barely room to breathe in there, let alone swing around deceased felines or take reasonable photographs.

AK99 · July 2023

You shoulda taken a few when you had it in the kitchen,,

Fwiw - mine in between the showers today:

New shocks mounted, and the air-filter depimped slightly. Still not sure about the aesthetics overall. Longer term I think I need a small nose-fairing to fit all of the additional wiring and connectors that used to fit inside the big touring fairing the FXRT was supplied with - and ideally a set of bars which are slightly higher with more pullback as you do sit low and a long way back on the FXR. Thing is, both of those take you more towards the 'Club' style bike look, which after living with the bike a while, I don't really want to do any more..

Anyhoo - aesthetics aside - after sorting the rear-end, I do really need to do something with the forks. The spring rates are ok if the sag is anything to go by, but the front end is definitely under-damped - tends to overshoot and settle back a bit late when you bounce it. Probably just needs the damping oil refreshed and set to the right volume. That'll have to be the next thing on the agenda.

edit: - and no, those oil stains aren't mine btw, before anybody asks

Kittyfrisk · July 2023

AK99 said:

You shoulda taken a few when you had it in the kitchen,,

Fwiw - mine in between the showers today:

New shocks mounted, and the air-filter depimped slightly. Still not sure about the aesthetics overall. Longer term I think I need a small nose-fairing to fit all of the additional wiring and connectors that used to fit inside the big touring fairing the FXRT was supplied with - and ideally a set of bars which are slightly higher with more pullback as you do sit low and a long way back on the FXR. Thing is, both of those take you more towards the 'Club' style bike look, which after living with the bike a while, I don't really want to do any more..

Anyhoo - aesthetics aside - after sorting the rear-end, I do really need to do something with the forks. The spring rates are ok if the sag is anything to go by, but the front end is definitely under-damped - tends to overshoot and settle back a bit late when you bounce it. Probably just needs the damping oil refreshed and set to the right volume. That'll have to be the next thing on the agenda.

edit: - and no, those oil stains aren't mine btw, before anybody asks

I don't know what the top yokes are like on your bike, but is it not possible to fit something like a solid billet bar riser?
Then you could have the bars raised & tilted back toward you ? Just musing

AK99 · July 2023

Hmm - hadn't considered that. Those bars on it terminate in a larger diameter bar section with threaded holes in it - same as you have on the bottom of the normal risers. Like this:

I'd have to look for some kind of 'female-to-female' version of the above which I could bolt the ends of the drag bars into. Not sure such a thing actually exists. (tbh Over and above all that, I'm dreading going anywhere near the bl**dy bars on it as it'll mean having to deal with that can of worms involving the wiring again

)

Kittyfrisk · July 2023

Good points. particularly the wiring...
Long time since I needed/bothered to look into such things but just did a quick search & turned up this site which is new to me https://www.arhcustom.co.uk/controls/risers/
Might be useless to you too, but you never know

AK99 · July 2023

By George..there are such things, and a range of them in various heights and pullbacks!

https://www.arhcustom.co.uk/product/la-choppers-6-inch-kage-riser-in-chrome-finish-la-7336-06r

Kittyfrisk · July 2023

My work here is done, but never mention George again...

AK99 · July 2023

Kittyfrisk · July 2023

Uncanny. In that I was once mistaken for a Wham fan on account of my haircut, biker jacket. & white T shirt... grrrrr.

AK99 · August 2023

I know I said I didn't want to go down the 'club bike' style - but managed to acquire a nose fairing for the FXR :

In my defence though, I always thought with the small headlight/ visor thingy, the bigger twins look like a bit like a big draught horse who's had a head transplant from a pony.

Think I've an idea where I want to go with the look of the bike now. Have to start saving fo fix the seat, paint, and maybe powder coating the wheels.

thebreeze · August 2023

AK99 said:

I know I said I didn't want to go down the 'club bike' style - but managed to acquire a nose fairing for the FXR :

In my defence though, I always thought with the small headlight/ visor thingy, the bigger twins look like a bit like a big draught horse who's had a head transplant from a pony.

Think I've an idea where I want to go with the look of the bike now. Have to start saving fo fix the seat, paint, and maybe powder coating the wheels.

Do they improve motorway riding? I did some motorways for the first time this weekend and didn't enjoy it much. Just felt like I was hanging on mostly and couldn't relax at all to even mildly enjoy it. I realise this will sound like novice-speak, which, of course, is what it is!

Dominic · August 2023

A fairing that small and acute will make pretty much no difference to motorway riding on a cruiser......bit more so on a forward leaning sports-naked
I ride open faced on a cruiser no screen at German motorway speeds.......love it......but after an hour and a half I get a bit of neck ache.........I ride at fast speed with a naked streetfighter and a full face and I'm totally comfortable.
I guess it depends what you expect and what you are used to.
I find a big batwing on a street-glide is great for long distance but feels a bit sterile .

Haych · August 2023

You do get used to riding without fared protection at higher speeds. The first time I rode a naked bike down the dual carriageway at 50mph I thought I was going to fly off the back due to the air pressure on my upper body.

These days I barely notice it at motorway speeds and I can ride for hours without feeling achy or physically tired from riding.

I do have a taller screen that I fit for the cooler and wetter months, shouldn't have taken it off this year really. It makes a difference in how much pressure you feel on your body at high speeds, but it comes with added noise, which I find worse than the air pressure unless it's coming down in buckets and then you really do notice having a decent screen.

Given the choice, I do prefer riding without any kind of screen, much quieter and like I say, you do get used to it.

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