Hello, I am wanting to change out the stock chrome rear shocks on my 14 Street Bob to a black set. From my reading the stock rear shocks are 12 inches. With no weight on the bike the rear looks really high but when i put my weight on it the bike sits down on the rear tire and look good. I found some progressive black 12 inch and 11.5 inch shocks. Just curious if anyone has changed them out to one or the other. I want to do this right the first time. I also put a Bassani Road Rage pipe on and it says in the instructions any installation of lower shocks will result in clearance issues. Thanks for the help!

 

Why don't you try shocks that are a little longer, say 12.5"? Besides getting a better ride you'll have more ground clearance and less chance of scraping the Bassani.

 

Progressive has answer to your questions on their website. I just changed my stock rear shocks to the Progressive 412's recently and did not want them to be any longer or shorter than stock. The info contained at there site matched me up with the perfect length first time.

 

Wanted black shocks as well so figured why not try lowering it a bit. That was last summer and the ride sucked. I'm in the process of raising it back up now.

Stock height is 12". I purchased the 412 in 11" and do not like them at all.

I'm going to be going back with a 12" 444.

Like you said, it doesn't even look that different when you are sitting on the bike and to me lowering is not worth the loss in ride quality and comfort.

 

If you like yours now just powder coat them black.

 

Ah that age old question. "How can I make my bike look cool like a bar hopper but ride like a bagger ?" I don't think rubbing is a issue. Keep checking the forums classifieds. U can find them cheap and like new. An at least you won't be out a ton of dough.There easy enough to swap out. You might even find something to ride as good as stock. Which is crappy to start with. HD made a third bake light that goes under the rear fender lip for my GW. That helped. It looked like a motocross bike before. Good luck.

 

Im running black 11.5 444s and really like them. They are slightly firmer than stock but WAY nicer than the 10.5 Burlys I was running previously. They are hand adjustable and I run them two turns up from the softest setting when riding solo ( 200lbs ) and 4-5 turns when riding 2 up ( 370lbs ) They are .5" lower than stock so you get a slightly lowered look without the crappy ride. Im sure they don't perform as well as the higher end shocks but they work well for the type of riding I do.

 

How would you compare the ride and handling of the 11.5" 444's to the stock Harley 12" that came on the bike?

 

On the very lowest setting they are as soft or softer than the stock shocks. The ride feels great but the roads where I live suck and I bottomed out over a couple pot holes. On the second or third setting they are slightly firmer than the stock shocks but they feel good to me. No bottoming, no wallowing in uneven turns, and still comfortable. I played with the settings and found that going 2 up with the shocks turned in 4-5 turns feels about the same as riding solo at 2 turns. The only thing I didn't like about the shock is that there are no clicks to count. Just lines on the shock body. So I dialed the shocks out to the softest setting and marked the adjuster with a light punch mark. Just a little dimple in the plastic. Now I can easily set both shocks the same. Overall I really like the shocks. Like I said, Im quite sure they don't perform as well as longer, higher end performance shocks but they work well for me and the type of riding I do. I didn't buy a Harley so I can rip through the twisties dragging a knee and Im happy with my purchase because the shocks are a nice compromise between looks, comfort, and performance.

 

Thanks for all the info. Just got back from a overnight trip on the bike on some rough and curvey roads. I really like knowing I can lean the bike in the turns with no worries of bottoming or scraping. I'm not sure if .5 inches lower would make a difference but I would not want to go any lower. I have a email into progressive. I will check out all your suggestions.