2 summers ago, I installed a set of Progressive 422s in Reaper (along with a set of Progressive springs up front). They were a VAST improvement over the stock rear shocks, especially considering the stockers had over 80000 miles on them. Still, I felt a lot of hard shock when hitting large bump/potholes, etc... but I figured it was just the nature of the Softail design, so I didn't give it much thought.

Recently, I was looking around for something and came across a few posts/articles relating to setting preload. When I installed the 422s, I left everything at the factory settings. I wanted to retain the stock ride height, and never even thought about preload. From the factory, the preload is set at the softest setting, so pretty much 0 preload. I'm no lightweight (tipping the scale at 220 lbs right now), and I often load her down with luggage and/or my old lady (who weighs in at 110 lbs). Needless to say, when loaded down, the bumps are pretty harsh. So, one of the posts I came across had a list of recommended preload setting based on rider + luggage + passenger weight. Today, I adjusted the preload based on that list, and even going for just a short solo test ride, targetting some big bumps I know of on the highway, I noticed a BIG improvement.

Whoddathunk, hehehe... lesson learned. I'll see how she feels when loaded down and make any necessary adjustments.

Just wanted to share in case anyone else out there has done the same thing I had.

Cheers!

 

glad to hear it. got a set of 422's with the RAP system....love em!

 

I noted a BIG difference in the stock shocks when I adjusted the preload on my 05 Deluxe with 17K miles.

 

Same here, adjusted preload on the oem shocks and its lots better. Still not great, but better.

 

Yep, you need to play with the shocks in order to tweak them to fit the rider's/passenger's needs.

I bet most people would find the OEM shocks acceptable if they only took the time to figure out how to adjust them properly.

Once I figured out how to adjust the OEM shocks I found that the ride was much improved.
Of course I had to adjust them every time I switched from between 1 and 2 up riding.

I finally got tired of crawling under the bike to adjust the shocks so I replaced the OEM with Progressive 422 RAPs.
Now all I do is take 10 seconds and turn a dial every time I switch between 1 and 2 up riding.
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HOW DO YOU ADJUST THE stock shocks, I have a 2008 rocker, i'm 6'2 275 i'm a big dude, I know it needs more preload, I was going to just order up the shock setups, but if I can adjust the stock for now, I can do the more necessary mods I want to do, and do suspension over winter, with opening up engine mods, cams etc...what tool will i need exactly? thanks alot

 

Get the spanner and go for it.
Just remember it's takes some tweaking.

 

Just wondering, did you go with the 422 "HD", or the regular 422's?



I just mounted up some of the HD versions today. Going to start at minimal preload first.

 

I saw a set of brand new Progressive 422 Heavy Duty shocks on Ebay ,dirt cheap, for my 07 Night Train. I emailed Progressive to get their input before buying and they said the Heavy Duty shocks would be overkill for my weight (205 lbs). I ended up getting the standard 422s and noticed the difference right away. In the future if you have any questions ask Progressive ,their customer service is great.

 

Definitely overkill for my weight, solo.
But, 4 times out of 5, I am riding with my wife, and often with gear for a day trip, occassionally for camping.
Just my wife and I without gear is about 300lb.



...but, now you have me curious, I wonder what the spring rates are for regular, and what the rates are for HD, and where their recommendations split the two.