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Aging out and going "Dirty Air" rear shocks

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Old Mar 24, 2026 | 06:52 AM
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Red face Aging out and going "Dirty Air" rear shocks

Well I've been real happy for quite some time with suspension upgrades I did to my 2020 SGS where the first thing I did was replace the 12" oem pogo sticks with a set of properly sprung for my weight 13" rear shocks and then addressed the front suspension with Suspension Technologies fork emulator/cartridges and she rode sweet but life is changing quick for me and while I'm a vertically challenged 5'7"s I'm also coming up on 68 years old in a couple months and getting my leg over the bike has become so challenging that lately?...I've taken to getting on the bike from the right side however?...I tore a hamstring recently where while I can get on from the right side?...I hafta pretty much turn my spine into a question mark to dismount on the left side dragging my hamstrung leg off the bike while trying my best to not ding my saddlebag speaker grills so to make life a little easier on me?...I'm going with Dirty Air (fast up kit) Rear Shocks so that I can raise and then lower the bike to make dismounting more doable.

I normally do rear shock swap outs myself but not this time (I'm just in too bad a shape to include a tore up right shoulder from a workplace injury that forced my retirement) so I'm using a local shop my other decrepit riding buds use to do the install as they are also going to wire in a console mounted factory oem toggle switch for up/down control of the dirty air rear shocks and while I know air shocks can give a real comfy ride once dialed in?...I hope they don't screw up he handling too badly. Fingers crossed, wish me luck...doing all I can to stay off the trike I'll never buy! LOL!

 

Last edited by JINKSTER; Mar 24, 2026 at 06:55 AM.
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Old Mar 24, 2026 | 10:05 PM
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I considered going to air shocks on my bike, just for something to do different and did some research. Have you looked into the legends air a shocks? Theyre actually adjustable for rebound. Id be hard pressed to believe dirty air shocks come set up perfectly and i wouldnt need any adjustability.
 
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Old Mar 25, 2026 | 05:36 AM
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Originally Posted by Jshopes
I considered going to air shocks on my bike, just for something to do different and did some research. Have you looked into the legends air a shocks? Theyre actually adjustable for rebound. Id be hard pressed to believe dirty air shocks come set up perfectly and i wouldnt need any adjustability.
No shocks (air or otherwise) come setup perfectly. they all require dialing in but to answer your question, no I hadn't looked into legends until now with you bringing them to my attention and I wouldn't have because I've had a couple riding buds who had leaking issues with their conventional shocks and one even suffered the same twice with his replacements leaking as well so among my circle of riders we began calling them "Legends Leakers"....now that was back when they first hit the scene so I'm sure they must've addressed their leaking issues by now or they probably wouldn't still be in business that said?....both dirty air and legends do the same thing where adjust on-the-fly is concerned where a press of the console mounted toggle switch can adjust for one-up or two-up riding but I just noticed dirty air does it for close to 1/2 the cost of legends.

As far as rebound damping goes on air shocks?...that sounds like some KOTB bait feature too me because I might think that 200-400lbs of laden sag human flesh piled on top of a 900lb (static sag) bike is plenty of rebound damping! LOL But Dirty air is no better there because they offer insanely priced gimmick features as well to include a "Coil-over Air Shocks" kit where the irony of it all is?...HD used to put air shocks on their CVO line back in the day and adjustability?...came by way of an included hand pump with a pressure gauge where just like the dirty air or legends air shocks?...the "perfectly setup" thing comes by way of finding the sweet spot via psi. To note?....I have a small circle of riding buds and 3 of them have been riding dirty air for a couple years now with no issues and when the going gets frisky?....they don't seem to have any issues at all keeping pace but the air shocks experience will be new to me.
 
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Old Mar 25, 2026 | 06:13 AM
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I've been using Legends Revo A's on my bikes since 2022 and have 40k miles on one set and 15k on another set. No leaks or issues yet, lifetime warranty so i will probably send them back to be rebuilt at 50k miles. They absolutely shine if you ride 2 up but if you want to lower your bike probably not the answer. Glad to see you're still riding,
Originally Posted by JINKSTER
No shocks (air or otherwise) come setup perfectly. they all require dialing in but to answer your question, no I hadn't looked into legends until now with you bringing them to my attention and I wouldn't have because I've had a couple riding buds who had leaking issues with their conventional shocks and one even suffered the same twice with his replacements leaking as well so among my circle of riders we began calling them "Legends Leakers"....now that was back when they first hit the scene so I'm sure they must've addressed their leaking issues by now or they probably wouldn't still be in business that said?....both dirty air and legends do the same thing where adjust on-the-fly is concerned where a press of the console mounted toggle switch can adjust for one-up or two-up riding but I just noticed dirty air does it for close to 1/2 the cost of legends.

