Ohlins will always out perform stock shocks. Are they worth the money? If you value your ride that much absolutely. The fact of the matter is that stock shocks pretty much suck on every bike. You never realize this until you change them out. Howard is a great vendor and I'd give him the business.

 

No offence was intended. Perhaps it lost something in translation!

I wasn't being serious, just observing that $375 is not a lot for decent shocks.

I wouldn't thank you for a set of Progressives, of any sort, but I would for a pair of Ohlins.

"wise and all-knowing"? Thanks for the compliment, but you obviously don't know me very well.

 

It's not my comfort I have in mind when considering new shocks, but the butt behind! When my wife gets off smiling and gives me a big hug at the end of a ride, then I will know I have decent rear shocks!

 

the paint was a joke he made by saying he was going to customize my shocks to match the rest of my build.

>>> Pharoah's brand new 2010 SG bike is Flat Black in color as he had it completely disassembled and powder coated along with some X-Factor front cartridges to mimic the ride quality of the rear. I sent Pharoah a very large file (jpeg photo) and on the Rustoleum can with the red arrow pointing to it was FLAT BLACK. THe brush is what I use with Muriatic acid for heavy rust removal. I thought the brush would be a nice touch for precision paint work.

 

Statement 1
>>>If your respondents previously had 440's and the response was positive for Ohlins it would be quite the testimonial and hard for me to resist.

If you buy whatever makes no difference to me providing your are truly happy with your decision. I purchased every 13 1/4" long Ohlins in the world and I suspect the stock will not last as long as the time needed for Ohlins to makes more.

There are several members here who have already posted on the difference between the Progressive 440 V/S lesser quality shocks along with several side by side reviews with Ohlins. The lesser quality shock (other than Ohlins and Penske) severely out performed the Progressive 440. I believe that you might have done some investigation prior to making a very regrettable purchasing choice. Several postings here on the subject who have owned a set of Progressive 440 shocks and are reviewed by our members with the findings quoted as; about equal, less than, better than or the greatest thing I have ever rode. I suspect the last comment was from a person who just started riding.

If we could have fast forward to this post from when you purchased your Progressive shocks:
* First of all you did good as Progressive raised their list price another $100. It cost more for the new shock than previously you purchased.
* If you would have invested your $375 into the price of our quality lifetime product, you would have only needed to buy them once. During your life you would be enjoying your bike in place of hurting every night when you get off your bike.
* There is a "Equipment For Sale" part to this HD Forums great site. You could find someone here looking for a bargain and has not read the more than 100 posts of members giving their own experiences on Ohlins shocks (for the purpose of helping our members make a more informed and the best buying choice). Think about it; Here at HDF we have the most members and IMO the best members overall than all of the other HD chat sites combined. That's just me thinking.
* Remember, it is all up the the shock builder, the one who does the research to find out what components works with what bike, riding style, and weight of load. Just because it says a name on the outside, it is up the builder to know what they are doing. I have found shocks are like women, one size does not fit all and the looks wear off very quickly, that is if you want either one around for more than one day.

 

I received and installed my 13ź" Ohlins #2's yesterday but couldn't take a ride because of inclement weather. Today I got to take it out for a quick 15-mile priminary test-ride and here are some early observations compared to the 12˝" Progressive 440's I had on the bike previously.

The first thing I noticed in the first few hundred feet is that you don't even feel small bumps, the ride on average pavement being as if you're on glass. They smooth out medium bumps very well and it feels like the wheel is tracking the uneven surfaces better, which is a characteristic of a competent shock that translates into a better ride. I didn't see any truly big bumps to put to the test on this quick ride, so that impression will have to wait.

I did quickly notice better rebound control, which in itself isn't saying much since the Progressives have no rebound control at all. That leads to less tossing into the air and the difference is noticeable. I'll report back on ride and handling as I get more experience under my belt with these shocks, but this quick ride showed me quite a bit of improvement with no downside that I can report at this time.

If you want to retain or gain the slammed look of a lowered suspension you should perhaps look at the 12" variety of the same shock, the #1's or one of the #3's, although I don't know how these might compare in terms of ride quality. Compared to the 12˝" Progressives the Ohlins 13ź" do jack the rear of the bike up noticeably, but not enough to be a concern for me. I would guess the riding height is very similar to a stock 13" air shock. I can still flat-foot the bike at stops with my 30-31" inseam and the elevated rear allows me to see over the windshield a bit better, which for my situation is an improvement. I also noticed much less tendency to scrape on corners, which would be expected from the increased height. I'm much more interested in ride, handling, and control than I am the cosmetic appeal of a slammed rear end, but YMMV.

I sold my Progressives for $300 to a Sporty rider (same as I paid for them two years ago) and paid Howard $516 for these Ohlins. Based on this early impression I think I did pretty damn well for myself, and since new 440's cost about the same as the discounted Ohlins I think the choice is a no-brainer. Ohlins apparently has no factory shock that's earmarked for HD touring bikes and Howard is adapting Sportster Ohlins for use on these bikes. Since this seems to have been done successfully it can only be a good thing for FLH owners.

 

Howard built me some PENSKE's....i still love em 25k later and NEVER hafta fool with them, EVER

 

Thats great news ICLICK...

 

Nice preliminary review iClick.

I know it has been a while since you rode on stock air shocks, but how do the Ohlins perform over them?

 

It's been over two years, but I rode with the stockers (12" on my SG) for six months and found them impossible to adjust for a comfortable ride without severe bottoming. IMO they were unacceptable for any serious riding, especially touring on roads of varying quality, and on a few occasions they really jarred my back with a force I'd rather not experience again. I've heard the '09 and later 12" shocks were recalibrated and were an improvement, but I can't say since I've never experienced them first-hand.

The 440's were an overall improvement, especially with their less-frequent bottoming, and when they did bottom-out they did so with much less harshness. Based on my quick ride today the Ohlins have the Progressives beat by a substantial margin, so you can figure from that the stockers are several tiers down the ladder in my order of preference. In all fairness, both the Progressives and stockers had substantially shorter strokes, so the comparison really isn't being done on a level playing field. For example a 12" stocker won't perform as well as a 13" stocker, and the same would undoubtedly go for the 12˝" I had over a 13" 440.

Someone on one of these Ohlins threads mentioned that he tried the 12" #2's and sent them back for 13ź", so that's just one more testimonial for the longer-is-better theory.