What do people mean when they say handling? Ive hear it a bunch but it seems pretty vague to me. I imagine better handling could also be very subjective. I personally don't want a sportsbike that can turn super fast and needs steering dampers ect. I prefer something a little more stable in a straight line but still able to duck and dodge easily in thick traffic. I think it would be helpfull in a thread like this if we didnt just use superlatives like "handling is much better" but tried to describe the feelings and experiences in different circumstances.

10" is veering more twoards the extreme of what i'd be planning (more likely 4-6" or maybe 8" ) in either case I would be putting allot more miles on my savage beforehand. I like the way the savage front end looks, and itd take some work to get a sportster to even look like that. As regards handling, from what i gather, enough people on here seem to complain about the way the stock savage handles (hence the proclivity of turning them into cafe racers) that I think it warrents further description of what "handling" means to each individual.
Not trying to bash anyones opinions (i hope it's not taken like that) just trying to gain some experience and understanding

pg wrote on 03/02/20 at 15:45:45:



No idea it doesn't have a tach, but my guess is maybe 70. Maybe less, 60 possibly. It tops out @119 indicated likely around 8k. I might edit this post if I find something on the bolt forum.

Oh 80 at 4300 per bolt forum, so its redline is 6K ? Like WTF, my gs500 doesn't even do much of anything till 6k.
BTW mine was an SCR, started out with taller rear tire but no other changes, likely I got a few extra clicks for the same rpm.

Cool.
Srinath.

Quote:


I agree.

I own both a Savage( a 2006 S40) and a Sportster(2004 xl883), so I'll give my observations about how the two bikes compare.

I think "handling", when most people talk about it refers to how a motorcycle behaves, and what it feels like, when going around corners, and to a lesser extent, how stable it feels at speed in a straight line.

I have a favorite stretch of twisty road not far from home that I have ridden both of my bikes on numerous times so I think I have a pretty good idea what the differences between them are. Whenever I go for a ride on either of them with no particular destination in mind I try to incorporate that road as part of the ride.

Honestly, if you asked me which of my bikes "handles" the best, I'd tell you that it was the one I was riding when you asked. And if you were to stand with a stopwatch at the end of a section of that road, and time me riding that section on each bike, riding as quickly as I felt comfortable, I'm pretty sure that the time difference from bike to bike would be negligible.

But the two bikes feel very different.  

The Suzuki is easier to turn. It requires a very light push on the inside grip to get it leaned over and turning. The Sportster needs more pressure on the bar to make it lean. When exiting the turn, the Suzuki is easier to stand back up to vertical. In a series of tight left,right.left right,S turns the Suzuki is easier to flick back and forth. It "feels" quicker. But I'm not sure if I can actually make it turn any faster than The Sportster as long as I use enough force on the Sportster's bars.

Once it is turning the Sportster "feels" more planted than the Suzuki and it doesn't get as upset by pavement irregularities as the Suzuki does. There is one turn on this road where the pavement is rippled, and it's hard for me to resist the urge to roll off the throttle on the Suzuki if I'm going a little faster through that turn than I probably should be. That doesn't happen on the Sportster. So in that particular spot I'd have to say the Sportster "feels" better.

Does it actually handle better there ? Is the Sportster capable of going around that turn faster than the Suzuki ? I don't know. I'm not a skilled, or brave, enough rider to know for sure.

In a straight line, at sane speeds (droning along the expressway at 70 or 75} there is very little difference. Both bikes feel fine. Both of them wiggle a bit on pavement grooves, and on steel deck bridges, but not to the point of feeling unsafe. The Sportster is more sensitive to tar snakes  but that may be the tires. The Suzuki has a Shinko 712 on the front, the Sportster has an HD branded OEM style Dunlop. The Suzuki gets blown around more by the buffeting from big trucks.

Both bikes have stock suspensions and brakes. The forks and the shocks are about equally mediocre on both. Neither have enough travel in the rear, and the fronts are too soft. The Sportster is worse. The forks on the Harley sag more when I get on the bike and they dive more under heavy braking. I rebuilt the Harley forks about a year ago with OEM bushings and the recommended weight and amount of oil because I had to replace a leaking seal, and they aren't much better than they were before I had to fix the leak, so I suspect that they could use slightly heavier springs.

When I bought the Sportster it already had what HD calls a "stage 1" performance upgrade. That consists of a different, supposedly less restrictive, air intake, a different ignition module, and more open mufflers. I don't know how much extra HP that's supposed to produce compared to stock, but the Sportster is much faster than the Suzuki in spite of weighing around 560 pounds vs 380.

I'm a little skeptical about some of the claims regarding performance gains anyway. The mufflers that were on the bike when I bought it were pretty loud. Last summer a pair of OEM take offs popped up on the local Craigslist for my year bike for $50 so I bought them and put them on. I've noticed no difference in the way the bike runs, or how fast it feels, and it's much more pleasant to ride. The aftermarket mufflers did look nicer though.

The brakes on both bikes - which is also related to handling I guess - are pretty comparable. Perfectly adequate for sane riding but not great. The drum on the Savage is actually better than the rear disc on my Sportster. The Suzuki brake is a little touchy if I'm not careful but at least it's strong enough to lock the wheel if I wanted to. The rear brake on the Sportster won't slide the wheel no matter how hard I stomp on it. The fronts of both bikes are about the same. Just OK.

pg wrote on 03/03/20 at 05:15:55:



SCR was the scrambler version, mine has been turned into a bolt, that SCR was unuseable. It will run very very well well past 100, the SCR's wide handlebar would make you feel like a sail past 90 or so, I went to the C spec narrow clip on's and no problem till 119 or so indicated, not had it over that.
Cool.
Srinath.

d3adrock

2" over will make a driving difference.  I had 4" over on a Sportster and it REALLY raised the center of gravity almost too much .

You need a 10/10 kit if you want the chopper look.   That is 10" over and 10 degree extra rake.   I had the kit on a XS650 Yamaha in the mid 1970 and the long wheel base made the rear of the bike drift a lot easier , but it  felt Good !  
The long wheel base also put an end to turning around in the middle of the 2 lane highway !  
 
http://www.choppersurplus.com/bikekits/index.html

http://www.choppersurplus.com/np/frontends/index.html

srinath wrote on 03/03/20 at 08:39:19:



Does it vibrate?  I remember reading the V-Star 950 would vibrate pretty good as it approached 70 mph.

Best regards,