Evening!

Have a 14 RK and am trying to get it about 1.5-2" lower. As I understand it the stock shocks are 13"? Questions are, has anyone here modified theirs and how low did you go with it? I was considering air ride but I've heard mixed reviews. As far as my current mods, I've listed them below.

-Appreciate the imput.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2014 ROAD KING
-Rhinehart True Dual Exhaust
-4" Extended Bags
-Rear Fender 7" Extension
-A/M Fairing with Sony MEX Head Unit and 4-5.25" Inifinty Kappas & 2 6X9 JBL Competition series speakers mounted in hard bags with 2 CH JBL Amp.
-10 " Touring Apes with modified Grips
-Super Sucker Air Intake
-23" 80 Spoke with wrap around fender.

 

the streetglide uses 12" shocks- alot of guys use those-

you are dealing with trade offs, all lowered bikes will have reduced cornering ability

MOST will have reduced suspension travel- so that expansion joint on the concrete freeway has to be damped in a shorter distance ( travel) and in less time- which equals a harsher ride.

stock 13" shocks have 2.75" travel, the 12's have 1.75"

you can also try lowering blocks which cost about $30 on ebay- these get mixed reviews- I found better ride quality using these with 13" vs 12 shocks.


bikes without alot of front end suspension also may risk smacking the top of the fender into the triple tree- which makes a nice dent.

so trade offs- many find that 1" is acceptable, depends how much you ride- bar hopping where 45 minutes is a long ride- or touring or canyon carving...a lowered bike won;t do so well in the canyons.

Mike

 

Outstanding Info Mike.

Thx

 

BTW welcome to the forums!

There are plenty threads on suspension mods- alot of guys use ohlins stock and modified by Howard at motorcycle metal- if you are looking for real custom that may be worth a call- also look at the bolt on rear drop seat by FBI

https://fatbaggers.com/fbi-drop-seat-frame-kit-14-up-fl

 

There are two popular reasons for lowering a bike, looks or improved footing, which are you after? We have other things you can do to improve your footing, including modified or replacement seat

 

For footing. I'm 6'1" and even with my A/M low profile seat I'm still barely able to get the btms of my feet flat when sitting.

 

Welcome from NC and to HDF.

I originally had the HD Profile Lows when I bought me King, which got it lowered an inch all around. I also had the OEM seat mod to lower another 1 1/2". I've since changed to better suspension for a much improved ride and handling and keeping the same lowering, but that would be the way to go. I'm 5'6" and this setup gets me flatfooted.

With your stretched bags and duals, lowering might be scraping in the canyons, as mkguitar mentioned.

As your name suggests, I grew up in Redondo Bch in my younger days, so I'm also familiar with those canyons.

 

You're six inches taller than me! Frankly I suggest you do nothing, you'll get more comfortable and confident after a few miles. I can only put my toes down on both my Glide and Firebolt. By all means buy some sturdy thick soled riding boots, to give you a good purchase, plus a little extra lift.

 

Appreciate that. It's not about confidence though. It's about the ride. I came from a Heritage that sat lower and my legs were stretched out. So I guess in that way you're right. Maybe take a lil more time to get used to it.

 

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As Mike stated above,i went from 13" to 12" stock type rear air shocks on my 09 flhtcu & the loss of 1" travel made the bike bottom out more and ride harder/ more harsh just like he said.

I removed the stock type 12" rear airshocks and re-installed stock type 13" airshocks with 1" lowering blocks.

Post doing that most of the bottom out stopped and ride improved being a bit less harsh too.

I recently changed the oil in the rear shocks to 10w shock oil (not fork oil) which improved the ride making it a bit less harsh with better dampening too.

Changing the oil in rear shocks to 10w shock oil also allowed me to reduce air pressure approx 30-35psi with no bottoming out vs prior to changing the shock oil which stopped the back breaking hit the rear suspension used produce when going over a bad pot hole or lrg swell or irregularity thats all but gone now.

I also lowered front suspension using progressives 1" lowering spring kit & 10wt fork oil (stock is supposedly 5wt) which worked out well with not bottoming out etc,but as Mike stated lowering more like 1.5-2" could result in bottoming out of front suspension.

But even with 10wt oil the forks were still a bit mushy with fair amount of dive when braking so i changed for SE hvy wt /15wt for oil which reduced fork dive a lot when braking & helped handling too.

I have approx 1,500 miles on bike with all the above changes and it handles and rides significantly better then it did along with the rear the shocks now being more compliant / less harsh & back breaking ride wise due to oil the change to 10wt shock oil allowing me to now run 30-35psi less air without bottoming out & no issues related to the 1" lowering blocks too.

But the front forks are a bit firmer then i'd like with se hvy wt /15w fork oil and will changing that to a 50 / 50 mix of Se hvy wt (15w) & HD (" E "/10w ?) fork oil .

I figure doing that should get the front suspension in a nice sweet spot where they aren't as mushy as they used to be with 10w oil while at the same time not being as firm/harsh as they are right not with Se HVY DTY 15w oil in them that makes the forks actually hop/skip over moderate to larger road irregularities along with a pretty hard hit thru the bars to my hands & arms the same time.

As funds allow (hopefully in the not so distant future) i plan is to try Ohlins when funds allow,but for now post doing the easy not expensive suspension work/mods i stated above which has improved ride comfort & handling enough to satisfy me for now.

Scott