I'm looking and changing my suspension to
1. Hagon Nitros 12.6"
2. Ricor intiminators

I emailed the following to Dave Quinn who a number of people speak highly of

My bike is a 2012/2013 HD FXDF / Fatbob
I'm around 290lbs with gear on, wife around 155 with her gear on
I ride probably 80% of my time 1 up, balance 2 up. Some of my one up riding has bags on say another 50lbs
Roads I ride are back country and fairly uneven (pot holes, uneven surfaces and slumping etc.) certainly not US freeways
My riding style is in keeping with what I ride in that I push it along but it's not a sport bike and I am conscious of that. I'd rate my skill level at average.
I'm happy to go a little taller - thinking 12.2 or 12.6" compared to the standard 12"

His reply was

If you can manage it, I suggest 12.6” or even longer for better travel. Std (which Hagons make to be 300mm/ 11.8”) and the next longer size 310mm/12.2” have restricted travel, we believe that the 320mm/12.6” shocks have full 3.2” travel, and we know that 330mm/13” do.

Next question- do your shocks have offset eyelets? Hagons do not make any shocks with this configuration but a previous FXD owner has come up with a fix using hardware from another FX model, which we do not supply so you would have to find this locally. Can offer comprehensive details if you need them.


So to my question - does my fat bob have offset eyelets? Any comments re my proposed mods welcome. While Hagon Nitros are available here they're around $1000 vs $700 landed ex the usa.

Thanks

 

Hi
I've just ordered some of these for my Fatbob in 320mm length, after speaking to Hagon there was no suggestion that they wouldn't fit due to offset eyelets. I'll update next week when they arrive.

 

I have the 330mm (13") Nitros on my bike. They are very good shocks and fit perfectly without worrying any offset this or that

Do be aware that depending on your exhaust, as you jack the bike up a bit, the tolerance between the bottom shock mount and the muffler may be tight. I have a D&D Bob Cat 2:1 exhaust and when the bike has nobody on it, there is only about 1/16 - 1/8" clearance between the muffler can and the bottom shock bolt. It doesn't touch, but it is close. Once you sit on the bike and the shock loads a bit, the gap increases significantly. But the D&D pipe is very tight to the bike and pretty upswept, so most pipes will not have this potential issue.

However - it's going to be exactly the same thing with any shocks if you go longer than stock.

Having said that.....the Hagon Nitros have completely changed the ride for the better. The bike used to bottom out all the time, but now it glides over potholes. I'd certainly recommend them.

 

Thanks both of you. I've ordered 320mm just waiting to put them on. Doing the front end at the same time (Ricor Intimators, RSD preload adjustors, Traxxion straight springs and Amsoil 10W).

 

From another kiwi with Hagons, You made the right choice with the 320mm. I went 310mm with mine and although they are still great shocks I do wish I had gone with the 320's.

The extra ground clearance and additional travel would have been more welcome on our terrible roads. At least down south here.

 

Your off road looks better than our tarmac roads, I'm looking forward to ditching the stock shocks.

 

Just ordered a set of 13" (330mm) Nitros from Dave Quinn last week. Looking forward to getting them on. From everything I've read, going to 330mm, or even taller, will allow for a better ride with better bump absorbtion, compliance and ground clearance. The travel on the stock shocks (FLD stock shock 12") is 2.1". The Nitros are supposed to give 3.2" of travel. With a 50% increase in travel, I have to believe bottoming out won't be an issue.

Enjoy your newly sprung ride!!!

 

Great looking bike!

 

Good info here.....I also have a Fat Bob with a D&D bobcat. I recently purchased new shocks for my bike (they haven't arrived yet), but I decided to go with 12.5" due to this clearance issue. After doing some measuring, I figured the 13" shocks would either make the bottom shock bolt touch the can, or would be extremely close...looks like I was right. I wanted to go 13", but I think I'm glad I went with 12.5" instead, then I'm sure to not have a clearance issue.
How much did the 13" shocks raise the back of your bike at the tail light?

 

I'd say it's a bit less than an inch. The shocks are 1" longer, but that's the hypotenuse of the triangle - so it will be a bit less than that on the vertical axis. But I don't know what the horizontal distance between top and bottom shock mounts is and it's too cold to go measure it in the garage so I can calculate the exact amount ;-)

In real world terms, I don't notice it at all.

Next time I have the muffler off (which will be soon as I want to do cams), I will add a spacer between the muffler and it's mount point mount just to push the muffler out to the right about 1/8" inch. That should be about perfect.