2020 hardtail
2020 hardtail
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,999
Likes: 916
From: Madisonville, La
Your SG has the short 12" shocks. The setting for the shocks by rider weight and load is in the owners manual. Just turn it down till you find a better setting or upgrade to better shocks. There's a couple hours reading of all the touring shock posts on the forum.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 3,179
Likes: 2,223
From: College Station, TX
Proper adjustment may help, but if you want a better ride you need to upgrade the shocks. Depending on your weight you may need to lower the setting. The 12 inch shocks have very little travel (stroke), which means you hit the travel limit quickly and when that happens it is much like a hard tail with little or no give. And depending on your height, going with a 13 inch shock will add to the travel, or stroke available before you bottom out the shock.
There are many options, but suspension improvements are not an area that you can do well on a budget. Otherwise you are not likely to be satisfied with the result and may be about as well off if you would have stayed with your factory shocks. I'd suggest Legends, Ohilns, ProAction or Progressive, but there are others. But when you start looking into shocks you will find there are options to chose from and if you aren't very knowledgable on the subject, you could benefit from someone who is. Generally, the spring rate on the shocks are standard or Heavy Duty, which may still not be as satisfying as they could be. Some shocks have rebound and damping (compression) adjustments as well as emulsion or gas, including internal or external reservoir. So you might want to study the comments on the Frame/Suspension/Front End in the Tech and Mechanical section for what others have used and who helped them with their setup. Again, height and weight is part of the calculation for selecting the correct suspension components.
Once you get a good set of rear shocks and see how much the ride is improved, you may want to upgrade the front suspension too.
There several people on here commented that Howard at Motorcycle Metal has been very helpful with Ohlins in particular. FuelMoto has been helpful and has great customer service as well.
Paul
There are many options, but suspension improvements are not an area that you can do well on a budget. Otherwise you are not likely to be satisfied with the result and may be about as well off if you would have stayed with your factory shocks. I'd suggest Legends, Ohilns, ProAction or Progressive, but there are others. But when you start looking into shocks you will find there are options to chose from and if you aren't very knowledgable on the subject, you could benefit from someone who is. Generally, the spring rate on the shocks are standard or Heavy Duty, which may still not be as satisfying as they could be. Some shocks have rebound and damping (compression) adjustments as well as emulsion or gas, including internal or external reservoir. So you might want to study the comments on the Frame/Suspension/Front End in the Tech and Mechanical section for what others have used and who helped them with their setup. Again, height and weight is part of the calculation for selecting the correct suspension components.
Once you get a good set of rear shocks and see how much the ride is improved, you may want to upgrade the front suspension too.
There several people on here commented that Howard at Motorcycle Metal has been very helpful with Ohlins in particular. FuelMoto has been helpful and has great customer service as well.
Paul
Last edited by pgreer; May 26, 2021 at 02:16 PM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 8,142
Likes: 9,550
From: central NC
Ive got my 2020 Street Glide set on 2. I weigh 225 and ride solo. Pretty happy with it for now.
Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,926
Likes: 193
From: ohio
Yeah, not a S.G. But i have a Ultra limited, they were on 5 from dealer, when new, thought i was going to have to buy teeth, turned em down to 2.5, much better, gonna try 2 after reading gonemad's post
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 273
Likes: 151
From: Colorado
BTW, I see you're in Spokane...I'm in Davenport.
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BKSinAZ
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