Touring Shock Question

[War Horse]

I see alot of '09 shocks for sale on fleabay, will 09+ fit the earlier model (my 99 flhtcu)

[harleyjt]

Yes they fit.  They run at a bit higher pressure though.
jt

[HogMike]

Don't spend a lot of $$$ on them, you MAY not like them.
JME

[War Horse]

Don't spend a lot of $$$ on them, you MAY not like them.
JME

How come ?

Right now the 12" ones that were donated to me by Exfed are crappin the bed, me being broke an all, I found a few for around $50 a pair, but really dont want to buy then if there junk. I like the way the bike sits with 12"ers but its just to heavy and hits like a hardtail at high seed bumps..... so back to the stock 13" I guess. 

[02 Ultra]

I like mine 09 on an 02. Stock 13 inch.
02

[wolf_59]

I switched to the 12" shocks and found that riding 2 up I needed 60 psi to get a good ride, recently replaced the shock oil with 10wt, solo riding I running 35 psi, wife says it's too cold so I won't be able to tell for a couple of months what it is going to need for 2 up 

[Dennis The Menace]

War, my opinion is that the stock shocks are okay for some folks, but crap for others.  If the rider and pax and gear weight is high enough, the stock shocks will not work real well.  Depends on the loaded weight, which HD engineers have taken into account.

However, they arent going to be a good racing type shock, nor will perform well in all road situations.  The stock front fork on my bike rocks me to death on the raods here where I live.  They arent setup to deal with the shifting/expansion soils and frost heaves in in Colorado.  On smooth surface, they do pretty well.  But, as an all around shock they have shortcomings.

I wont even go into the issues with the lowered shocks, with less travel and more harsh ride.

Again, just my opinion.  For me, at least, to get a better quality ride, I need to go to aftermarket for a better riding bike.  After 7 HDs over the years, its pretty much convinced me.

[Bigs]

I bought a pair of '09 13" touring shocks and put them on my '06 Road Glide. They worked fine for riding solo and with my wife on back. I never had any problems with them.
   Bigs

[War Horse]

Dennis, while I agree and understand the mechanical end of it, I have to weigh out the financial aspect and then live with some shortcomings, but need something better than worn out old parts. I really would love to get with Progressive and get what needs to be done right, but for now I'm going to have to find the middle road.

Mostly I do solo riding, but I got enough add-on crap to give me an unladen weight of 1100 lbs...... so the general consensus is that the 09+ shocks are pretty good, and for roughly 50 bucks worth the try.

[Deye76]

The H-D short air shocks just plain suck. I got rid of mine, put the 13" back on with a loweing kit.....rides very good.

[harpwrench]

I put a set on my 07 street glide and it was well worth it for our boring Missouri roads. They take more air pressure than the old style calls for. I run 70 in mine 2-up and loaded.

[HogMike]

Get the shocks, put 1000 miles on them, let us know how you like them.
They may work for your application.

[SklyWag]

Never would I say they are great shocks, however....

Change the fluid makes them at least work like real shocks.  I run the 2010 13" shocks on my 06 CVO Ultra with 12oz of Amsoil 10w Shock Therapy in each shock.  They work very well.  Solo I run 15 lbs of air, 2 up I run 22lbs, and fully loaded 2up with the trailer I run 28lbs.  This allows the shocks to work like shocks.

I also run my 09 Ultra 13" with the same fulid, same results.

I have done 3 sets of 12" the same way.  I have a friend that rides 2up, with a big TBag, & the 12" and only runs 35lbs of air & never bottoms (well sometimes on really poor roads), he is short & needs the short shock.

I have only done 1 set of the pre 09 versions, the ones that came off my 06 @ 38k mikes.  A friend has them on his 05 and now has about 5k miles on them & says they are great compared to stock.

How long will they last with the 10w?  Don't know.  I have 11k on the ones on my 06 and 6k on my 09.

Cheap fix, for majority of riders, regardless of how long they last.

