ive done mine before with the bike on the side stand... worse case you would need someone to stand the bike upright. Easiest would be to jack it up just a touch, but its definitely possible without.

 

Isn't that a shoulder bolt. It will be straight when it buts up against the swing arm regardless if the bike is jacked up or not.

 

Ain't that the truth, you would think by the way the OP talked he lived in the Upper Penisula or something.

 

If you leave the bike with all its weight on the ground, when you pull off one shock the other is now taking all the bike's weight and will sag, reducing the distance between the shock mounts. That is why some of us have recommended using a jack, to support the bike's weight, which also provides the means of adjusting the distance between the top and bottom mounts, to match the length of your new shocks.

 

Come to think of it, you might not need to remove the bolt to tell it's bent. Turn the bolt 180 degrees. If it's bent, it'll point in a different direction. However, once you break it free, you gotta remove it to apply Loc-tite, or use some green, penetrating Loc-tite to secure the bolt, again.

 

I was in Oxford, Ms when I was working on the bike. Much colder there. I have since replaced the shock bolts with new ones. Old ones werent bent but Im glad I changed them anyway. Got rid of those damn torx bolts. Plus the piece of mind.

 

Already replaced them but damn good thinking