12 over Sportster - Progressives springs or not?

[AlbertaFarmer]

I ended up dropping the rear back to 13.5" with the stock shocks. I never noticed how awful the stock ones were, until I ran two years on the progressives. The whole thing flows better now, to my eye. I like the lifted look a lot, but I think a 7 or 8 over front would work a lot better with them.

I've got the kickstand off, taking it to a friend for welding tomorrow. Best I could figure, I need about 5" added on. Seems like a lot, as I know of guys with a 1" or 2" over kickstand on long, stock rake fronts. But, it takes a 3.5" block under the stand to sit well. I'm actually only 9 over right now, but will be sliding the tubes down to reach 12 over. Anybody care to chime in with how much they have added to the stand and how far over the front is? If not, will add 5" tomorrow and go from there. Thanks again, fellas.

[Down]

I ended up dropping the rear back to 13.5" with the stock shocks. I never noticed how awful the stock ones were, until I ran two years on the progressives. The whole thing flows better now, to my eye. I like the lifted look a lot, but I think a 7 or 8 over front would work a lot better with them.

I've got the kickstand off, taking it to a friend for welding tomorrow. Best I could figure, I need about 5" added on. Seems like a lot, as I know of guys with a 1" or 2" over kickstand on long, stock rake fronts. But, it takes a 3.5" block under the stand to sit well. I'm actually only 9 over right now, but will be sliding the tubes down to reach 12 over. Anybody care to chime in with how much they have added to the stand and how far over the front is? If not, will add 5" tomorrow and go from there. Thanks again, fellas.

I have 6 over tubes, with 5 degrees extra rake on my Sportster and I had to extend my kickstand 4 inches. I also made it drop more straight down. If you just go extra length with it, it's gonna get ugly and super long. Bend it a little.

[AlbertaFarmer]

Well, I went 5 over on the kickstand. It's a good start for now, might do some final tweaking when my brake line comes in and I can slide the tubes down in the trees.

Also, I put the progressives in and added a couple inches of preload. I've only gone a couple miles since, but it feels like a big improvement. Kept with the 10W oil for the time being.

[DRT]

How did your 12 overs handling turn out? I have a 12 over Springer with stock rake at low speed it has a mind of it's own at times other then that it's not so bad

[AlbertaFarmer]

That thing is sick man. I love a good springer. I bought a KLR650, so I've been tripping on that and neglecting the girl's bike. I got a longer brake line put on today, as well as dropped the rear with 10.5" struts. Tomorrow I'm planning to drop the trees in the tubes, going from the current 9 over to the full 12. I rode a little ways at 9 over, it's definitely a bit squirrelly at low speed, but not unpleasant or hard to handle. Anything over fifteen miles an hour felt as smooth as ever. The way people talked, I expected 9 over to be much more different from stock. I'll let you know when I get it on the road at 12 over, hopefully tomorrow.

[nofendertom]

You might want to think about some sort of fork brace with the full 12 over.

[AlbertaFarmer]

I got it out of the tent and into the sun today. I hate the rear struts, but I don't want to put out the $400 for new black progressives in a 12.5". Will try to live with them for now. It handles much better than I expected, even low speed stuff isn't too bad. Super steady at highway speed. One funny thing, I was actually at 8.5 over before dropping the tubes today, and the difference in handling is very minimal, hard to even notice. I've thought about a fork brace. If they weren't so damn expensive, I'd run one in the middle and one at the bottom. Doesn't seem too bad, so I'll just keep my eyes open for one or two. The only thing I went out and paid full price for as the tubes, from Frank's. Everything else is swapmeet or classified specials. I'll keep changing things as they come into my life cheaply.

[DRT]

Thank you. Theres not many old school stock rake long fork bikes running around that I have found on the web anyway. it's been hard to find any pointers on what I'm getting myself into but I love the look. I found the old late 60's early 70's springer? at a meet and scooped it up for $80 with it bent and missing pieces. building the rockers had me a little nervous but I think they turned out and I'm sure there is a sweet spot to smooth it out but it's my first attempt. I have only taken it out on the 30mph wind mock up of death test ride but it leveled out around 10mph and wasnt bad up to 65mph on the old pothole filled road but the death wobble is a big concern I have. I still need to have the wheel balance checked and proper wheel spacers put in. I'm still getting use to the no front brake it's been along time since my last no front brake bikes

[DRT]

Nice! I was going to run 10 over tubes from TC bros but I found this Springer. How does that thin seat treat you after awhile on the road?