[charlie]

For what it is wort i put a new set of 06 RK"s air on my 03 Ultra changed the oil to 10 weight 15 psi solo and whatever when i am loaded pump to suit, rides great,now for the front any body tried the progressive cartridges in the front would like to know.Charlie

[War Horse]

Thanks for the input everyone, I think I'll take a chance on the 09+ , 13" shocks, I'm a tall guy and dont mind the height increase and might not scrape the floorboards as bad through the twisties. For 50 bucks , what the heck......

[Thumper Buttercup]

For what it is wort i put a new set of 06 RK"s air on my 03 Ultra changed the oil to 10 weight 15 psi solo and whatever when i am loaded pump to suit, rides great,now for the front any body tried the progressive cartridges in the front would like to know.Charlie

Charlie,

   We put the progressives in our 04 Ultra, last year we changed the rear shocks to Belray racing
oil, bike handles great, shocks work great.  At first riding with the progressives I did notice more
feel of the road but that went away after a while.  The front end dive is gone when coming to a
stop, the bikes all around handling and ride two up is fantastic, even the wife feels the difference.

Hope this helps.

[tomcat64]

For what it is wort i put a new set of 06 RK"s air on my 03 Ultra changed the oil to 10 weight 15 psi solo and whatever when i am loaded pump to suit, rides great,now for the front any body tried the progressive cartridges in the front would like to know.Charlie

Charlie,

   We put the progressives in our 04 Ultra, last year we changed the rear shocks to Belray racing
oil, bike handles great, shocks work great.  At first riding with the progressives I did notice more
feel of the road but that went away after a while.  The front end dive is gone when coming to a
stop, the bikes all around handling and ride two up is fantastic, even the wife feels the difference.

Hope this helps.

problem is you can't buy a pair of progressives for $50.. the 09's will work great... for the money!!

[War Horse]

tomcat, I believe your correct "for the money" , being on a tight budget sucks but I'll make the best of it. 

BTW, I think the other 2 fellows got caught up on a front end thread of their own...... 

[FLTRI]

Before tossing out the stockers first try increasing the air pressure and put enough in to eliminate bottoming...then decide.
These shocks work well when the air pressure is best for conditions.
Keep in mind these shocks wear out just like any other shock. They will last many years if the bike is not ridden on rough roads and less when the bike sees a lot of bumps, etc.

Most riders do not realize how much better their bike would/will feel when air pressures are set properly (keeping the swingarm in the middle of the travel).

Don't be afraid to put as much as 80psi if you are a big rider with a big passenger. Don't worry about the shock blowing up as I tried years ago to see if I could blow out the seals. Nope, really stiff ride but no failure...with 100lbs.  Still using them.
Let us know,
Bob

[War Horse]

Good  FLTRI, I'll give it a go, although these shocks have been sitting for quite some time and I replaced the oil in them, at first they worked great, but after some miles got almost locked up. My originals did the same thing after puking out a bunch of rubber when I changed the oil...... 

[Thumper Buttercup]

tomcat, I believe your correct "for the money" , being on a tight budget sucks but I'll make the best of it. 

BTW, I think the other 2 fellows got caught up on a front end thread of their own...... 

Hey Tomcat,

   We put the progressive carts in the forks and just changed the oil in our original rear air shocks.

[FLTRI]

Good  FLTRI, I'll give it a go, although these shocks have been sitting for quite some time and I replaced the oil in them, at first they worked great, but after some miles got almost locked up. My originals did the same thing after puking out a bunch of rubber when I changed the oil...... 

You'll have to verify there are no air leaks in the system.

Shocks puking anything but a bit of oil makes expecting proper operation questionable at best.

I would suggest buying/borrowing a set of std air shocks from a pal to try. There are a lot of folks who replace the stock air shocks with aftermarket shocks immediately...most of the time to put shorter shocks on...so finding a nice set of takeoffs is realistic...for <$75pr

If you install '09-up shocks they'll need considerably more air pressure when used on the earlier frame/geometry.

HTH,
Bob

[War Horse]

I should have stated that better, they puked oil laying on the shelf, not on the bike.... No leaks in the air system. Just old short shocks on to heavy of a bike......