Sorry about the long post, but some background info is needed:

I'm 230-250 depending on time of year. When my wife, tour pack and bags are loaded, figure another 200-275. For sure on the higher end of the spectrum, but it is what it is. My '05 BMW K1200GT rode awesome solo or two-up. A simple single shock with hydraulic preload and a rebound adjuster.

After four Harleys ('04 FLHRS, '10 FLHX, '11 FXDB, '13 FLTRX), and no less that six different attempts at getting the right shocks for the application, I'm at a loss. I have yet to find a set of shocks that ride great with me solo, and also with my bags loaded and wife on the back.

Both the Ricor Intiminators and the Harley Premium Ride cartridge kit work well up front, however I think single-rate springs could be an improvement. If I had to pick one, I think the Ricor's get the nod. The only drawback is that they make the front ride higher in the travel, and there's a clunk going into driveways and over small bumps.

For the rear, I've tried 12" HD shocks, 13" shocks (both pre-09 and post-09 part numbers), 13" HD Premium Ride shocks (caused some weird torsional suspension flex), 13" Ricor shocks, 13" Ohlins, and Legends 13" air ride. I've set preload, sag, dampening, etc. over and over and have not found a good combo.

Riding solo the Ohlins and Ricors were awesome. Two-up the Ricors were horrible, way underdamped. Plus the spring rate wasn't quite enough for the change in weight.

The Ohlins were undersprung, although the dampening seemed to be adjustable enough to overcome a stiffer spring rate.

The Legends air ride has 1/2 the equation down. The air spring is awesome. 70psi is perfect for me solo, 100psi with the wife, and 105-110 when fully loaded down. Bike never bottoms out, and the ride is decent. We never get punted out of the seat any more over big dips or concrete transitions on our wonderful California roads.

The dampening is super stiff, feels like molasses in the shocks when riding solo. The only time the dampening feels good solo is pushing hard through corners on fun roads like Highway 9, 84, Pescadero road, etc. Basically pushing my bagger like a sport-tourer on twisty roads. That's only 1/3 or my riding however, so I'm looking for more compliance.

It does not appear that I can have the Legends revalved, which is a bummer.

Finally, for my question- How big of a weight difference can a coil-over shock setup compensate for? No shock vendor has ever told me what delta the springs will cover. Is it an additional 100lb load, 150lb load, etc? Most say it's a compromise between loaded and unloaded, and that's why they ask for a percentage of two-up and solo so they can determine the best compromise.

I'm tempted to try some Terry Cable shocks. He uses spring rate and position-sensitive valving that acts like a hydraulic bump-stop on a desert racing rig. Might be a good solution for my fat a** lol. He advertises that his shocks do not need adjustment between solo and two-up.

Here are a couple of pics, just cause...

 

tripple rate spring setup sounds like what you need, Works shocks used to have them for motocross atvs, I do not know if they make shocks for baggers though.
Maybe Howard from Motorcycle Metal can do a triple rate spring setup.

 

I went with Terry Cable for my 2012 FLHX. Once I got the preload correct for two up it's been perfect whether it's rough roads or speed bumps. Their customer service is pretty good too.
Cheers!

 

It sounds like you prefer spending lots of money over cheap trial and error, but if I were you, I would try a set of progressive 412 with the heavy spring, and while you're at it, give up on a perfect ride with lowered shocks. I ran a set of 414's and at the Lowest preload, it was fine both solo and 2 up.

progressive may not be 'the shock of the week' but they work good and are reasonably priced.

 

I've ran Progressive 940's , Ricor , Ohlins #3-#3 and JRi B's , I've been able to get a great ride out of the Ohlin's and JRi's solo , 2up and 2up tour pak loaded , I have a FLTRX also and ride it solo (I'm 245 lbs.) , when I go 2up (wife is 130 lbs.) I stiffen my sweep valve 2 clicks stiffer and it is fine , when I add the tour pak and load it down I go 1 more cliff stiffer and the ride is great , both the Ohlin's and JRi's have 77mm stroke and my sag is set at 1" , I never adjust it just the sweep valve

 

13" JRI "B" shocks have a 92mm stroke.

 

To get the best of both works you're going to have to go to an externally adjustable shock. Howard at Motorcycle Metal sounds like the guy you need to talk to. You will probably have to go to a external reservoir setup to get all the functionality you want.

 

I definitely do NOT like to spend a lot of money. I started out with the cheapest option, with 13" HD shocks, and worked my way up. HD premiums, Ricors, etc.

I just don't understand why Harleys ride like crap stock. I think Harley missed the boat with the 2009 frame redesign. They had an opportunity to add another inch or two to overall suspension travel but elected not to. Jump on a BMW or a Victory and the suspension is so much better. Stock. All I'm trying to do is get a decent ride both with and without a passenger.

Yeah. I've talked to Howard, and bought Ohlins from him. I don't need to speak with him at this time. He'll just tell me to read up on the forum (he has before, so I know what to expect). I need to call him only when I've decided exactly what I want, if I even want to try another set of Ohlins or JRI's.

What I'm looking for is input from end-users. People who have had similar experiences. And I want to know what I can expect from a coil-over shock setup. How big of a load delta can a proper setup handle?

So far I've spent almost $2000 on HD Premium rides, Ricors and Ohlins (not to mention the others I've tried). None have been good for both two-up and solo. The best compromise so far has been the Legends setup. But its just barely better than the others.

 

Can you compare your JRI's to a BMW RT or GT? Don't know if you ever had the chance to ride one when your GS was in the shop.

 

Yes, I had an RT for 5 months.

Keep in mind that the RT is substantially lighter than our bikes, has 5-5/16" of rear suspension travel, and uses a vastly lighter single-sided swingarm and monoshock. Bluntly, there's nothing we can do to emulate that kind of suspension performance on our bikes.

The JRIs do the best that can be done with our bikes. They add 5/8" of travel, which is HUGE. They do an admirable job of isolating rear-wheel motion, and with the sweep valves make adjusting damping for varying roads and loads an easy thing. In truth, the JRIs are better shocks than the stock BMW units that come on the RT or the GS/A, but they're tasked with controlling way more bike with way less travel.

I'll also say that the JRIs give a better ride solo and 2-up than the Ohlins did on my Limited. Not enough that I'd scrap the Ohlins for them (if I still had the bike or the shocks), but they're a definite improvement. I think a big part of that is the additional travel.