Handling of lowered 2009 Road Kings : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

Michael Benis · 07-31-2009, 11:30 AM

I'm thinking of lowering my 2009 Road King with the Harley fork kit and lower rear shocks.

I'd very grateful if anyone who has done this could comment on how it has affected the handling...

MTIA

Mike

reg26 · 08-01-2009, 05:24 AM

Might handle a little better but it's gonna ride like a cement truck

jrafter · 08-01-2009, 05:58 AM

i lowered my 04 roadking with progressive 412 shocks 1"...didnt do the front forks

it rides and handles great harley airshocks are junk.....never had any prblems with bottoming out

nvsteve · 08-01-2009, 06:46 AM

A buddy has an 03 SE Road King. They are lowered from the factory and he hates the way it rides. Spends almost all his time on his Road Glide.

Milehog · 08-01-2009, 10:01 AM

I had some shorter shocks on an older Road King and the loss of cornering ability was shocking. Those shocks were replaced after half a day.

MindInMyOwnBiz · 08-02-2009, 07:28 AM

Lower the front and rear the same amount and you should improve you handling a little by lowering the center of gravity, but lose cornering clearance and ride quality. If you only lower the rear you'll mess with the weight distribution and that will screw up handling. I replaced my lowered rear shocks on the SG with full length and handling definitely improved.

TKG · 08-02-2009, 08:00 PM

My 09 FLHRC is front and rear lowered with Harley parts. I've put a bit over 6,000 miles on it since taking delivery in April. I've had no problem with the ride, handling, etc.

Michael Benis · 08-03-2009, 03:53 AM

Many thanks TKG that's good to know. I weigh less than 80 kg (around 170 pounds) but was still worried about whether the suspension (and forks in particular) would bottom out over rough country roads or whether the footboards touch down too frequently on corners. Have you not had problems with either?

Cheers

Mike

claydbal · 08-03-2009, 07:55 AM

the footboards scrape toooo often when the bike is not lowered.

oxymoron= lowering harley and better handling! better handling wouild be increase ground clearance, build much better suspension with more travel, better damping, both rebound and compression.

now add some sticky tires . when you slam into the corners, the bike is going to get lower, so raise any scrub points to allow the use of the entire traction area of the tires. when you can use all the tire, no scrubbing, no upset of chassis or suspension-----ya got it whipped------------till you get comfortable and start running hotter in the curves, then you start again!

ChopperDude · 08-03-2009, 07:58 AM

If you're going to do it, I would NOT use the Harley rear shocks... as someone else said, those air shocks really suck. Get some Progressive's in the length you want, you'll be much happier.

TKG · 08-03-2009, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Benis

Many thanks TKG that's good to know. I weigh less than 80 kg (around 170 pounds) but was still worried about whether the suspension (and forks in particular) would bottom out over rough country roads or whether the footboards touch down too frequently on corners. Have you not had problems with either?

Cheers

Mike

Mike - I'm just a bit lighter than you. My wife is 105 pounds. We loaded a ridiculous amount of luggage on the bike (maybe 40 pounds) and took at 4,000 mile trip. Quite a bit on state and county roads. I have a recollection of bottoming out once, and it was a huge hole I missed when I was tired. I also find plenty of room to lean into corners and on those infrequent occasions that I did scrape through the turn, it was pretty much intentional.

Tom

DaleW · 08-04-2009, 08:58 PM

was looking at buying an 07 RK Custom, comes with 1" lower suspension.Loved the looks but hated the choppy ride, got an 09 EGS instead.
Saying that,I'm not that thrilled with the harshness of the standard supension either,will probably get a set of Ohlins rear shocks and forks rebuilt as I can afford it.
Wouldnt waste my money on progressives.

Dale

ironheadbuck · 08-04-2009, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaleW

was looking at buying an 07 RK Custom, comes with 1" lower suspension.Loved the looks but hated the choppy ride, got an 09 EGS instead.
Saying that,I'm not that thrilled with the harshness of the standard supension either,will probably get a set of Ohlins rear shocks and forks rebuilt as I can afford it.
Wouldnt waste my money on progressives.

Dale

my 1098s has ohlins -super shocks -i noticed the duc -lowered my 02 rk with factory shocks + lowering tabs -like it just like that -i did adjust fluid in shocks -had a little to much fluid -i think it was hydro locking -

ps look at the picture its just a little lower in the back

Marsh · 08-04-2009, 10:15 PM

I got my RKC used and it had been lowered 1" front & back. It handles and rides so much better than the Heritage I traded it for I couldn't be happier.
Marsh

Michael Benis · 08-05-2009, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TKG

Mike - I'm just a bit lighter than you. My wife is 105 pounds. We loaded a ridiculous amount of luggage on the bike (maybe 40 pounds) and took at 4,000 mile trip. Quite a bit on state and county roads. I have a recollection of bottoming out once, and it was a huge hole I missed when I was tired. I also find plenty of room to lean into corners and on those infrequent occasions that I did scrape through the turn, it was pretty much intentional.

Tom

Many thanks, Tom. That's been very helpful and.... encouraging.

Sounds like this time I may just be able to have my cake and eat it

Was it the forks or the shocks that bottomed out?

Cheers

Mike