Finally got the shocks adjusted right and no more bottoming out. But the ride is not near as good as my previous V rod.

Thinking of Progressive 444 . Also the aftermarket dealer suggested another company the custom makes for about $100 more.

I am interested in a smoother ride. Will the 444 improve the ride to a significant degree?

The bike came with 12 shocks . Can I use lower(11 inch) or stick with the 12 inch. Also the customs can be made 11 1/2 or 11 3/4 . Would there be a significant difference from a 11 inch to a 12. Just want a smoother ride( not aggressive rider. but short ).

Would changes in front fork spring be necessary. ?

Would appreciate opinions and help.

Thanks,

Roger

 

What are you looking for? Go shorter for looks and you get less travel and less ground clearance. If you have 12's stick with that or go longer for more cornering clearance and travel. Spend the bucks for really good shocks and you will be rewarded with a much better ride that can be adjusted to your needs.

 

Why do people feel the need to modify a brand new bike... if it wasn't "right" when you bought it, why'd you buy it? People lay out $20K for a bike and then spend, spend, spend trying to make it like their "old" one...

 

or you get the closest to what you want and then modify it the rest of the way.

 

That's exactly how I look a it. No matter the vehicle I am looking to purchase, I am looking into what types of mods are good, and just what I could do to make it my own.

 

This is what I did...nothing is perfect so you get the closest thing to what you need/want then fine tune from there! In my case it was a Fat Bob! The suspension in the rear was way too harsh and bottomed out often! I was damn near riding on the pucks when cranked to 5 on the preload! So I went to a 13" JRI with a full 4" stroke! It is taught but not abusive (as were the stock shocks)! Made a world of difference! Was the best $ spent on this bike!

 

When you ask about shocks it all depends on how much money you want to spend. If your willing to spend the money to get it right, then get some shocks that are built for your weight and riding style. Progressives are basically "one size fits all" type shocks. I'm sure they are a little better then stock but why spend a good chunk of change on a little better. Check out works, ricors, JRI, and olins if you want to do it right.

As far as the front goes...I think you would have a hard time beatings ricor intimidators with amzoil therapy fork oil. It makes the front end feel solid no matter wht surfaces your traveling.

I spent about 800 bucks on the front and back...the bike is night and day difference riding two up or solo. I went with the ricor 12 1/2" sport tuned shocks and the ricor intimidators.

 

My personal experience has not been good with lowering the bike. In fact I down right hate it and that's coming from someone who used to build hard tail triumphs.

Over the winter while blacking out my bike I decided that I would lower the rear with black Progressive 412's and the front with their drop in kit. Both an inch. Let me tell you the ride is absolutely horrible. With the front lowered and heavier oil I feel every little bump and the rear bounces me out of the seat constantly.

I have the standard 412 and started out on the 2nd notch because I was afraid of bottoming out. Well that made it feel almost like a hard tail. I then backed it down to the 1st notch (I'm about 175lbs) and now it feels like I have a little suspension but it still isn't right and feels even less stable at speed. Almost like the shock itself isn't good enough to control the rebound of the spring, on a big bump it still wants to launch me in the air. The thing actually feels the best when I have my girl on the back and put the shocks on 4, the extra weight makes a ton of difference and we don't bounce around near as much.

My conclusion, lowered bikes look cool, but no one can really see the difference that much when you're riding anyway so in my book it's just not worth the sacrifice in comfort, handling, and ride-ability. I read the warnings but didn't think it would be that bad. I use my bike everyday and ride on all types of roads and it was way more enjoyable with the stock suspension.

Honestly I wasn't really that disappointed with the ride of my stock suspension, just figured if I had to buy new shocks to go black I might as well test out lowering as well. At this point I'm looking at going back up to 12in, probably something like the 444's. The hand preload adjustment would be a nice extra as well as my 412's are a pain in the *** to adjust with the spanner wrench.

If you stay stock height I'd just keep the front stock for now and see how you like it. If you end up wanting to stiffen the front up more I'd probably try some heavier oil before spending the money to do anything else. I've heard good things about the Ricor intimidators though. I'll probably keep my progressive drop in since the spring was much beefier than stock and then put a longer spacer to raise it back up an inch.

 

Um, you are referring to a Harley, right? What the hell else do you do with them?

I "lowered" my Street Bob with shorter rear shocks, and hated the change in handling. I ended up going with something half an inch longer than stock, and adjustable beyond just pre-load. There are lots of choices. I'm really happy with Hagon, and their customer service is awesome.

And as others have said here, Ricor Intimidators are a fairly inexpensive, but significant improvement to the front end of a Street Bob.

 

I thought you were going to give Howard a call at motorcycle metal. How did that work out?