Prgressive monotubes...
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Road Captain
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 576
Likes: 20
From: Eau Claire, WI
Prgressive monotubes...
I have officially had it with the absolute crap stock front end on my road king, and from the research I have done over the last few days, it looks like I've probably decided that the best money to spend considering price vs performance is probably going to be the monotubes. I know there is probably better. I also know I am not spending a grand or more to see if it's that much better. Any of you guys have anything overly bad to say about experience with these? Do we have a forum sponsor that deals these that could do a decent price? Thanks!
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 7,439
Likes: 884
From: 'Noke, VA
I bought a pair on sale from Eastern Performance. I've had them in the bike for about 5,000 miles, and I hate them. They're coming out now in favor of the stock springs & damper rods with Ricor Intiminators.
The Monotubes work really well on smooth pavement, and they actually do a pretty good job of keeping the front tire on the pavement when I'm tearing through the mountains. But they are unbelievably harsh on any sort of broken pavement. They're just downright abusive on the farm roads around here.
The Monotubes work really well on smooth pavement, and they actually do a pretty good job of keeping the front tire on the pavement when I'm tearing through the mountains. But they are unbelievably harsh on any sort of broken pavement. They're just downright abusive on the farm roads around here.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2,590
Likes: 31
From: Western Illinois, land of bad roads, and corrupt politicians
I had monotubes on my bike for about 3000 miles (that's about a month considering the riding season) Then they started making a noise like a spring was broken. A few people here have had the same noise. One guy described the noise as sounding like a pogo stick, and that's exactly what it sounded like. They rode really stiff, even with the preload (clips) at it's lowest. 05train is absolutely right about the harshness vs handling. It was almost like a rigid front end.
Called Progressive 3 times and got 3 different answers. One said the tech put in too much oil. The second call got an answer of no oil. The third just said he's never had anyone call because they are making noise, but I shouldn't ride it that way. So I took them out, and went back to stock, and went with a mix of Harley regular fork oil and SE fork oil at a 50/50 ratio..
Much better ride now. Better damping, and not much brake dive with the oil mix.
Called Progressive 3 times and got 3 different answers. One said the tech put in too much oil. The second call got an answer of no oil. The third just said he's never had anyone call because they are making noise, but I shouldn't ride it that way. So I took them out, and went back to stock, and went with a mix of Harley regular fork oil and SE fork oil at a 50/50 ratio..
Much better ride now. Better damping, and not much brake dive with the oil mix.
Last edited by shooter5074; May 30, 2014 at 01:21 PM. Reason: Winner of the coveted roadglide.org spammy
Road Master
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,018
Likes: 9
From: SoCal
I've got the PS lowered monotubes on my 09 SG and dropped it 2" with my 21" wheel. Bad decision to drop it that much as it bottoms out frequently. Nose dive has only decreased a little bit. I'm planning on going with a 23" front wheel very soon and going to go with a 1" drop instead of 2". We'll see how it handles.
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Cruiser
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 180
Likes: 3
From: Olney, Il
I had a set on my 08 Ultra Classic and loved them, they really improved the ride and handling of the bike. I left the stock air shocks on the back. I plan to install Progressive Monotubes on the 2014 Ultra Limited this winter.
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Road Captain
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 576
Likes: 20
From: Eau Claire, WI
Nope, it's a 21. I'm actually kinda surprised at the responses from folks not liking them, they seemed pretty universally loved overall while reading reviews during my research.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 3,156
Likes: 41
From: So Cal
I have them on my RG for about 40,000 miles and they are much better than stock. But if I do it over or had not added them I would go with new springs and either Ricor Intimidators or race tech gold valves. I believe you have a lot more fine tuning with valves over mono tubes you can change springs and oil weights to customize your suspension to your riding and weight the mono tubes don't offer that ability
I have friend bikes that have gold valves and I like the ride better than mine
I have friend bikes that have gold valves and I like the ride better than mine