Originally Posted by
Verismo
I will definitely be getting those foam grip covers, and I appreciate the candor Ths61. I know it's tough to invest money into something and then have to critique it objectively, but I really appreciate the honest feedback because that's VERY helpful in, at the very least, beginning to ask the right questions, which brings me to six2go's thoughts-
You and me both, six2go! If I had a real clue I would've fixed this already, lol. But there is something about your observation that rings true. There is some single thing, or some combination of the geometry of the rider triangle, and the geometry of the bike that contributes to this overall roughness, and I just haven't pinned it down, yet. As far as the rake on the Indians, I don't think that's all there is to the story. I actually rode five Indians, and just miscounted because two of them were black. Excluding the little Scout, which was "cute" but not in the same league, 3 of the Indians I rode had 25 degree rakes, and one had a 29 degree rake. They were all MUCH less harsh than the B. The biggest difference on the 29 degree rake was that the engine seemed to kick off WAY less heat to the rider, which was really interesting. The prevailing theory was that the wind was different due to the rake. But as far as I could tell, the 29 degree Indian, which is what our B is, didn't have a noticeably rougher ride.
I'm 100% spitballing here, but I wonder if the engine placement doesn't play a part in this. For most of my life, I've been completely enamored by the horizontally opposed Goldwing platform. I've owned 4 iterations of it, and have always marveled at its smoothness and linear torque delivery. For the first time, I'm wondering if having all that weight FORWARD doesn't set the forks up for a difficult to impossible task. If you think about a V twin, which I've always considered a far inferior, for the most part, engine, it does indeed have a higher center of gravity. But it also has the weight, due to the rear cylinder, spread more evenly over the wheelbase, possibly distributing forces more evenly over the front and back suspension. Maybe it's possible that because there is so much weight forward on the GL1800, the spring rates have an impossibly narrow margin between being stiff enough to keep the bike steady, or so soft that you get a dangerous pogo effect.
Has anyone on here ever tested lighter springs in the forks? I bet they bottom out pretty quickly. It would be interesting to hear some real world ride experiences.
Anyway, I am extremely busy at work for the next week, so I don't have much time to think on this. But I do love the feedback and read it and appreciate the time and ya'lls thoughts. Just coming up with the right questions would be a big step in mitigating the harshness as much as possible, even if it can't altogether be eliminated. Shoot for plush, land wherever physics says we have to, lol. And even sticking with stock, we're still talking about motorcycles and riding an F6B, so all is good!
Jason