want to put higher and stronger shocks on my sportster 1200to carry me and the wife very heavey people my shocks at moment are 13 1/2" hole centers was told big twin shock will do but hope they are taller or stronger

 

The OEM touring shocks are 13". There are some aftermarket shocks (some very good ones) that are over the 13"...... as for stronger, I wouldn't get an OEM touring shock in your place. There are many, including shorter length, aftermarket shocks where the preload springs can be changed to accommodate higher weights...

I would suggest you do a search here (touring section) on "shocks", you will get pages & pages of posts. Do some reading and most of your questions will be answered...

 

My grown daughter and I put about 390 lbs on the seat, with the tailbag, somewhere over 400lbs (I'm the majority of that). With Road King airshocks at 10 psi (and lighter than stock oil in them), the bike handled fine in the Black Hills this summer and rode way more comfortable than stock sportster shocks. That's one of the nice things about air shocks, you can increase the air pressure for more weight or a softer ride. If you go the cheaper, used air shock route, I used 9 oz of 10 weight in each shock, two spacers on each end of the shocks for clearance (the shock bolts are plenty long enough for that), and drained the old oil out by putting one shock at a time on the bike upside down and just pushing down on the seat a few times, blew it all out real quick (use a tube to direct the oil, will spray on the wheel otherwise). Putting new oil in isn't hard, just very tedious and slow, needs patience more than skill.

 

Terry, hi from close by and welcome to HDF! There are endless threads all around HDF about replacing shocks, you could spend forever reading just the Sportster ones!

Starting with the basics, shocks have just two jobs to do: first is to support the weight of the bike and passengers; second is to iron out the worst of the bumps and thumps along the way. The first of those is dealt with by the springs, the second by the dampers. In telling us that the two of you are both heavy, you immediately identify that for decent results the two of you need a pair of shocks with suitably strong springs. Properly adjusted they will hold you both up, so you get plenty of travel to keep you off the bump-stops. Stock Harley shocks are most unlikely to be suitable, as you may already have found out. To control your weight and provide decent ride quality the dampers need to be good quality.

Can Touring air shocks do that? Not so in my opinion - they may be fine for solo Sportster riders, but I can assure you they are poor for solo Touring riders - and awful for 2-up Touring riders! They are actually shorter than your current shocks as well. Don't be so concerned by overall shock length, as with suitable strength springs and decent dampers you will be fine. It's a common misconception that longer shocks are better, which is not so - better quality shocks are better!

There is a wide variety of options for shocks, but in your circumstances you are likely to find most if not all the cheap ones are not man enough. Personally I suggest you contact Hagon - they are British old chap and you can talk to them, even visit, for help and advice.In essence they do two models and I suggest their Nitro model. They have adjustable damping and springs, also Hagon will supply them with suitably strong springs from new. To be honest their website isn't up to much, so don't dwell on it for too long - pick up the phone and talk to a human or email.

Hope that helps!

 

Not all of us have such an accomplished apprentice....

 

very helpfull and yes i will ring hagon i did look at there site and as you said ill ring thanks again.

 

They changed their site a couple of years ago. The previous site wasn't much to shout about either, but at least it gave more details of their products. They essentially make two types of shocks, a basic one which they supply with suitable springs matched to your weight (one good reason for calling them), but is available with a wide variety of colours, covers, etc. The other is more basic in appearance, but has all the bells and whistles for adjustment, plus better dampers. Without wishing to be rude about your combined weight, I suggest they should give you much better results. I have the cheaper model on my Sportster, but only ever ride it solo.

Be warned that with better shocks you may find the forks wanting! But that's another story.....

 

 

Welcome to the forum.

Check out this report we did, prior to testing various different shocks.

REPORT LINK

This report will be helpful when deciding which direction you should go.