I do Love the look of the bike lowered also ....

 

you may be surprised on how much difference some thick soled boots will make. From personal experience of 35+ years of riding you don't have to be flat footed but it can save your ***, your foot is less apt to slip when stopping (oil & pea gravel., sand, etc...) & pushing your bike around while seated.

You could always buy the new road queen... lol

 

If i were to get a touring bike it would be the Street Glide ..

 

Longer shocks generally have more travel, true. However, if you combine them with lowering blocks, you may just lose that extra travel again.

The extra travel will now be at a steeper angle. The actual rear wheel travel may not be much (or any) more; it may even be less.

If you can find a longer shock with enough travel to achieve what you want; you may have other problems. The only way to get more suspension movement while keeping the seat height the same is for compression of the suspension to put the wheel further into the fender. As others have said: this isn't a great idea.

The short travel of the 11" shocks is intentional: it's necessary to prevent clearance problems. It's possible to make an 11" shock with quite a bit more travel; just not safe in this application.

If you're not convinced, and still want to try it: check first:

1. Establish the eye to eye measurment between the shock mounting points at which the rear tyre starts rubbing the fender (or the wiring), or anything hard hits. To do this take both shocks off (with the bike and rear wheel properly supported, obviously) then raise the rear wheel, checking continuously.
   .
2. Then try your shock / lowering block combo on one side only (nothing on the other side). This is so that when you sit on the bike, your weight is enough to compress the suspension to full compression. Get a friend to measure the shock eye to eye length at this point.

Unless 'b' is significantly more than 'a', you're going to have problems.

 

Don't listen to the guys complaining of the geometry changing with blocks. They are not engineers and it does not affect the travel or performance. The issue on shock travel is true though. A 13" shock will have more travel. If you use blocks, it will still want to travel the same and you don't have that room any more. It will bottom out. It will probably be fine solo riding, but you can forget about 2-up. I put the 1.75" blocks on my 13.6" shocks. I have had no problems solo with the shocks set on 4 or 5 and I am 270 lbs. 2-up can be done, but I have had to relocate my wiring and bottom out occasionally. I guess if you and your 2-up passenger are under 300 lbs. You might be ok. I took mine off. I prefer to take the preload down a notch to have a better ride and no bottoming out.

 

Ah, but it does affect the travel. The shock moves the same amount, but the wheel moves less. Say you have a 12½" shock with, for example, 2½" of travel in the shock. That shock is at an angle of, maybe, 30° to the vertical. The 2½" of travel in the shock translates into about 2.15" of vertical movement of the rear wheel.

Now put on a 1¾" lowering block. The shock is now at an angle of around 44° to the vertical, and the vertical movement of the rear wheel is then reduced to about 1.81".

Compared to a shorter shock without lowering brackets, that's both good and bad. The seat is about the same height as with 11" shocks and no lowering brackets. The 11" shock may have a travel of only 1.36" (1.11" vertically). So, you have 0.7" more vertical travel of the wheel (good). OTOH, the wheel is going 0.7" further up into the fender, and maybe hitting stuff (bad).

The example travel figures are taken from Progressives technical spec sheets. These days they limit the travel of their 11" shocks specifically to reduce clearance problems. Looking back at the spec sheets for a few years ago, 11" shocks typically had a travel of 1.9" or more (note: this is more than the 12½" shock with the lowering brackets).

 

Maybe save up and get legands air shocks ? can raise and lowere the bike 3" on the fly
any thoughts on comfort on legands air shocks ?

 

I am looking at a set of lowering blocks. With them changing the angle of the shocks, do they do any damage? Screw up the suspension? Give a stiffer, bumpier ride?


Other than lowering the bike, do they give any benefit or take anything away?

 

Some of us are engineers.

I still wouldn't use lowering locks, but it's a Harley, not a race bike. I didn't say you couldn't, shouldn't, or won't. As mentioned, changing the suspension components and geometry will have an effect on the ride and travel, but you may not notice it depending on how you ride and your experience level. It's your ride, so do as you please. Most lowering blocks have an area that contact the swingarm and may rub the paint, so if you ever remove them they may leave behind a small mark or two if looks are a concern. Enjoy the ride!

 

I'd first buy the thicker soled boots, then do what I could to lower the seat height. After that I'd get the longest shocks that I could touch flat footed with and try to stay with at least 12" shocks, the more length the better. It takes travel to get a smooth ride, there is no way around it. Sure, a poorly suspended bike with 12.5" shocks might ride worse than a dialed in set of premium 11.5" shocks, but if both are of equal quality, the longer ones are far more forgiving, compliant, comfortable and way better handling.

I went with 13.5" Ricors, but I thought that Ohlins were twice the price. I recall Mud switching from Ohlins to Ricors at one time and preferring the Ricors, I don't know what he has now, but they are both very close.

Personally, if the price were the same, I'd look at the Ohlins. On the other hand, I'd also look at Ricor's site and check out their Baja buggy racing video. The way their inertia suspension handles the whoops is phenomenal and is what sold me on their products. I really think that they know what they're doing.