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Stabilizers

Stabilizers

Chassis stabilizers

In an effort to do something good for its mile-hungry clientele, Harley-Davidson mounted the engine of the FLT Tour Glide, which was released in 1980, in rubber isolator blocks. The rubber mounting was intended to keep the - comparatively - strong vibrations away from the chassis and the rider's hands, back and feet. What may only annoy the driver can manifest itself in loose bolts and shaken-off attachments on the chassis. The rubber suspension was probably inspired by the Isolastic construction, with which Norton had managed to give the Dominator and Commando Twins decent running characteristics. As on the prototype, the swingarm, engine and transmission form a single unit that is connected to the rest of the chassis with thick rubber blocks.

Why install stabilizers?

Well, actually Harley-Davidson itself has already installed stabilizers in the form of the so-called Stabilizer Links, i.e. link rods with length adjustment. These ensure that the engine-transmission-swingarm unit can only move in the longitudinal direction. Lateral movements are to be prevented as far as possible by the Stabilizer Links. In the real world, of course, this does not work 100%, because the rod ends of the stabilizer links on the engine side describe a circular path, and extreme back and forth movements (abrupt opening and closing of the throttle, you know) force the engine to tilt sideways. With this design, everything went well until the touring bikes were given more power by the factory or the riders took initiative themselves. On a really hard-driven tour with an Electra or other Glides, the rear end can then develop a life of its own that can sacre even seasoned riders. The California Highway Patrol, by the way, shared this with the community in a video on YouTube. There are - as always - several precipitating factors, such as tail weight, tire pressure and driver impulses on the handlebars, but the compliance of the engine-transmission-swingarm unit's bearings is a contributing factor in this phenomenon, as it causes the two wheels to repeatedly fail to line up properly for fractions of a second. The swing arm develops its own steering behavior compared to the rest of the chassis. And while other triggers can be eliminated relatively quickly and easily, it is more difficult with the flexible mounting of the engine-transmission-swingarm unit.

But it's not impossible: stabilizers like Ultra-Link from Terry Components or Touring Link from Progressive Suspension install an additional Stabilizer Link under the transmission and bring straighten and calm the chassis on any Tour, Road, Electra or other Glides. Fight the highspeed wobble!

Have any questions?

Our service team will be glad to help out: Mondays - Thursdays 08:00-17:00 CET, Fridays 08:00-16:00 CET, Phone: +49 / 931 250 61 16, eMail: service@wwag.com