Lowering
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Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 748
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From: Chesterfield, Va...from SC
Lowering
Im 215lbs...if i lower a bike in the rear, is it gonna kill the ride, will i bottom the suspension out?
I like the way it looks but i dont want to turn it into just a bar hopper!!
I like the way it looks but i dont want to turn it into just a bar hopper!!
R.I.P. BROTHER
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,076
Likes: 6
From: Colorado Springs
Depends how low ya' go and what you use to go low...
Lets face the harsh facts. Lowering a softail is gonna take away travel. Taking away travel is gonna put you at some risk of bottoming the bike.
I have mine lowered 2"....I'm 230 and ride aggressively. Do I bottom it out sometimes? Yup! Does it ride horribly? Nope. Its actually pretty smooth after lots of trial and error finding just the right spot in the stroke to set my lowering bolts.
Dont be Skeered. Drop that *** high off road ready Enduro edition Bones Bro and get closer to the road!!
Lets face the harsh facts. Lowering a softail is gonna take away travel. Taking away travel is gonna put you at some risk of bottoming the bike.
I have mine lowered 2"....I'm 230 and ride aggressively. Do I bottom it out sometimes? Yup! Does it ride horribly? Nope. Its actually pretty smooth after lots of trial and error finding just the right spot in the stroke to set my lowering bolts.
Dont be Skeered. Drop that *** high off road ready Enduro edition Bones Bro and get closer to the road!!
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 748
Likes: 0
From: Chesterfield, Va...from SC
Depends how low ya' go and what you use to go low...
Lets face the harsh facts. Lowering a softail is gonna take away travel. Taking away travel is gonna put you at some risk of bottoming the bike.
I have mine lowered 2"....I'm 230 and ride aggressively. Do I bottom it out sometimes? Yup! Does it ride horribly? Nope. Its actually pretty smooth after lots of trial and error finding just the right spot in the stroke to set my lowering bolts.
Dont be Skeered. Drop that *** high off road ready Enduro edition Bones Bro and get closer to the road!!
Lets face the harsh facts. Lowering a softail is gonna take away travel. Taking away travel is gonna put you at some risk of bottoming the bike.
I have mine lowered 2"....I'm 230 and ride aggressively. Do I bottom it out sometimes? Yup! Does it ride horribly? Nope. Its actually pretty smooth after lots of trial and error finding just the right spot in the stroke to set my lowering bolts.
Dont be Skeered. Drop that *** high off road ready Enduro edition Bones Bro and get closer to the road!!
Did u use the lowering "bolts" or did u get the low profile shocks?
Ive heard the shock kit keep almost factory ride and no bottomin out....
R.I.P. BROTHER
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,076
Likes: 6
From: Colorado Springs
And I will argue til' I'm blue in the face that a slammed progressive shock adjusted to drop you 2" isnt any different than the OEM shock with bolts.
Spend that extra shock money on some motor mods. A guy who claims his progressive shocks ride night and day better at -2" compared to a set of OEM's dropped -2 is just arguing to justify the moolah they spent.
You hate my pipe?
I like it cuz it has mega clearence and you dont see them on every other bike that rolls by. You should really get on as well...I can hook you up on a deal. LOL.
Since you hate that pipe so much Smokey? Here a nice big taste of it for ya!!
And my old short shot pipes during the "Glam Boi Era"...
And then the big shots staggereds...
See where I've been Smokey? Hence I needed to tone it down a bit. I have shined in the past...Now I dont.
Last edited by Chazmanian; Sep 9, 2009 at 05:16 PM.
Road Master
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,016
Likes: 1
From: Front Royal, VA
I just had my rear raised back up. I was killing my back and couldn't take it any more. I'm using the Progressive 422s. I plan to play with it a bit more and try to get things just right - but for now I think I'll just heal a while. I'm about 300 lbs and I cried like a baby every time I saw a crease in the road.
R.I.P. BROTHER
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,076
Likes: 6
From: Colorado Springs
I like the way KK tells it like it is. 422's are not a magic recipe for lowered Softail nirvana. They ride just as rough as the stockers unless they are set up close to stock ride height.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 2,856
Likes: 127
From: Middle of Kansas
What am I missing? If you use the lowering bolts to lower your bike, the shock travel is still the same. Why would it bottom out more? Thanks for any and all responces.
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,755
Likes: 12
From: Commerce, Mich.
The Shock trave might be the same, BUT the swingaRM TRAVEL won't be.
I recently lowered the wifes Deluxe with the bolts, and the ride was for crap. She hated even thesmallest crack in the road and she is only 135 lbs.. I had lowered it to make for a better reach for her when standing, so she could be flat footed. Its now back up where it belongs and the ride is smooth as silk. I narrowed the seat pan, and streched the foam and cover to give her the reach she needed with her legs.
R.I.P. BROTHER
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,076
Likes: 6
From: Colorado Springs
When you adjust the bolts out or make them longer that lowers a softail. So in essence you are pushing the swingarm its compressed position.By doing this you are losing the factory's amount of travel designed into the bike. I think a stock softail may have I'll guess say 4" of travel before it bottoms out?
Now put a set of bolts on the shocks that push the swingarm up into its stroke 2" and what are you left with? 2" of travel from the original factory designed 4"? That 2" of remaining travel makes bottoming the bike over big bumps and or potholes a reality.
Its not so much the actual shock travel as it is swingarm travel.....There isnt that much to begin with. Now cut it in half?
Now put a set of bolts on the shocks that push the swingarm up into its stroke 2" and what are you left with? 2" of travel from the original factory designed 4"? That 2" of remaining travel makes bottoming the bike over big bumps and or potholes a reality.
Its not so much the actual shock travel as it is swingarm travel.....There isnt that much to begin with. Now cut it in half?
Road Master
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,016
Likes: 1
From: Front Royal, VA
There is a rubber bumper that I think is what the swing arm bottoms (or tops) out into. I seem to remember reading somewhere that this can be removed to give a little more space. It seems to be about 2" thick when I saw it. Not something I've tried yet but I'm keeping it in mind.
I guess it is all like a big lever. A few inches of swing at the axel translates into a much smaller movement of the shock. It must be a hell of a lot of force though.
I guess it is all like a big lever. A few inches of swing at the axel translates into a much smaller movement of the shock. It must be a hell of a lot of force though.