Does your bagger handle like a drunken camel in a sand storm?

[-JC-1]

Max,

I'd be interested in your take as well, for me, when I installed the Glide Pro kit last fall, it got rid of my high speed, long sweeper wobble-

Of course I also put a mu90b 16 e3 on the rear- replacing the 402 that I had always run.

I don't know which helped more, those two changes compliment each other I think, and I don't care, it's easier to ride quickly now   

[Admiral Akbar]

Of course I also put a mu90b 16 e3 on the rear- replacing the 402 that I had always run.

Bet it was the tire..

Max

[FLTRI]

Of course I also put a mu90b 16 e3 on the rear- replacing the 402 that I had always run.

Bet it was the tire..

Max

I always suggest to replace/repair maintenance items such as tires and engine/swingarm mounts before spending that money on add-ons.

I know of a rider who added an "anti-wobble" device to his bagger, that developed a wobble, only to crash during an emergency maneuver. His swingarm mounts were completely worn out (78k miles) and his upper engine mount was not connected!

Had he taken the money he spent on the add-on device and paid a shop to check and repair the worn out and missing mounts....?

Bob

[-JC-1]

You are both probably right, when I made the switch I had about 50,000 miles on the rear donuts, and the front motor mount- they were both shot and needed replacing.
It only made sense to me to replace both with glide pro
Having tried and discarded 3 other "add-on" fixes over the years with no appreciable effect, and adjusting front fork fall away several times in my garage,
Done the engine and tranny alignment as well,
finally it tracks true.
Although I had gotten so used to the wobble after all these years, I had to adjust when it was gone- no biggy

these are just my own experiences-
joe

[Admiral Akbar]

Max
The Dunlop 160/80/16 bias E3 is worth checking out. Fills the guard, sticks to the road, gets great tyre life. My 07 would wallow when the tread was low on the 402. Interested how you like the glidepro.

Sounds like the tire to use..

Only had a chance to ride to work yesterday and back.. It does seem a little better but those claiming it fixed the wobble either were just barely noticing the issue and the change helped there and they are a lot more sensitive to than I.. The FLHTC has gotten it's hinge back in the middle of the bike and I believe the main issue is the rear tire (almost shot D402).. This glide pro unit has it's own rubber biscuits and they are thicker than stock. The preloaded on the blocks is much more than what was on the stock setup even after I added the shim. On pulling the stock shimmed unit off, I noticed that the rear fork brackets has chewed deeper into the light rubber covering hitting the metal below.. This probably reduced the clamp in the biscuits..

Anyway it's not fixed completely.. Will ride it some more.. BTW Vibes are worse than my preloaded stockers.. Will give it the obligatory 300 to 500 mile ride and see.. Probably have to change tire soon.  I'm thinking that shimmed stock one is good but am thinking to find some early rear fork brackets as they are thicker and trying the the shimmed stock setup again..

Might do that the same time I change the tire..   

Max

[rredneckn2]

Max
The Dunlop 160/80/16 bias E3 is worth checking out. Fills the guard, sticks to the road, gets great tyre life. My 07 would wallow when the tread was low on the 402. Interested how you like the glidepro.

Sounds like the tire to use..

Only had a chance to ride to work yesterday and back.. It does seem a little better but those claiming it fixed the wobble either were just barely noticing the issue and the change helped there and they are a lot more sensitive to than I.. The FLHTC has gotten it's hinge back in the middle of the bike and I believe the main issue is the rear tire (almost shot D402).. This glide pro unit has it's own rubber biscuits and they are thicker than stock. The preloaded on the blocks is much more than what was on the stock setup even after I added the shim. On pulling the stock shimmed unit off, I noticed that the rear fork brackets has chewed deeper into the light rubber covering hitting the metal below.. This probably reduced the clamp in the biscuits..

Anyway it's not fixed completely.. Will ride it some more.. BTW Vibes are worse than my preloaded stockers.. Will give it the obligatory 300 to 500 mile ride and see.. Probably have to change tire soon.  I'm thinking that shimmed stock one is good but am thinking to find some early rear fork brackets as they are thicker and trying the the shimmed stock setup again..

Might do that the same time I change the tire..   

Max

Did you install a glide-pro mount also?Do this   loosen the center motor mount bolt and the two holding mount to the frame take it for a short ride tighten the mount to frame and the center bolt w/no up and down drag if using a glide pro mount 8-10 fb on center bolt

[Admiral Akbar]

Yes,

Didn't take it for a ride but started the bike and let it idle per the instructions.. Center bolt was loose and after running you could pull it out with no binding.. I didn't torque the asked for in the instructions but used the German torque spec.. FWIW the vibes aren't that bad just a little more..

Max

[FLTRI]

Magic handling fix will happen when you replace the square tread tire with a round tread tire.
Bob

[03deuce]

I believe the main issue is the rear tire (almost shot D402).   

