I got an 01 Deuce , does the same thing. Asked my Indy about it and he said that's not uncommon for the narrow softail front ends to clunk on bumps. I also changed my fork oil , made no difference.

 

thanks brother...this helps as I've been told the same by some...one guy said, "well, you didn't buy a dirt bike!" and you know, he's right

 

Check your tank mounts -make sure the are tight.

 

Okay....so if its not the tank mount or fork oil then the met likely culprit are your steering bearings. You can tighten them up as a short term fix, but in the end they will need replacing.


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Mine has done this since it was new. Snugging up the steering bearings helped a little.


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07 st bob, does the same thing but only over nasty bumps or during fast stops wen I gotta get on the front brake hard. I put in progressive springs with the heaviest fluid available ffrom amsoil. much improvement in th ride. No where near as much "squat" wen breaking, which I never liked, but still clunks. Def not a metal to metal sound. Acctually sounds as if the spring bottoms out, but its not. Strange, n always done it so Im not really worried bout it till it causes a prob of some sort...just my $.02

 

yup mine does same thing put progressive spring in it (oh i like those)
but it still has that clunk . i just keep riding one day it'll come off then ill know what it was

 

My has done it since I bought it new. I believe the culprit is the front brake caliper. When I pull in the front brake lever and push down on the forks, there's the "clunk". But, when I place the front tire against a curb and push down on the forks without pulling in the brake lever, there's no clunk. I've learned to just live with it.


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now that's interesting Pro. I did the same exact test because I worried it was something in the braking. even against a wall, or over nasty bumps with no brake applied it still clunks....
now this is getting interesting....

 

i think its the fork spring slappin the side of the tube, but i could be wrong, mine has done it since i got it, nuttin falls off so i dont mess with it..

 

I think u nailed it!!! Never thought of that but it does describe the sound perfectly. My indy in NY and my indy in FL as well as the HD shop I use in FL all told me it was nothing to sweat. As said basically revamped efront end, and though rides awesome now, still clunks at times...

 

Yep my Indy said not to worry about it , mine does it under the same conditions as JayBirds. I'm thinking the damper tube is clunking on the fork tube plug cause it sounds likes it's in the top of the tree on mine.

 

Have you checked the headstock bearing adjustment ? Sounds for all the world like loose headstock bearings.

 

If you search softail front end clunk you'll see a lot of info.


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My 07 Deluxe had this same problem. Second time to the dealer a good mechanic said he had seen the problem before. Said it was pretty common on the fat forks and that it needed to be rebuilt. When he got thru the clunk or rattle was gone.

 

So what did her rebuild in the front end??


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Mine does it, too. 1995 Heritage Nostalgia. I know this is a subject that's come up many a time. Perhaps do a search and see what you can find.

 

wut exactly did he "rebuild" in the forks? I put in brand new progressives n stop blocks with heaviest amsoil fluid available, still knocks, done worrying. Rides like a dream, so it clunks, who gaf?

 

When it makes noise, is it at compression or rebound? My 07 RK is making similar noises on rebound, I think it is the fork topping out. I am saving my pennies to have the suspension completely reworked. Adding race tech fork cartridge emulators, progressive springs, and a heavier weight oil. Rebuild rear air shocks w/ heavier weight oil initially, but those may be upgraded as well. Check your bearings, make sure everything is torqued to spec. Also, make sure the front forks are aligned correctly.

 

Sorry for taking so long to reply guys. He said it had some type of pitting. He said most of the time it came from the factory that way. I think he said it was in the dampening rods. I disassembled everything on the top side before I gave up and took it in. Knock on wood not a rattle since the rebuild.

 

Got an '04 Softail Standard. It has the clunk. I put in the new washer they recommend and torqued the front end nut down as specified. No good...still does it. Tried heavier oil and still does it. Greased the front end till grease came out. Still clunks. Does not sound good, sounds like somebody hitting it with a hammer , but no problems from it that I know of. Guess it will just have to clunk.

 

Check out Dave63's Sticky -Fork Oil- in this sub-forum. He mentions what sounds like your problem.

 

Had a clunk under braking and over speed bumps on my evo wideglide and got the same sound clunk on my 00 wideglide. Swapped out the fork springs for progressives, mucked around with different weight fork oils and it's still there.