Checked on the shocks today and was told they are on back order. I started thinking about going with something else but then the guy at the shop called his supplier and was told they were going to be delivered today.

I then went riding kind of far just to clear my head. I got off the interstate and before I got a speed limit sign I see blue lights coming at me from behind. I pulled over and waited for the cop to arrive. He gave me a ticket for doing 63 in a 55. When I gave him my insurance registration and license, I could not find my state inspection sticker so he wrote me a ticket for it as well.

Shortly after I decided to head home and I had to switch to reserve a lot sooner than I normally would. I took the next exit off the interstate but neither direction looked very promising for gas, so I chose the one that at looked a little better. I then saw a state trooper on the side of the road so I pulled over and asked him where I could get gas. I was going the right direction but it would be 6 miles before I would reach it, but luckily I made it. There was some funny stuff that happened with the state trooper and he became concerned that I might be hiding a weapon and I ended up with my hands in the air needlessly because I was worried that I might get shot. It was cool and we both laughed afterwards. He was nice and just doing his job protecting himself.

As I continued home the bike was riding like crap until it got to the point where it was making a clanking noise while going over bumps. When I got home I found that the shock that was not leaking was now disconnected on the front end. I don't know if the bolt came out or if it broke. In other words I made the return trip back of almost 200 miles with one shock disconnected and other severely leaking. No wonder it rode worse than a rigid and my back, legs, wrists, and shoulders are in severe pain and I feel like I have been thoroughly flogged.

I can't wait to get the new shocks on. Today thoroughly sucked.

Oh, and I go back to work Friday and there is a strong possibility that I will be fired then.

 

63 in a 55!?!?!? What did you do, swear at the trooper? Congratulations on maybe getting fired too. I mean that, after the last few weeks at work I'm sometimes silently hoping they axe me... big dreams I know.

Lemme know about the shocks when you get a hundred or so miles.

Tom

 

I was very nice to the cop and he was nice to me. I guess they are just really strict there. The speeding ticket is $75 and the ticket for no state inspection is $135.

I looked under the bike today and the bolt holding the forward mounting eye if the right shock is severed, with the majority of the bolt still in the frame. That's going to require an easy out to get out before the new shocks can be mounted.

 

That sounds like it is going to be a PITA to get out.

I had to fix a friends softail that had the same problem but it was on the swing arm side.
One thing I noticed was that the after market bolts are just a hair longer than the OEM ones and that the aftermarket ones wouldn't tighten down all the way on the shock.
Make sure you either get the OEM bolts or add an additional washer to solve that problem.

 

Thanks for the tip. I am going to drop the bike off at the shop tomorrow and discuss it with him.

 

Well I didn't get fired.

I picked my bike up Saturday. It took them three hours total including dealing with the broken bolt.

I have not had a chance to ride since I worked all weekend and have been on call for the last three nights in a row.

Just loading and unloading it out of my trailer it feels much better than it ever has before. I think I am going to be able to ride tomorrow night, and will report my findings.

 

Before you ride anywhere reach under your bike and see if you can spin the washer on your shock bolts by hand.
If you can then another broken bolt is right around the corner.

 

Thanks for the tip. I will check it tonight. Neither sets of progressive 422's lasted very long so I hope these last longer, especially since they were eight hundred bucks. Didn't want the complexity and problems of an air suspension.

 

I can't blame you.
Neither do I!!!!!!

 

You're not cheering me up very much. I've worn out two sets of the Progressive 413 Softail shocks, and had to switch to the 422 last year as the 413 is discontinued. I got 60,000-70,000 out of each set of 413s. I have about 8,000 miles on my 422s and they're holding up fine so far, but your troubles are not giving me any confidence.