I have ran stock shocks , Progressive 940's , Ricor and back in July I ordered the Ohlins #3-#3 from Howard , first Howard was extremely helpful before and after the sale and I followed his set up and break in instructions , after getting some miles on the shocks I set my sag , Howard suggested 1/3 the total stroke of the shock , these shocks have a 77mm stroke so 1/3 would be 25.67mm , I set the sag at 25mm and began riding and adjusting the compression sweep valve , after riding and adjusting I found the best setting for me , if I went softer it was loose and stiffer it was a little hard , this setting was great and easily gave me the smoothest ride I ever had , next I added my wife , reset my sag at 25mm and rode and adjusted , when I got this dialed in I added the tour pak , loaded it down and repeated everything , I now had my 3 setting and I was happy , the wife happy the ride was great could not be happier , like I posted some where before we went away for 3 day no tour pak ride ,just the wife and me and belongings in the saddle bag , I was lazy and did not reset my sag but did adjust the sweep valve to my 2up setting , over the 3 day ride as good as the ride was before it was even better , like riding on air , I never knew the ride could be this good , when we got home I checked the sag and it was 27mm , today I put the sweep valve at my 1up rider setting and set the sag to 27mm instead of 25mm , I rode all day and 1up it was smooth beyond words , I never thought 2mm of sag could mean so much , the Ohlins at 25mm ride twice as good as any shock I've used , at 27mm words cannot describe the difference , THANKS Howard and I'm still learning and adjusting , ride safe

 

Congrats Tim on investing in a legitimate suspension upgrade so badly needed on all touring HDs. I went with Ohlins from Howard a while back and the ride is indescribable. I have the #6 Ohlins. I went through the set-up process as you described. Learned that the spring pre-load was the most important of all. Then set the compression and rebound damping to a nice setting. I don't touch them, even when riding two-up. They perform great either way.

Upgrading the rear suspension with the best shocks in the world unfortunately exposes the front suspension as the piece of junk that it is. I know Howard is working on a front-end product, and may be prototyping it as we speak. I plan a front end suspension upgrade once he has a verified kit available.

 

tj..can you include some photos on how you adjust settings..i do plan to get a set of ohlins but looking for more details on how to make adjustments...i have never seen any ohlins in my area...i think the 6's is what im interested in for my 2011 SG....but hdforums talk more about the 3-3

 

I Ordered my 3-3's last night. Looking forward to experiencing what everyone has been talking about.

 

Here are some copies from my owners manual , on the #3-#3 you can adjust the length from 12 3/3" - 13 9/64" , you adjust the spring preload at the top by simply screwing the adjuster down or backing it off and last you adjust the compression by turning the sweep valve at the bottom , this info tells you what each does , the #6's are the top line and have a remote reservoir for the gas , these you cannot adjust the length but you can adjust the spring preload , they have a compression sweep valve adjuster as well as a rebound adjuster , Lowcountry Joe would be better than I to comment on them as these are the model he bought

 

I don't see anywhere that you adjust the compression damping at the bottom, only the rebound. Not that the compression damping is really necessary to be adjusted as only the rebound damping is affected by spring preload(sag) changes, but is there somewhere else that the comp damping is adjusted?

 

no it is rebound damping you adjust on the #3-#3 , I stated it wrong , the #6 have compression and rebound adjusters

 

I'm probably going do this as a present to myself this Christmas. I know I need to study up but which Ohlins give you a ride height about the same as the stock shocks? I don't really want to raise the bike. I have short legs.

 

my 1st choice would be #3-#1 , second choice #2-#2A