Might be meeting over at Patriot...I live in Woodbridge and work in the city. But that would be great to be able to test ride it real quick.

 

That can be done. Drop me a PM with your email address and I'll let you know when the bike is back.

 

If you still want to keep the bike 2" lower check out this thread. https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...or-rocker.html

In the thread they are discussing the heartland conversion; however, many of them did use progressive 422's when lowering their bike. The heartland kit comes with a smaller bumpstop so that the bike will have a little more suspension travel. Might be worth looking into. good luck.

 

If you had them adjusted to the lowest level that is about 2.5 inch lower than stock. You dont have munc h room for travel so you are probably bottoming out , either adjust the preload but you will still have a rough ride since there is little suspension travel or go back up a little.

As I posted before I have my bike set 1.5 lower than stock and it rides much better than at stock height with the stock HD shocks.

 

CPBIW is right IMO.. I have a Rocker with the Heartland kit.. I initially installed the shocks and slammed the bike before I put the kit on.. Lowered 2" I was riding on the stock bump stop and it brought back memories of my rigid.. I mean it hurt.. Then i dug into the Heartland kit and found a much smaller bump stop.. Pulled it all apart in order to install the new stop and that made all the difference in the world.. Now I have the kit installed with the short stop and love the ride other than bottoming out a little too often... I might take it back up an inch.. As someone else said I found the stock front suspension combined with the Progressive 422's gives a strange feel.. I think I'm going to do the Progressive drop-ins in order to firm things up and feel more equal..

 

smaller bump stop...?................you got to be getting close to hitting your oil tank with the swing arm then

 

For what it's worth, I've got Progressives on my Sportster with the standard spring and when I hit bumps, the thing feels hard as a brick. I've also have the preload in the lightest position. Not really a big fan of Progressive's for this reason and probably wouldn't use them again. On the other hand, the bike does handle better but since I'm not on a race track, I'd much rather have the soft stock Harley spring and be comfortable rather then the stiff as a board Progressives. Hope you get the "feel" you're looking for in your bike again....

 

"this is from an old post"

Don’t get me wrong the Progressive shock company makes one of the best quality products out there, no question.
And this is not to bash them.
They are not a shock upgrade depending on the desired outcome, they are designed to be stiff.



I see a lot of chat & recommendations about progressive shocks but I wonder if every body knows what progressive wound shocks are all about? And how they react in BUMPY corners.

Anybody know what Progressive & Linear means when we talk about shocks?


And I know that almost every High performance part has the warning that they are for “track use only” or may not be legal in some states, blah blah blah.

But does any body know how “progressive” wound springs react over bumps in corners or in a skid or god forbid all 3?

You should before you spend big bucks on shocks.

It seems a lot of people buy Progressive shocks without knowing, that the name implies the type of winding & what different shock windings do.
Or at least my friends do.

You must take into consideration spring diameter, tolerances & windings when setting up a new suspension. Also keep in mind the difference the compressed shock under weight or the “bound”, and the shocks ability to extend or “rebound”.
Also important to most of us in the 1st place is ride height.


Linear springs are stock in most HDs and have a constant shape to the winding.
They are mostly comfy & cushy if long enough & balanced. The key word is “long enough” or as we see it ride height. This is why Electra glides ride so soft.

Progressive spring windings are wide on one end and close together on the other.
They are by nature a lot stiffer if not long enough (for us at least because most HD progressive shocks are shorter to lower our bikes & that’s the problem)

Shorter & progressive wound means a lot stiffer.

Not a problem if you are heavy or ride 2up a lot.

But for light weight riders it can make your bike feel like a hard tail.

If you lower your bike you will need a heavier spring /bound weight to avoid bottoming out.

Since HDs have a limited range of travel, sometimes after lowering a bike you can simply adjust the shock with a spanner wrench to increase the bound weight & reduce the un-sprung mass
(On Softail’s this will also ride stiffer but will maintain even spring rate & bike control.

In short;

Linear springs are constant. The weight travels from front to back & side to side and most important shock to shock smoothly & consistently.

It is easier for a rider to predict the rate of linear springs & there fore handle bumpy cornering emergencies a lot easier. I said bumpy!!!

Progressive wound springs increase rate as they compress or “bind”.

“Progressive” wound springs transfer force a lot more un-evenly from shock to shock in a bumpy corner than linear springs. Witch requires a lot more skill to maneuver & get used to in an emergency.

But who has time to get use to uneven spring rate in a bumpy corner in an emergency?

That is why progressive wound springs belong MOSTLY on the track. Where there are no bumps.

Progressive wound springs will also give you the most traction vs. power transfer loss in acceleration.


Just an example
Look at the current dirt bikes they have no ride height issues, they now have one huge (long)
Progressive shock, if they had 2 they would be all over the place.

Before you bash me to much you progressive lovers, take note of how many times I said “mostly” to c.m.a

Of course this will not pertain to all but “most” ha ha ha…

Just wanted every one to know because

Most dealers/suppliers will sell us anything without pointing out the dangers or benefits.

So I will go as far as to say if you never plan on encountering a bumpy corner or never going to have to react in an emergency in one, go ahead and put progressive wound springs on.

and yes this goes for front shocks to.
lot of people love them, but Progressive is not just the name, its the type of spring, thats all i'm sayin

 

I got the bike into the shop today. I drove the car to bring the parts (wheels, tires and associated goodies). The shop owner saw the pain I was in and sent one of his guys back with me to ride the bike to the shop. I think this indy is going to be real good.

After taking care of that, I went to the emergency room. I could barely walk. I ended up with percocet, valium and naproxen which I have to take for the next few days. The bike will be in the shop at least through the weekend so the timing is perfect.

The shop says they can take care of the shocks and get them adjusted right. They agreed with many of the comments here that the 422s are fine shocks and they must be misadjusted. I'm excited about getting over the back pain and getting back on a bike that isn't going to cripple me.

Thanks for all the comments. This visit to the shop will mark the end of the upgrades for this riding season. I'll be posting pictures when done. Between rides, I'll be plotting out the upgrades for next year.

 

i just installed 422's on my bike. i haven't adjusted them yet, but i think i read in the instructions that they come set at max compression and you have to adjust from there. you probably just need to have them loosened up a bit,

good luck