Rear Suspension.. what is your best upgrade ?
#1
05-20-2009, 03:19 PM
Rear Suspension.. what is your best upgrade ?
Hi Guys,
I think it is time my bike gets a new rear suspension,
It is time I invest in 'performance mod'
LOL.
What is your best choice, no air rides for me , too expensive.
I will also like to keep my rear lowered.
I appreciate the input.
Regards
I think it is time my bike gets a new rear suspension,
It is time I invest in 'performance mod'
LOL.What is your best choice, no air rides for me , too expensive
.I will also like to keep my rear lowered.
I appreciate the input.
Regards
#2
05-20-2009, 03:35 PM
I bought Harley's lowering shocks off another member here. They have longer bolts and again, are adjustable. This is important because when I first had them installed on my '08 NT, they had set the pre-load too soft and the bike bottomed out over almost every bump. NOT good for the bike. So I had them click the pre-load three clicks firmer and while the ride isn't what I'd call "supple", it's MUCH better and the bike is, I would imagine, happier.
Oh, and I went 2" down in the rear. NO handling issues at all.
Oh, and I went 2" down in the rear. NO handling issues at all.
#3
05-20-2009, 05:25 PM
R.I.P. BROTHER
Those Harley shocks Kelly has or a set of Ultima's or 422's from progressive.
I do have to agree to disagree with Kelly as there are inherent handling issues especially if you ride the bike in a.."Spirited" fashion?
The bike will understeer or feel as if it dosent want to lay down into the corners and carve as its original design intended. A Softail with 21" front tire and 32 dgrees of rake isnt the best handling bike through the curves to start with and the inherent shortcomings of the chasis are greatly amplified to the negative by lowering the rear a full 2" or more without addressing the ride height of the front end.
I have ridden mine in all 3 forms. Stock, Rear slammed with front stock, both front and rear lowered equally. The bike didnt not ride and it wasnt some big scray deal with just the **** lowered but it cornered like chit.
Front and rear lowered equally not only looks kinda cool but regains the bikes ability to lay down into a curve and not want to pull itself wide. The front end tracks as designed and makes offramps, twisty roads, canyon carving a much more enjoyable affair on a bike that has an inherently poor design for any spirited cornering. I hammer mine up nasty twisty colorado mountain roads...It works pretty good considering. Scraping is an issue and if you drop the front you will need a shorter kickstand or a bit of forethought when parking yer' bike!!
I do have to agree to disagree with Kelly as there are inherent handling issues especially if you ride the bike in a.."Spirited" fashion?
The bike will understeer or feel as if it dosent want to lay down into the corners and carve as its original design intended. A Softail with 21" front tire and 32 dgrees of rake isnt the best handling bike through the curves to start with and the inherent shortcomings of the chasis are greatly amplified to the negative by lowering the rear a full 2" or more without addressing the ride height of the front end.
I have ridden mine in all 3 forms. Stock, Rear slammed with front stock, both front and rear lowered equally. The bike didnt not ride and it wasnt some big scray deal with just the **** lowered but it cornered like chit.
Front and rear lowered equally not only looks kinda cool but regains the bikes ability to lay down into a curve and not want to pull itself wide. The front end tracks as designed and makes offramps, twisty roads, canyon carving a much more enjoyable affair on a bike that has an inherently poor design for any spirited cornering. I hammer mine up nasty twisty colorado mountain roads...It works pretty good considering. Scraping is an issue and if you drop the front you will need a shorter kickstand or a bit of forethought when parking yer' bike!!
#4
05-20-2009, 07:20 PM
Chazmanian
I don't necessarily disagree with you and your analysis of the geometry of the bike and how lowering the rear only effects handling is spot on. However, my style of riding is not overly aggressive, so I tend to not really feel those pronounced effects.
The Night Train is not known for it's corner-carving ability to begin with- it wasn't designed that way. A 21" front with a 32 degree rake and an 18" rear 200mm tire isn't going to make for LeMans-style handling obviously. But I bought my NT with a VERY specific foresight into how I wanted it to look/perform. And it's getting there.
Needless to say, I probably will wind up getting the Progressive front lowering springs at some point...
I don't necessarily disagree with you and your analysis of the geometry of the bike and how lowering the rear only effects handling is spot on. However, my style of riding is not overly aggressive, so I tend to not really feel those pronounced effects.
