Heavy Duty Shocks Harley Shocks & Harley Chassis Issues Discuss Heavy Duty Shocks in the Harley Tech & Harley How-to forums; Well, I'm finally breaking down and putting new shocks on the bike. Progressive Suspension recommends HD shocks if you do more than 50% of your riding 2-up. Can anyone confirm ...

[BlueBob]

Well, I'm finally breaking down and putting new shocks on the bike. Progressive Suspension recommends HD shocks if you do more than 50% of your riding 2-up.

Can anyone confirm or deny? What's the real difference in the ride going to be?

[milindh]

Hey BlueBob

I replaced the shocks on my FXR4 about nine months ago with Works Performance units. I went with them not because they were so much better than the Progressive units but because WP has an FXR guy on their staff and after talking with him about FXRs and the type of riding I do they built me a nice set of rebuildable semi custom shocks with slightly stiffer springs and valving than stock and they are a nice fit for me and my style of riding. I probably could have gotten an off the shelf set of Progressives that performed just as well had I known the parameters of the Progressives.

These shock makers always ask you that question about what percentage of your riding will be done two up. The 50% figure they throw out there is the cut off point for them going to shocks with much stiffer springs and stiffer valving in the shocks themselves. If your significant other weighs 200 lbs plus and you're packing 40-60 lbs of stuff you are going to want that extra stiffness. They'll keep your shocks from bottoming out too much. However, when you're riding solo they'll be so stiff it'll be like riding a hardtail. Jolt City! That's where the 50% thing comes into play. 50% of the time you're cruzin' in comfort and the other 50% of the time you're worrying about whether or not your health insurance covers kidney replacements.

The worry about going with standard shocks is that they'll be too soft and will bottom out too easily. My personal feeling is that standard shocks are fine for riding two up if you don't overload the bike too much. Mine are just fine with a 135 lb babe on the back with a few things and they are still a bit stiff with just me on board. No bottoming out yet (knock on wood) at all. You can get some stiffness from the adjustable springs but that just shortens your shock. It helps some with the initial settling but it's not the cure all for the problem.

I can dig your quandery here. You don't want to be undershocked or over shocked but I don't think it's quite as tough a call as it seems. Ask yourself how were the original shocks when they were new? If they did the job pretty well then you have one answer right there. Go with standards. If you want to ocassionally load the bike up quite a bit more than you did in the past but don't want to lose the good one up ride you might consider going with air adjustable shocks. They cost a lot more and you have to either have a small onboard compressor or just pump them up at home before you go out touring (just be sure to carry a small bicycle hand pump with you). A lot of baggers have them. I don't think they have the great dampening qualities of the regular shocks but they might give you what you're lookng for. I guess you're seeing why baggers are so popular now. It's hard to turn a race horse into a plow horse.

Good Luck BlueBob

[BlueBob]

Wow! Excellent detailed answer, milindh. Thanks!

[mediaguy]

A lot depends on how much YOU weigh also. If you're over 200lbs you should go for the heavy duty shocks. Remember you can adjust the preload for when you're riding single and when you're riding two up. Preload adjustment is the most neglected adjustment people do (or don't do). I worked for Progressive for over 20 years and before that my first job in the motorcycle industry was with Works Performance. Both good products. Progressive makes a wide variety of off the shelf stuff while Works will "custom" build you a pair. I think somewhere on the Progressive web site is how to adjust preload. Basically you want the bike to "sag" about 1" when you (or you and your passenger) sit on the bike. Not enough and the bike will ride stiff. Too much, you give up travel and the bike will bottom more easily.

Hope this helps.

[BlueBob]

Sounds like I can make the HD shocks work for solo or 2-up, as I'm close to 200lbs... I think I'd rather a little stiffer ride if it keeps me from bottoming out.

[sgtcowboyusmc]

Originally Posted by BlueBob

Sounds like I can make the HD shocks work for solo or 2-up, as I'm close to 200lbs... I think I'd rather a little stiffer ride if it keeps me from bottoming out.

My HD shocks worked well on my dyna for 47,000 miles and I rode single and double. When they went bad I bought a set of 412 progressive. WOW what a difference.

But like mediaguy said you have to adjust for 2 up riding or 1 up riding. Or else you could spend $1000.00 on a set of air ride suspension and you can adjust as you go! I didn't have an extra $1,000.00 to spend so I got the progressives and change them as I change my riding habbits!

[milindh]

BlueBob

I read somewhere recently that harley sells a real nice little hand pump that doesn't leak out any air when you take the pump off. Even better than a bike pump.

[BlueBob]

Maybe SOMEday I'll shell out the bones for a set of air-ride shocks. But I went ahead and bought a set of 812-HDs.