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I bought it from a dealer this year with 4500 miles on the odometer. Garage kept, excellent condition. I've owned 5 prior Sportsters, + Softail and a RoadKing, as well as a number of Triumphs, German and Jap bikes.
Here's my issue. Riding around town, it seems to be fine, find the right gear and it's a decent (for HD) ride. BUT the local interstate (65mph) is poured concrete heading North, blacktop heading South. On the Northbound concrete, it is far from a pleasant ride at 65mph. It is better in the blacktop south bound lane.
So here's my question. How do you know when it's time to replace shocks and/or fork springs? What's the "test" if there is one, for determining when to replace. Thanks for your input.
Progressive 444 11.5 inch rear progressive springs in the front you will be happy
add commander lll tires be very happy
add steel braided brake lines be happier
I'll offer some comments
Fork Springs:
Is there excessive sag? In other words, under the bikes weight, do the forks compress more than they use to?
Remove and measure the spring length.
Rear Shocks:
A little more difficult to diagnose IMO.
Remove the springs and manually compress the shock shaft. Is it firm or easy?
The issue I find is that sometimes the shocks need to be warmed up to find an issue, as when cold, the compression may test good.
And obviously no oil leaks, but that is not to say some gas charge may have leaked out with no oil trace.
FWIW, I agree that the Progressive front springs for $100 are a good mod.
The rears, so many say that OE Harley rear shocks are terrible and almost any replacement is a betterment.
Progressive fork springs are a good mod. As for the rear shocks, don’t buy any that are shorter than what came stock, and do not buy ‘heavy duty’ shocks unless you weigh 300+ pounds and regularly carry a passenger…lol. The shorter the shock, the stiffer the spring has to be, and the rougher the ride will be.
Progressive fork springs are a good mod. As for the rear shocks, dont buy any that are shorter than what came stock, and do not buy heavy duty shocks unless you weigh 300+ pounds and regularly carry a passenger lol. The shorter the shock, the stiffer the spring has to be, and the rougher the ride will be.
on a 2012 xl1200c stock rears are 11inch and the standard progressive 444 are for 150lb so 11.5 inch are half longer then stock and most guys are larger then 150lbs
I put progressive 11.5" and progressive front springs on my '04 and it rides nicely. I'm 150 lbs and ride solo. I did shorten the front spring spacers to get about 1-1/2" front preload.
I bought a cheap pair of 12.5" RFY all black piggy back shocks for my Iron 883, they only cost me Ł42 for the pair including shipping, they are totally rebuildable and they perform far better than the stock H-D shocks.
Progressive shocks and a new seat to replace that OEM (if It's still the oem). I installed the Progressive 444's in the rear and a new Saddlemen seat, VERY comfy now. Not cheap but worth every dime, you would be looking at about $500 for the shocks and $400 for the seat.
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New Shocks?
