I was thinkin about lowering the *** end of my nightrain a bit. trying to decide how much without destroying the ride, how easy is it? what kinda kit should I roll with? any good advice? I'm not wantin to go spend two grand on an kit, but there must be some that are decent.

 

"IF" I lower mine I will use the Burnout Cycles lowering kit for $99.00. It installs without taking the shocks apart. A lot of guys on here use it and like it. My concern is that I weigh about 230, and don't really want to rattle my teeth or damage the bike anytime I hit a bump. Not to mention riding 2up. I am still undecided.

 

The Pro....your bike will look really, really cool.

The Con....the ride suffers but isn't horrid. Depends on your tolerance.

I split the difference and converted to an air ride....best of both worlds.

 

Actually, an even more significant impact, in my opinion anyway, is that you lose ground clearance and probably need to be more careful around corners or when riding two-up (as Warg mentioned). I suppose it depends on the model, but my buddy lowered his '04 Fat Boy and now has to go quite a bit slower around turns and curves than I do on our runs.

Roger

 

I'm considering lowering my 07 Fat Boy. I'm installing forward controls so I'm hoping that will help the bottoming out problem. I'm 250 and do ride 2 up once in a while, but I'm not really excited about bottoming out.....ever. The last guy's story about a fatal accident doing that has got me worried.

 

I'mordering the progressive 422 shocks for my NT tonight

 

well i lowered my 02 with the burnout kit. i have a combined weight 0f 360. i turned the pre-load on the shocks 2 1/2 turns and have had no bottoming out issues at all while riding 2-up.
i do however have to be more carefull when i turn. i have hit my floor boards and pipes while turning but u will only do this once or twice, as u learn quickly what the new limits are. i did this back in early spring and i haven't scraped it over 3 months.

for me its worth being carefull and going slower while turning, not because of how cool it looks now.thats a given,but b/c i'm only 5'6" and it needed to be lowered. i believe i lowered it 1.5"
hope this helps.

 

I just got my Progressive 422 today from Phatperformance and installed them. I adjusted them to lower my bike 1" from stock. I left the preload where it was from the factory (lightest setting)

I went out for a short solo ride about 40 miles , some freeway (65 - 75mph) and some canyons. The bike seems to handle much better, the shocks seem to be better dampened, My stock shocks seemed to have more 'spring" to them the 422 seem to have more hydralic reaction to the bumps or when you sit on the bike and bounce it feels better.

I think the overall quaility of the shock is much better than the stock shocks. Easy install and I can adjust back to stock or as much as 2" lower.

Its more money but I think you are improving not only the look but the ride by changing the shocks to a better aftermarket shock like Progressive or Works.

 

I just put the Arlen Ness 1.5" lowering kit on my new Custom. 1.5" doesn't sound like a lot, but it made a huge difference in the look of the bike. It looks so much better now. Also, I'm a pretty short guy (5'6") so the bike needed to be lowered some for me so I could get my feet planted better. I haven't noticed any change at all in ride comfort. There also wasn't any noticable change in comfort or handling while riding two-up. The only thing that needed to be done after lowering the bike was change the bolts that hold on my license plate. The bolts stuck out the back of the plate kinda far and probably would have rubbed the tire if I hit a good size bump or rode two-up. Shorter bolts were added and everything is great now. I'm happy with that mod.

 

My '01 Fatboy was lowered 2" in the rear and 1" in the front when I got it. It cornered horribly and wallowed around the turns (bobbing up & down) dragging boards and pipes. I checked the preload first it was at the loosest setting. Cranked it up to the max, it cornered better but still dragged. Started messing with the rear ride height raised it back up about an inch, cornered better but still dragged. Raised it back to stock, better again. Rebuilt the front end back to stock height better again, almost never drags. Suspensionis much better at absorbing bumps too. My Fatcat rides really low anyway so the extra clearance is necessary. I can pretty much keep up with my buddy's Goldwing though the twisties now. You may want to look at how low the pipes are slung before lowering. My take on lowering is a lowered bike looks pretty nice sitting on the curb but they handle like crap.