There is Legend. And another company I found by googln air ride. Can't remember the name but they offered powder coated shocks in addition to the air ride shocks. Also, theirs could be operated with a key chain remote.

 

You're right, so I'll follow your suggestion.

NO, at least, not that I have experienced first hand, nor have I heard anyone who has ridden either of my softails with the shocks say there was anything equally good that they have had first hand experience with, and that has been a fair list of pretty experienced riders/mechanics. In fairness, none of us has seen/experienced every product on the market. Nobody I have shown the system to had ever heard of it before.



Now, if I may, I'd like to give an honest statement from my point of view in regards to good vs. good enough.

Like a lot of people, cost was a factor. My mod budget isn't huge, and I mostly fund my projects with overtime or selling artwork or such things. I got my Slim, and just never was comfortable, even after moving controls forward. It came down to either fix the suspension, or fix the bars. Factoring cost for the entire project either way, it came out fairly close in cost. My back and butt were killing me after a couple hundred miles, and I wanted to die after three hundred. Either option was kind of a gamble - worked, or I was out a good amount of cash. After reading about the system, and studying how it actually works (thanks, JAM, for the write-up), I opted to go for the shotguns. I'm a bigger guy, tall, and I ride hard on all kinds of road surfaces and conditions. The versatility and adjustability of the system was appealing. When I got it installed and took it out the first couple of times, I was, honestly, underwhelmed. I didn't have it set correctly, and it took me a little bit to get it dialed in for me. Now, I have a good understanding of how the system works, and how I can leverage it to my benefit. Would I be happy going back to anything else/less? Nope. Honestly, if the shocks hadn't made the difference they did, I may not have been able to keep the bike - it just wouldn't have been suitable for me. I still want to do the bar swap, but I can ride it as is with the stock bars and stock seat for another hundred miles now, which puts a LOT more stuff in my range. I will make adjustments to the ride on the fly, from time to time, and don't often dump the system for the slammed look. I do generally have mine set between stock height and an inch lowered.

It was a huge deal for us when J.D. gave us a second system last Thanksgiving - I won his giveaway, and, making good on my promise in that entry, the shock was installed on my wife's Lo. She rides like a demon - aggressive, fast, no fear, no regrets, no apologies. She's also pretty small. To her, the Lo was already a very comfortable bike STOCK. Again, there's a learning curve to running these things, and we're different enough in size and weight (7 inches taller and over twice her weight) that I could not set the thing up for her. Like me, she was underwhelmed at first, even wondering if she liked it at all... but then it clicked, and she had it set right. Would she go back to anything else? No. Was it as much a revolutionary change for her as it was for me? Honestly, no. Would it still have been worth the investment? For as much and as hard as she rides, yes, but would have been harder to justify. It's just the truth. If you were to ask her if she'd recommend the product, she'd say yes. She also thinks it makes a more drastic difference on the Slim than it does on the Lo. She will make occasional adjustments to the system, and usually only when stopped. She generally has it set about a half inch lowered to an inch lowered. She never dumps her system, unless she is showing someone who asks about it how it works.

Neither of us can comment on readjusting the system for 2-up riding, as both are set up permanently as solo bikes with very little storage on the Lo, and NO storage on the Slim.

To sum it up, for me, the Shotguns on my Softail were the only answer - nothing else would do the trick at any price point. I couldn't be certain of that going in, but in hindsight, absolutely the truth. For my wife, the Shotguns were a really, really nice upgrade that, now that she has experience with, would "very likely" purchase if it were within her mods budget, and would wait until funds were there before going with anything else. I'd love to put a set on my Road King, but I very rarely ride that bike, and I'm not certain it will remain in the stable if work doesn't pick up. For me, the stock system on the bagger is adjustable enough and comfortable enough for the bit I use it that I won't be upgrading it with anything at all.

Hopefully that lengthy reply was somewhat useful, without too much rustle of pom poms.

 

Thanks, good info!
Can you explain how you got to the point where it was adjusted correctly and clicked for you?

 

It's all in saddle time and experimentation. Learning curve is much lessened with JAM's write-up about how the system works, and I *STRONGLY* urge anyone who is considering the system or is learning how to use it to read it.

Honestly, at first, I wasn't adding enough upward force, and I was really getting hammered with bumps. Then, I think I was just trying to adjust it too soft, with too much rebound. I was getting a bouncy ride, or still bottoming out a bit. After that, I just raised it up as far and as hard as it would go, slamming it UP instead of down, to see the extremes. I just started playing with it, taking it around a short loop where I knew where the bumps and grooves were, and dialed it in there. Then I found a different loop with different conditions - hillier, windier roads - and saw what ride height differences made. It's not hard to make small adjustments on the fly, actually. If you can reach up and adjust your glasses, give someone "the wave", or (assuming you mount the switches in the stock position) reach down and touch your horn for 15-20 seconds, you're golden.

For my wife, we kind of put it where we thought it would be close, and then I just asked her from stop to stop what she thought, and coached her until she got it where she liked it. Then we took it out of that (dumped the air) and started again until she could do it on her own, knowing what she was trying to get. She got better at dialing it in faster.

In truth, once it's set, we don't mess with it too much unless conditions really change. I do if I start getting stiff, changing the ride height changes the angle my waist is bent at, and the pressure on my tailbone and hips, and probably my shoulders, too. It's THIS particular flexibility that really made the difference for me. Other systems, I could have adjusted for a good one-setting suspension, but the ability to make on the fly changes, even small ones, is where the system rises above.

 

I have Lengend Air L3 and I love it. I could have gone either way. Both, SS and Legend Air make great shocks.

 

I agree with you Ragnar, I did the same when learning how to use the shock.

 

Just don't go flipping switches as you're rolling down the road after you first get it on or you may end up with your fender insides riding on your rear tire.

At least it rubbed the liner down so it doesn't rub when it's fully slammed anymore.

 

I'd not heard of this option until now - quite surprised that they're the same or a little more expensive than the SS.

 

Are there a lot of problems with the SS? All you hear about is the great customer service, which is awesome, but you would never know about the customer service if there wasn't many problems other than installation issues.

 

I only had one small issue with mine, one of the micro switches was broken.
One call and an entire new harness (not just the switch) was on my doorstep in 24 hours...

I think most calls to CS are questions rather than problems...
The instructions are basic, and only for installation.
There's not much in them about operation...