The Night Train is not known for it's corner-carving ability to begin with- it wasn't designed that way. A 21" front with a 32 degree rake and an 18" rear 200mm tire isn't going to make for LeMans-style handling obviously. But I bought my NT with a VERY specific foresight into how I wanted it to look/perform. And it's getting there.
Needless to say, I probably will wind up getting the Progressive front lowering springs at some point...
#5
05-20-2009, 07:45 PM
Sponsor
I'll chime in here. I read your statement and read hundreds of posts regarding different suspension setups over the years here on the site. I was happy with my stock suspension until I wanted to slam the bike. Yes, I raided the kids college fund for an air ride. I read too many things about people bottoming out and not being comfortable on lowering bolts or shocks.
As I have learned over the years with motorcycle mods, I get what I really want first. If I do not I always end up getting later regardless of the price. That being said, I have NOT ridden on a bike with the lowering bolts installed so I offer no feedback on that.
Someone else brought up the point that your bike is not made to carve canyons anyway. That being said I believe a quality suspension upgrade will still drastically affect the handling/ride of your bike. I have owned numerous bikes and found that suspensions tires are two of the biggest factors in ride quality available. It always makes me wonder why stock suspension sucks.
Food for thought. Good luck on whatever you choose.
As I have learned over the years with motorcycle mods, I get what I really want first. If I do not I always end up getting later regardless of the price. That being said, I have NOT ridden on a bike with the lowering bolts installed so I offer no feedback on that.
Someone else brought up the point that your bike is not made to carve canyons anyway. That being said I believe a quality suspension upgrade will still drastically affect the handling/ride of your bike. I have owned numerous bikes and found that suspensions tires are two of the biggest factors in ride quality available. It always makes me wonder why stock suspension sucks.
Food for thought. Good luck on whatever you choose.
__________________
#6
05-20-2009, 08:16 PM
Banned
#7
05-20-2009, 08:28 PM
R.I.P. BROTHER
Me and a buddy pretty much tore the entire front end apart to get the kit in. It kinda sucked actually!
I ended up doing it twice no less as the first try was 1.5" and I'll be dammed if the sumbitch didnt even look lowered a bit.
On a good note we had a jug of heavy fork oil and replaced the light thin stuff with the uber heavy crap on the 2nd go round and the fork now feels way better than stock and absorbs road trash better and dosent deflect as badly on road cracks and ridges.
I was pretty choppered out a few months ago.
This is 1.5"
And this is the full monty from the progressive kit or 2".
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#8
05-20-2009, 08:44 PM
#9
05-20-2009, 08:46 PM
Chaz
You know, I carefully studied the PDF file on Progressive's website. I very quickly realized that that whole "Just take the fork bolts off and drop the springs in- VOILA!" thing was horses**t. It clearly states that (at least for Softails) there is MUCH more involved. Too bad- I really wanted to give it a shot on my own in my late father-in-law's well-equipped workshop.
You know, I carefully studied the PDF file on Progressive's website. I very quickly realized that that whole "Just take the fork bolts off and drop the springs in- VOILA!" thing was horses**t. It clearly states that (at least for Softails) there is MUCH more involved. Too bad- I really wanted to give it a shot on my own in my late father-in-law's well-equipped workshop.
#10
10-15-2016, 11:10 AM
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Progressive shocks
I also looked at the Progressive 422 PDF file for installation for the Softail. Not a big deal. You will need a bike jack and strap to secure the bike and a small floor jack under the rear wheel to raise/lower the wheel to help install the bolts. You have eye bolts on one end and threaded rod/nut on the other end, how hard can this be. The challenge will come in adjusting the shock for ride height and spring preload.
Our situation is different, we're not trying to look cool, the bike is low enough, maybe to low, could used raised up an inch, most importantly softer ride. I talked to people in the know regarding progress and they said, expect better ride performance with progressive, not necessarily softer ride, our new Softail Slim beats the crap out of my spine 100 miles and I'm done. Harley makes a cheap copy of the Progresive shock, I'm told by Harley it's probably a cheap rip off, at $300 you can bet it's no bargain.
I'm looking into air ride.
Our situation is different, we're not trying to look cool, the bike is low enough, maybe to low, could used raised up an inch, most importantly softer ride. I talked to people in the know regarding progress and they said, expect better ride performance with progressive, not necessarily softer ride, our new Softail Slim beats the crap out of my spine 100 miles and I'm done. Harley makes a cheap copy of the Progresive shock, I'm told by Harley it's probably a cheap rip off, at $300 you can bet it's no bargain.
I'm looking into air ride.
