Change Shocks
Road Captain
Joined: Dec 2005
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RE: Change Shocks
ORIGINAL: GliderXXX
UGGA...how would you compare the ride with the 440's vs stock. I'm assuming the height of the bike remained the same as stock? Thanks
UGGA...how would you compare the ride with the 440's vs stock. I'm assuming the height of the bike remained the same as stock? Thanks
Your assumption is correct - I swapped the stock 12" shocks for 12" 440's. The ride is much improved. One area of dramatic improvement is when I ride over freeway expansion joints. Those joints gave me quite a jolt with the stock shocks, no matter what air pressure setting I used. With the 440's those jolts have been 90% eliminated. They are not completely gone, but almost. Rebound damping on the 440's is also vastly improved over the stock air shocks. The rebound dampening is not adjustable, but the factory setting from Progressive seems spot on to me.
I almost wish that I had gotten 12.5" 440's instead of the 12". That extra 1/2" of travel (25% more) would likely have given me the ultimate smooth ride. I do a lot of long distance touring, so I tend to put a greater emphasis on comfort than most riders. The ride on my bike, though considerably improved, is still not quite as smooth as I would like. I certainly took a large step in the right direction though.
Bottom line - the 12" 440's are definitely better than stock, but more travel would be better still. Hope this helps.
Doug
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,282
Likes: 52
From: DFW
RE: Change Shocks
ORIGINAL: UGGA
Glider,
Your assumption is correct - I swapped the stock 12" shocks for 12" 440's. The ride is much improved. One area of dramatic improvement is when I ride over freeway expansion joints. Those joints gave me quite a jolt with the stock shocks, no matter what air pressure setting I used. With the 440's those jolts have been 90% eliminated. They are not completely gone, but almost. Rebound damping on the 440's is also vastly improved over the stock air shocks. The rebound dampening is not adjustable, but the factory setting from Progressive seems spot on to me.
I almost wish that I had gotten 12.5" 440's instead of the 12". That extra 1/2" of travel (25% more) would likely have given me the ultimate smooth ride. I do a lot of long distance touring, so I tend to put a greater emphasis on comfort than most riders. The ride on my bike, though considerably improved, is still not quite as smooth as I would like. I certainly took a large step in the right direction though.
Bottom line - the 12" 440's are definitely better than stock, but more travel would be better still. Hope this helps.
Doug
ORIGINAL: GliderXXX
UGGA...how would you compare the ride with the 440's vs stock. I'm assuming the height of the bike remained the same as stock? Thanks
UGGA...how would you compare the ride with the 440's vs stock. I'm assuming the height of the bike remained the same as stock? Thanks
Your assumption is correct - I swapped the stock 12" shocks for 12" 440's. The ride is much improved. One area of dramatic improvement is when I ride over freeway expansion joints. Those joints gave me quite a jolt with the stock shocks, no matter what air pressure setting I used. With the 440's those jolts have been 90% eliminated. They are not completely gone, but almost. Rebound damping on the 440's is also vastly improved over the stock air shocks. The rebound dampening is not adjustable, but the factory setting from Progressive seems spot on to me.
I almost wish that I had gotten 12.5" 440's instead of the 12". That extra 1/2" of travel (25% more) would likely have given me the ultimate smooth ride. I do a lot of long distance touring, so I tend to put a greater emphasis on comfort than most riders. The ride on my bike, though considerably improved, is still not quite as smooth as I would like. I certainly took a large step in the right direction though.
Bottom line - the 12" 440's are definitely better than stock, but more travel would be better still. Hope this helps.
Doug
Road Captain
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 678
Likes: 1
From:
RE: Change Shocks
ORIGINAL: GliderXXX
Doug...I'm thinking 12.5 is the ticket. I'm going to order them after I do my due diligence for best pricing. I can't imagine that .5" would make any visual change but I could be wrong. What do you think? I know a couple who've gone 13" standard Ultra shocks and love them, but that is moving too far the other way in terms of height.
ORIGINAL: UGGA
Glider,
Your assumption is correct - I swapped the stock 12" shocks for 12" 440's. The ride is much improved. One area of dramatic improvement is when I ride over freeway expansion joints. Those joints gave me quite a jolt with the stock shocks, no matter what air pressure setting I used. With the 440's those jolts have been 90% eliminated. They are not completely gone, but almost. Rebound damping on the 440's is also vastly improved over the stock air shocks. The rebound dampening is not adjustable, but the factory setting from Progressive seems spot on to me.
I almost wish that I had gotten 12.5" 440's instead of the 12". That extra 1/2" of travel (25% more) would likely have given me the ultimate smooth ride. I do a lot of long distance touring, so I tend to put a greater emphasis on comfort than most riders. The ride on my bike, though considerably improved, is still not quite as smooth as I would like. I certainly took a large step in the right direction though.
Bottom line - the 12" 440's are definitely better than stock, but more travel would be better still. Hope this helps.
Doug
ORIGINAL: GliderXXX
UGGA...how would you compare the ride with the 440's vs stock. I'm assuming the height of the bike remained the same as stock? Thanks
UGGA...how would you compare the ride with the 440's vs stock. I'm assuming the height of the bike remained the same as stock? Thanks
Your assumption is correct - I swapped the stock 12" shocks for 12" 440's. The ride is much improved. One area of dramatic improvement is when I ride over freeway expansion joints. Those joints gave me quite a jolt with the stock shocks, no matter what air pressure setting I used. With the 440's those jolts have been 90% eliminated. They are not completely gone, but almost. Rebound damping on the 440's is also vastly improved over the stock air shocks. The rebound dampening is not adjustable, but the factory setting from Progressive seems spot on to me.
I almost wish that I had gotten 12.5" 440's instead of the 12". That extra 1/2" of travel (25% more) would likely have given me the ultimate smooth ride. I do a lot of long distance touring, so I tend to put a greater emphasis on comfort than most riders. The ride on my bike, though considerably improved, is still not quite as smooth as I would like. I certainly took a large step in the right direction though.
Bottom line - the 12" 440's are definitely better than stock, but more travel would be better still. Hope this helps.
Doug
I agree with you 100%. I also wish that I had the 12.5". I think that the visual impact of an extra 1/2" height would be negligible, but the improvement in ride quality would be substantial. If seat height isn't an issue, go with the 12.5".
Doug
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