Bingo! 

I had been riding a worn out D402 for a while and it would squirm around a lot, sometimes even felt the feedback in the handlebar.  With the new E3 it is rock solid again.

[04 SE Deuce]

  Not ignoring the huge difference between squared and new tires, the E3 is a more stable casing/tire vs. 402, remember hearing that Max,  back before you started collecting wagomatics.  Got to give those wagger-baggers all the advantage you can.     Rick

Don't know about the drunken camel thing but I've seen some pretty hairy drunks piloting Harleys.  They have been known to look menacing, sport an attitude and spit proficiently.   

[HogBag]

The design of the frame with the motor gearbox and swing tied together lends it self to developing a tail wag under hard cornering. I found the major problem with my bike was the bike was out of alignment and needed string lining. After this the bike felt very tight but it still developed a tail wag when pushed very hard through 120 KPH  sweepers mainly after hitting a bump mid corner it would compress the suspension sending the bike into a tail-wag. The progressive stabilizer does tie the gearbox to the rear frame aiding in stopping some  flexing from the the swingarm gear box and motor. One guy in Australia posted up some photo's on a HD site of his fix and that was fitting a couple of neoprene bushes behind the rear foot board mounts pressing up against each side of the swing arm. When he bolted the mounts on the frame it would hold the swingarm from flexing side by side. He used Toyota landcruiser shackle bushes reamed out on the inside to clear the swingarm bolt nuts. I will try this mod one day with the yellow ARB 4x4 type bushes that are made to go in the front suspension hangers on the early leaf spring models.   

         

[Admiral Akbar]

My read is that crappy tires, some manufacturing tolerances and aliment are the major problems that have plagued this design.. HD touts the new frame when they really found the better tires / wheels helped.. Frame is a better scapegoat as it promotes new vehicle sales.  They did the same thing on the Dyna's, should work on the waggers also.. 

Max

[rredneckn2]

Any more feedback on the glide-pro? Did it help the bike even though the tire was spent?

[Admiral Akbar]

Should be putting a couple hundred on the bike tomorrow..

Max

[rredneckn2]

Just wondering what your thoughts are w/glide-pro .

[Admiral Akbar]

Got about 210 miles on the bike yesterday.. Mostly pretty casual riding.
Bike still wobbles.. Might be a little better.. Frequency of the twitch is higher.. Other than that pretty much the same.. Might need to swap back to the stock setup to verify..

Max

[04 SE Deuce]

  More Do-rag Max and you will master the ill camel.     Rick

[Admiral Akbar]

Only need to keep the camel off the fermented date juice.. Changing the rear tire will cure the ale()-ment,  Max

[Eglider05]

Personally I think on a bike with some miles on it new stock donuts and a Bagger Brace is the way to go. (JMHO).

Rick

[Admiral Akbar]

Personally I think on a bike with some miles on it new stock donuts and better tires is the way to go. (JMHO).
Suspension helps but the stock front forks on the 07 are fine (IMO)

Max

[Admiral Akbar]

Just wondering what your thoughts are w/glide-pro .

BTW,

My favorite test sweeper today on the way to work.. Last Thursday, there was a too much traffic.. Today was good.. Can't tell the difference between the Glide-Pro and no Glide pro..(cept it vibrates more)  May actually be a little bit worse but the while the tire still has tread it's pretty much shot.. It's what making things worse.  Runs true, no bubbles, has pressure.. Pretty square,, Crappy tire design if you want to push it..

Good in the DG tho... 

Max

[HogBag]

Max
This might help

http://www.ccesd.us/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_209&products_id=693

[Admiral Akbar]

Max
This might help
http://www.ccesd.us/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_209&products_id=693

I seriously doubt it.. If the front end were flexing I'd feel it more in hard cornering at lower speeds.. The front end on this thing feels solid at anything below 65-70.. Rear tire will fix the problem.. and the glide pro will get removed after the new tire is installed and I get some miles on the bike just to see what the switch back reveals any anything I'm missing.  I need to look harder as I really don't see any improvement right now.. If there was an improvement it wasn't where I thought it was (ie high speed sweepers.)..  Well see then if I can get my money back for it..

Some here have claimed it helps with dancing on the freeway rain groves.. Not not for me..

Max

[Deye76]

Maybe at lower speeds the front end is not compressing enough to feel flex.

[Admiral Akbar]

Maybe at lower speeds the front end is not compressing enough to feel flex.

It's probably more the opposite that tells me the forks aren't the problem.. I can push the front end into a tighter, rougher, lower turn to the point where you can feel the forks working over the bumps and it's still stable.. In a sweeper, not much load, just speed, the front end feel light and vague even without the bumps.. Bumps just make it dance.. I've seen fork braces help hard cornering, tighter, rough curves but do absolutely nothing for the sweepers. 

Max