I'm having the upper belt guard replaced on my V-Rod by the stealer. Somehow it is coming into contact with the shock and has worn off the paint :eek: (Fortunately, I haven't replaced it with a chrome one yet).

Has anyone else had this problem? :confused: Unfortunately, I don't have pics and the bike stealer already. The stealer said that Harley should cover it.

-Bry

Found out the root cause...I'm too fat!! Really it was due to that the shocks weren't set-up correctly for my 235 frame. They were set at stage 2 but really should have been stage 3. Probably could have ridden anywhere else other than Michigan on the stage 2 without any issues, but due to our crappy rodes, I'm getting too much shock travel and hitting the belt guard on the upper shock housing.

Good news is that Harley has agreed to pay for a new belt guard and a new rear shock (housing is damaged on the inner side). Also I was able to get the dealership to agree to put the money Harley is paying for a black guard towards a chrome one.

-Bry

bbruce65 sounds like a hell of a deal, I just can't imagine that the upper belt guard should make contact even at 235 lbs. What about all these people that ride two up.

Max

hmm, I'm 200 + wife at 120 and I always ride at #3. No rubbing (yet anyway)

Max,

You would have to experience Michigan roads to understand. We have a lot of filled potholes and frost heaved joints. If you don't watch them, the bumps will through you off of your seat!!

I weigh 225 lbs and I have shocks at #2 and never bottomed the shock
and we have crappy New York roads

I weigh in around 210 -215 fully geared up, have the shocks at #2 and have never bottomed them, but it seems a little stiff. I am considering trying out #1 to see if I can soften the ride a little; hitting uneven RR tracks and sudden bumps really throw a jolt up my lower back and since I have some disc degeneration, it is an "interesting feeling" to say the least.

I'm 225lbs and my wife is 100lbs. I use 3 solo and 5 two up. There's no harshness and I rarely scrape anything (and I don't ride slow, either solo or 2 up, 20+ years on sport bikes).

In fact, if I forget to reset the shocks and we take off 2 up, my wife gets bounced off the seat on a set of speed bumps in our development. That's the sign to pull over and crank them up ;)

You guys running on anything less that 3 that weigh over 200lbs need to crank the shocks up to 3 or 4 and go for a fairly long ride, you'll be amazed at the difference.

Mike,

You need to consider progressive 440 shocks. Not for the extra performance but for the progressive spring rate. You can set them soft to absorb the quick transients like RR crossings but have enough preload to make sure the bike doesn't wallow when you get serious ;)

I cranked it up to three for a day and could not stand the much stiffer ride
when I ride two up I move to #4

I guess all those years on sport bikes changed my perception of how a bike should feel. On 1 or 2 the bike seems to wallow.

Hey, whatever works for you ;)

What do you mean by "wallow"?

Too much motion in the rear. In the turns the bike will get "upset" as it loads and unloads the rear suspension. On the highway it's reaction to crosswinds and surface irregularities are magnified. Remember, I'm coming off bikes with at least 2 adjustments per shock, most with 3, compression, rebound and preload. I usually run soft preload, medium to hard compression damping and hard rebound damping. On the V-Rod I find I need more preload since I can't turn up the damping.

Suspension settings are a ride to rider thing. It's all how you learned and what you like a bike to feel like.

(I wonder what a set of Ohlins would cost for the V-Rod ;))

Thanks for the info mjw930, I haven't thought too much about suspension tuning since the ol' days on the dirt track. Of course, I wasn't expecting much on my Road King in the twisties either...

I'll try a few different settings this weekend and see how they feel. I've know a nice 14 mile run of curves, dips and some rough spots that should be a good test ground. The first 6 miles are a little rougher than the last 8 so I get a good mix of road surface.

I'll have to look into the Progressive's after I replace my wheels; I really hate that disc up front! Might be related to the suspension setup, but whenever I get in traffic on the freeway, the front end seems to be really affected by the crosswind and turbulence created by the other vehicles.

Just removed my upper belt guard. Paint was gone where it had been hiting the shock. I thought that I had heard something once in awhile. Glad I was replaceing it with rizom upper.

:biker:

Hey Max,

According to my mechanic, the stage 2 is set-up for a 180 lb person. However, my mechanic is 210lb and was not able to get it to bottom out while bouncing on the pegs. I must be at the upper limit of the Stage 2 setting.

Anyway, I agree with mjw930 that the rear end felt a little soft. I'm definitely looking forward to see what the new setting feels like. Unfortunately, it will have to wait, as they had to order a new shock and it's only 7 deg outside now.

As far as the deal is concerned, I think that the service dept is a little afraid of me after I bitched them out for melting my fob the last time I was in for service. They now know me by name!

-Bry

tried out the #3 setting this weekend. the ride height was a tad higher and it is a bit stiffer on normal riding but nothing that I can't live with. there is a noticable improvement in the twisties...new setup makes the bike turn slightly quicker. Much better IMO.

Thanks mjw930!

The bike is on the lift and getting fixed today! After having issues with HD Warranty Center for 6 weeks, the parts are in, and the shock and beltguards are being mounted as we speak. The head mechanic and I agreed to meet on Saturday to test out the stage 3 setting before delivering the bike back to the house.

It's been awhile. They picked it up on Dec 29th!

-Bry

Question: Is there any adverse effect of only changing one rear shock and not two?

My belt guard has been changed by warrenty, but it was not my shock that it was hitting, but the bracket for the Harley hard bags. I only put my hard bags on for traveling, but when hitting hard bumps the guard would hit!
My problem is, shouldn't the suspenion bottom out before something hits!!
Where were the design engineers that day!!!

I weigh 165, and my girlfriend weighs 120. I have slowly moved the settings up to #5, since it did tend to wallow before. Even riding solo, on #4, it tended to feel soft. I have noticed one thing... it is MUCH harder clicking the right one to 5 than it is the left. Is it possible I have a bad shock? I never thought I would have to have my settings maxed out...

Wow i am around 240 now and used the 1 setting, then moved to the 2 setting just to see the difference and never bottomed out on either. However if my Wife gets on the back (she's around 115) it will bottom out on the bigger potholes.