As far as rebound damping goes on air shocks?...that sounds like some KOTB bait feature too me because I might think that 200-400lbs of laden sag human flesh piled on top of a 900lb (static sag) bike is plenty of rebound damping! LOL But Dirty air is no better there because they offer insanely priced gimmick features as well to include a "Coil-over Air Shocks" kit where the irony of it all is?...HD used to put air shocks on their CVO line back in the day and adjustability?...came by way of an included hand pump with a pressure gauge where just like the dirty air or legends air shocks?...the "perfectly setup" thing comes by way of finding the sweet spot via psi. To note?....I have a small circle of riding buds and 3 of them have been riding dirty air for a couple years now with no issues and when the going gets frisky?....they don't seem to have any issues at all keeping pace but the air shocks experience will be new to me.
 
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Old Mar 25, 2026 | 08:59 AM
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Have you looked at SuperShox?

I had a pair when they first offered their Harley line of shocks back in 2013ish...

I recently bought another pair for my 2020 Street Glide. They have added several models since I first used them.

They offer taller shocks, with good stroke, but use a proprietary shock relocation mount that allows for a lower seat height. My wife doesn't notice the difference between the ride on my '16 Ultra Classic w/Ohlins and the '20 Street Glide w/SuperSox....

Brian is the first shock manufacturer I am aware of, that has offered a proprietary shock relocation mount AND sets up the shocks differently for the OEM mount or relocation mount.

Just food for thought...
 

Last edited by hattitude; Mar 25, 2026 at 09:01 AM.
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Old Mar 25, 2026 | 09:11 AM
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Originally Posted by hattitude
Have you looked at SuperShox?

I had a pair when they first offered their Harley line of shocks back in 2013ish...

I recently bought another pair for my 2020 Street Glide. They have added several models since I first used them.

They offer taller shocks, with good stroke, but use a proprietary shock relocation mount that allows for a lower seat height. My wife doesn't notice the difference between the ride on my '16 Ultra Classic w/Ohlins and the '20 Street Glide w/SuperSox....

Brian is the first shock manufacturer I am aware of, that has offered a proprietary shock relocation mount AND sets up the shocks differently for the OEM mount or relocation mount.

Just food for thought...
Thanks for the response hattitude as your words are well respected and yes...supershox was a top runner against rwd's rs2 shocks back when I folded like a cheap suit and was seduced by the black friday sale price of $275 for my prog 412's which alone were heads and tails over the oem pogo stix but I read much on supershox and how they're CS was awesome in shipping custom tuned shocks.

Now I'm seduced by 2-3"s of drop at the press of a button for $1,600 installed! LOL!
 
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Old Apr 6, 2026 | 11:09 PM
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UPDATE: Well it's been a week and about 300 miles since swapping out my 13" 90/130 Progressive 412 shocks for the Dirty Air Fast Up kit and here's my impressions...

First I have to admit that I thought I never owned a bike with air shocks but then I remembered I did...an '89 Goldwing I bought brand new that came with pretty much what I now have on my SGS which is an onboard compressor with push button adjustable air shocks and for some reason?...(having forgot about the Goldwing)...I thought the Dirty Air system would wind up making my SGS feeling a bit on the spongy side with vague feedback as compared to my well sprung Progressive shocks but I'm happy to report that my thoughts couldn't of been more wrong and the results are the polar opposite of what I thought they would be.

The Dirty Air shocks are tighter feeling in pretty much any position I adjust them to at the press of a button on my console and together with my Suspension Technologies front fork cartridges?...the suspension feels great whether it be slow speed maneuvers or leaning into a sweeper?...it feels very planted and confidence inspiring with no lack of feedback or absorption of surface irregularities.

For bonus points I realized that there's bonus effects regarding my windscreen and seat height where if I'm just straight line cruising the interstate I can drop the rear and enjoy being seated deeper behind the windscreen and if the road gets a little snakey?...I can jack her up and enjoy greater lean angles via increased ground clearance then of course?...there's the ability to adjust from one up to two up suspension at the press of a button.

I'm almost 68 years old so this is not a honeymoon review, this is a..."I wish I would of done this the day I bought the bike" discovery.

I'm very pleased.

 
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Old Apr 7, 2026 | 07:16 AM
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Good for you.

Thanks for the review, it's very interesting.
 
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Old Apr 7, 2026 | 09:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Cosmic Razorback
Good for you.

Thanks for the review, it's very interesting.
You're very welcome and yeah...it shocked me! (see what I did there?) LOL but no kidding...I guess the overall weight of an 875lb bike with a 200lb rider on top can make properly adjusted air shocks feel like Ohlins LOL
 
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Old Apr 7, 2026 | 06:24 PM
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Did you do the steel or aluminum shocks? I have been a dealer of there’s for years now installed over 100 kits and can tell you the ride difference is very noticeable. They spent a lot of time on valving and rebound settings on the aluminum shocks
 
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