Why would they wear out faster on a dyna than a bagger?

 

I'm not saying they wear out faster on a Dyna. I'm only speaking for the two bikes (one a bagger) that I have experience with that were using air shocks. Again, the shocks work great when they work. When the shocks failed, they didn't gradually wear out. It was like flicking a switch and they were unrideable. In both cases the shocks had low mileage on them.

To put it in perspective, my stock Dyna shocks did their job for approximately 10k miles. At that point the ride started to deteriorate gradually. There was no real safety issue. I changed shocks for ride quality. I switched to Progressive 412’s. in stock 12” length. The ride was way better on smooth roads but they reacted harshly/improperly to multiple road irregularities. I pulled them off and sent them back to Progressive Suspension. They said the compression valving was off and they rebuilt them under warrantee. While the Progressives were being repaired, I tried the air shocks and kept them on for about 8k miles. I even sold the Progressives when they came back because I was sold on the air shocks. When the air shocks completely failed on me basically over night, I bought another set of Progressive 412’s but in the 12.6” length. These were readily available and at a great price and I was in a hurry. So far it’s been about 3k miles and this pair works well.

Again, this is just my experience. I’m not trying to scare you off the air shocks. I’m just telling you my story with them.

Ron