I am looking at some progressive 412 shocks to improve the handling of my Street Bob. They come in several lengths. I assume that the longer ones are the ones that I should be looking at for increased cornering clearance or doesn't it work that way. The longest ones that I see are 12-1/2". Also, they come in black & chrome. I'm thinking that black would look better on a Street Bob.

 

12" is stock. Don't expect much improvement over factory with 412s.

 

If you like the style, the 412 also comes in a covered version (ie with no spring showing).

 

I thought that 412s were a significant improvement. I guess not in your opinion. So what shock would you get? Or more generally what would you do (w/o going crazy and rebuilding the bike)?

 

Put 1/2" longer 430's on Wife's 08 FXDL; great improvement. I'm putting stock length 412's with full covers on my FXDF; factory shocks are done...poor rebound dampening. Had 412's before on another bike. Definitely an improvement over 10 year old stockers.

 

I replaced factory shocks with about 4K miles on them with 412s. It was 6 years ago, so my memory may be a little fuzzy but i don't remember noticing a significant improvement. I'm still running them though.

 

I replaced the stock setup with 412s and progressive springs up front (and played with fork oil) at the same time, and was very pleased with the overall result. IMO, the 412s were a significant improvement over stock, BUT that's not saying much, because stock (both front and back) are (again IMO) really bad, even dangerous.

I think that the 412s and prog fork springs are what the bike should have at least come out with as stock parts. Not great, but good enough.

There are plenty of better shocks than 412s (it just depends how deep your wallet is really), but for the money, they are a worthwhile improvement over the stock junk.
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I've been running the covered 412HD at 1/2 shorter than stock, for several years. Nice and firm, good road feel.

 

 

Dumb question - is the length of the shock measured WITH LOAD or WITHOUT? Like, do you measure it when they're mounted on the bike, or when they are off, at rest? I'm just trying to find out the length my shocks are currently at, so I can replace them with the 412s.