Handling Stabilizers!

[stevepip]

Thanks for the feedback, I will put them on the christmas list.

On the subject of vibes; My mate has a 2008 FXDC and was quite disappointed at the level of vibes at around 80mph, especially when compared to mine (it was the lack of vibes that persuaded him to buy one). The vibes meant that he could not cruise at that speed without a painful massage at the base of his spine!

He took it in for its service and mentioned it; they diagnosed an over-tightened drive belt. Belt slackened; he now has a smoother Dyna.

Steve

[BaZa ®]

Originally Posted by stevepip

......they diagnosed an over-tightened drive belt. Belt slackened; he now has a smoother Dyna.

Steve

Originally Posted by Phil

I have seen them last more than 100,000 miles. The key is correct adjustment. Too tight is better than too loose.

From this thread HERE

[Tony Cross]

Originally Posted by grbrown

Tony,

Can't see any reference to it on their website, what is the article called, page no? Ta!

July2008 pp124-127; article is titled TRUE-TRACK.

[Mike Benis]

What did they say about it Tony? A one-word answer will do. I don't want to take liberties!

I've heard mixed reports about all these devices.

Cheers

Mike

[Tony Cross]

Originally Posted by Mike Benis

What did they say about it Tony? A one-word answer will do. I don't want to take liberties!

I've heard mixed reports about all these devices.

Cheers

Mike

They gave it the thumbs up. The article shows in 18 stages/photos how to do the job.

[Limey_Dave]

TrueTrack For Dresser Alignment

I was looking at this one the other day.
It's made by a guy in Canada and only attaches to rear of oil pan so you can still fit a center stand.

MISSING LINK INSTALL AND REVIEW

[Mr B]

I've studied all these stabilizers in great depth for a while now. They all do the same thing, which is to stop lateral movement of the drive train, while still allowing vertical movement.
I'm a design engineer, that also has to manufacture the part that I design. So I think I'm qualified to decide what's good and what's bad. By far the best design is the TWR stabilizer.
Forget the Alloy Art stabilizer...it's what it says...art in alloy. The geometry is completely wrong for it to be effective.

I've never liked the idea of a box assembly encasing the oil pan, as with the True Trac and the others. It uses 4" stand off bolts to fit the cage around the oil pan. This will have the ability to twist under load, and it will. The leverage on the 1/4 UNC bolts can and probably will cause it to fail at some point. A 1/4 UNC bolt was never designed to have that much torque applied to it. And, I don't like the idea of 4 quarts of oil being dumped over my rear tyre if they did fail. The dog bone mounting that goes into the frame crossmember is too far away and because of this is also subjuect to a lot of stress, ie twisting.

I like the TWR setup, but I have found a weak point in that. It only connects to the oil pan on the three rear bolts, why didn't they run it round both corners and use up the available mounting points at the sides as well. What I do like is that they have mounted the stress point as close to the main casting as they can, which is a real good point to have it....no tortional twisting can take place here. They run the rod in to the side of the frame with as short a distance as possble. This is good for strength.

What I don't like about any of them is the price. I can make a better product than all of these at a fraction of the cost, and if it doesn't work...I aint lost anything...just some of my time. I'll base it on the TWR , but with a few design changes.

When it's done and tested on my Road King, which must be the worst handling Harley ever built, and when I'm happy with it. I'll draw it all up on CAD, and give it to any club member who wants to make their own. I don't plan on producing it, so the drawings will be free to you if it's for your own bike.

Another point I want to mention is that they are all made from aluminium. This is not good, they need to be made from steel. The weight isn't going to be much, it'll hardly notice.

We are conditioned to believe that Billet aluminium is good...we hear it all the time. It's ok for dress up items, and engine cases, but not for something that will be under this much stress. A billet is a solid block of material that can and often is made from an assortment of crap grades of melted down metal. Who knows how strong it really is. I doubt if the manufacturers of these devices really know.

I'll let you know how I'm progressing as soon as I've started work on it.

Brian.

[grbrown]

I am already riding around on two bikes fitted with these things! As my dresser is an early model, it doesn't suffer the sump rear mounting mentioned, having a simpler set-up.

I am also an engineer and for those not blessed with the means to design and make their own, I can see no reason for not using one of the ready-made ones. There are at least half-a-dozen makers in the US to choose from.

The improvement in ride quality and handling from fitting a full set of stabilizers are worth the relatively few quid it costs to buy them. I have yet to read of any failures on the various US forums I visit.

[Mike Benis]

I've had two Road Kings and the only time I had the problems talked about was when I fitted Continental tyres, initially on rear only and then on both front and rear, hoping that having the same tyres on both wheels would solve the problem. They don't have a tough (rigid) enough sidewall and only improved when I upped the pressures considerably. The problem only went when the Contis finally wore out and I replaced them with something else (not getting into tyre debates here ).

On the US bike forums some people who fitted these extra link devices reported improvements but many didn't. Maybe those who found an improvement just adjusted other things properly when fitting the devices and that was the reason why things improved?

In my opinion most of these problems have more to do with bike setup than this so-called rear steer. And incidentally the new Sportsters don't have an additional stabiliser, contrary to what one of the stabiliser manufacturers claims (though the Buells do).

The baggers aren't Ducatis but for the weight they handle pretty well and in a very versatile manner. Sure, I'd like them to be more precise, but who are we kidding - they weigh a ton, have elephant tyres, soft suspension and fork mounted fairings/screens....

They also have a lot of leverage on the bars. Some of these people are - again in my opinion but not only mine - steering their bikes from the bars (and I don't mean countersterring properly) and not the seat of the pants and holding them in a death-grip that exagerrates any weaknesses.

I don't want to sound a prig on this - I know just how unpleasant a high-speed weave on a sweeping bend is from my experience with the Contis - but there are plenty of people who ride their baggers hard and fast who don't report these wobble problems.

The only other time I had a problem was when the spokes needed adjusting.

And I certainly agree that most of these devices look underengineered and overpriced.

Cheers

Mike

PS: I stopped subscribing to AIM because they appeared to be going down a superficial "it's all great" route, with the exception of Donny sometimes. So, though it's interesting they endorse these things, I'm still not convinced.

[Tony Cross]

Ah, Donny. The reason I buy AIM. A great writer.