For the 18+ Softails, who has replaced their rear shock absorbers and were you happy with the choice made. I don't have enough miles on the stock equipment to make a judgement but I would like to lower the seating/frame about an inch. HD doesn't go overboard in their quality in selecting shocks. Example was the air shocks like I had in the 2011 touring. Adequate for many, unacceptable for some including me. Different manufacturers of the shocks. HD has their own "upgrade", Ohlins, Progressive are some I familiar with. After much research including this forum, I went with Progressive 940 for my 11 touring. The rear shocks on the 15 touring were adequate for me. I had lowered the Fatboy using HD kit and it was OK also. Rough earthy ride. Girlfriend described it as "graphic". Contributed to interesting evenings. I digress so back to shocks.

My riding isn't a bar hopper, I take trips maybe short, maybe a few hundred miles in a day. I'm not an aggressive twisty type and the riding may go from flat desert or swamp to mountainous. I don't need great but I want good. metes 2 up so need to make some adjustments. I know that "no good deed goes unpunished" and changing shocks can make the ride more harsh, reduce lean angle, etc. My brief research found the HD offering of 3/4" lowing and similar construction. Progressive has their offering and pricy ($650-820+-) but for the Heritage is offered in 4 different lengths with 4 different ride heights. Ohlins has theirs but no different height offerings. NOTE that Ohlins for a Deluxe are .6" shorter than the Heritage12.5 vs 13.1 (13.1 is stock Heritage shock length). Also very pricy $925. I didn't look for any others.

Guess one option is ride it like it is to determine if the stock shocks are suitable for my riding style and wallet. But hearing from some actual fellow experimenters would be very helpful.

 

I will comment on the stock shock both short and long. I have an 18 Low Rider and found the stock short shock to have good damping but not enough travel to avoid harsh bottoming regardless of preload setting. I swapped it out for the long shock from a heritage. Now I have better ride height, ground clearance and no more bottoming except one time when I was going 55 offer my favorite RR crossing! The stock heritage shock has less damping though. The stockers are probably adequate for any normal riding and maybe a little more.

 

I am swapping my sport glide shock with the Ohlins STX46 as I have found the stock shock bottoming out riding two up with luggage. This has much more adjustment and going with a heavier srpring so it will not be on 5 riding two up.

 

This looks like the Ohlins for a 2019 Low Rider and Sport Glide, of course from your dealer of choice.

http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/o...tail-2018-2019

 

I went the other way. I wanted more height, not less, so I went for the 13” Ohlins STX46 which is .5” longer then the stock LR shock. It gave me about an inch and a half more height as well as Ohlins excellent suspension characteristics. Sprung for my weight, great dampening. Couldn’t be happier. Expensive, but worth it IMO. Took a bit of fiddling to get the right preload (not much with the right springs though) and dampening settings but once dialed in, night and day over stock.

I think RaceTech is making a monoshock as well, which can be customized to your specifications more then the Ohlins I believe. Though not much price difference.

Good luck

 

When I google Ohlins STX46, I get nothing like the shocks I linked to in my previous post, can somebody explain this?

 

Here in the US they are called HD 501 to 506

Edit: Allow me to rephrase, "marketed as" HD 50x

 

Reviving an old thread, anyone have experience with the Progressive 465 shock on the Heritage? Did you go 13.1 or 13.5, std or HD spring?

 

The Fox 13.5" "long" shock has been ordered for 2020 Sport Glide. Will the jiffy stand need to be lengthened?

 

The shock shares the extra travel between compression and rebound.

I'm assuming the Heritage and Sport Glide have the same stand. If not, you may need a Heritage jiffy stand.