[AlbertaFarmer]

I'm sure you've seen the Norcal thread on here? Lot's of nice tall bikes on there. That's a hell of a deal for any springer. I've been riding it around lately. I love the 12 overs, they are incredibly stable at speed and I'm already used to the parking lot stuff. I hate the rear struts. Years ago, I rode this bike to San Fransisco on struts and now I can't stand a few minutes on them. Getting old haha. The Old Gold seat isn't inherently bad, but it is a poor fit for this setup. The angle of the frame makes it hard to keep from sliding backwards. I had no trouble with it when I had the frame more parallel. I've got a Sully's King Queen on there now. It keeps me from sliding back, but it's almost too far forward.


I'm going to lift the rear up with 12.5" shocks sometime. Hoping that will allow me to go back to the Old Gold. To me, they are the best looking seats that have come out for swingarm Sportsters.

[DRT]

King queen looks good! I have been wanting to get one for some time now. I like the ones at TC bros but I just dont have the cash yet for it and the tall sissy bar. I have a 30" bar but haven't had time to get it on but soon I hope. I finally got some time to put the wheel spacer kit on the bike and its night and day still needs some tuning in but not a problem at low speeds anymore handles just fine up to 80mph. I have been questioning if I'm getting proper oiling to the top end and if the belt drive is ok. I want to go chain but time and money. I just had to throw my parts money at my xxl bullie pup she broke her leg and needed a specialist but at least I can get into the wind for now and let some problems wonder were I have gone for awhile

[AlbertaFarmer]

King queen looks good! I have been wanting to get one for some time now. I like the ones at TC bros but I just dont have the cash yet for it and the tall sissy bar. I have a 30" bar but haven't had time to get it on but soon I hope. I finally got some time to put the wheel spacer kit on the bike and its night and day still needs some tuning in but not a problem at low speeds anymore handles just fine up to 80mph. I have been questioning if I'm getting proper oiling to the top end and if the belt drive is ok. I want to go chain but time and money. I just had to throw my parts money at my xxl bullie pup she broke her leg and needed a specialist but at least I can get into the wind for now and let some problems wonder were I have gone for awhile

Good to hear it's running smooth man. I'm no mechanic, but I knew a guy in Oregon that put serious miles on a stock rake Sportster with a twelve over. He didn't have any mechanical trouble, but I have heard that older Sportsters have oiling trouble when raised in the front. I checked the primary level with the bike at it's new angle. Had to take about two ounces out to bring it down to the level. I want to switch to a chain as well, but the damn belt is so care free. Think I'll get new shocks and the mags powder coated black before I spend money on a chain and sprockets. I think the tall sissy bar would look really good on your bike. I ran a really tall one years ago, and it completely changes the look.

[DRT]

Good to here the oil situation had me a little worried, just got the sissy bar on and not a fan of it not fitting properly the bar was definitely not for a sporty but it's on now.

[AlbertaFarmer]

That sissy bar looks great man! Really suits the rest of what's going on there. I can't really say the oiling is not an issue. But I did spend a lot of time reading about long tubes on stock rakes, and the only solid info I ever saw was that Ironheads had trouble with it. You would think if it was a problem, it would be discussed more. The Norcal thread here proves it is not an uncommon thing to do.

I did run into one little snag since long-dicking the front end. I was up in the mountains and noticed a pile of oil all over the back fender, swingarm and rear wheel. I figured riding on the struts had caused a crack in the oil tank. Turns out my 2000 was part of an HD service bulletin, regarding the primary vent hose. Somebody had sort of tried to do the fix, but very poorly. Seems I had a low spot in the line, which causes fluid to pool there and be discharged out the top of the hose. This was almost certainly a long time issue, made much worse by lifting up the front end. Pretty sure it's good now, haven't been able to ride it since re-routing the vent hose.