Lets talk suspension upgrades for a bagger

[No Cents]

I'm planning on doing a suspension upgrade this winter.
The rear air shocks on my 08 FLHX are a little less than desirable. The rear is bottoming out even when I hit a not so large bump. I have them adjusted to 35 pounds and they will still bottom out. They offer a stiff ride with not much feel. I've tried many different air settings from 10pds - 40pds...none to my liking.
I know off hand of Ohlins, Penske, and Progressive...but which one will give me the best ride quality with adjustability...and not bottom out like the short factory HD FLHX air shocks will do.
Thanks for any input in advance.

[Ohio HD]

Ray I'm running 12 inch Progressive 440 HD on my Street Glide. They're a bit stiff, but I like stiff since we have very little suspension travel. I hated the air shocks, had to replace them.

[splitting_lanes]

Howard can set you up with something that will work really well

http://motorcyclemetal.com/

[04 SE Deuce]

   Ohlins...hard to beat.   Rick

[1931jamesw]

Bitubos for the rear and Traxxion Dynamics AK-20's on the front. It doesn't get any better than that. Both are adjustable for compression and rebound. I run the 300mm on back of my 2012 RGC and you can adjust ride height with the preload. They have a canister on them to adjust the compression and another adjustment for rebound. I'll try to get pictures up for you tomorrow.

[OzyMax]

progressive mono tubes up front

On the back try JRI shocks. Give Howard a call from Motorcycle metal about JRI, 12" B shocks , Built just for you

[Dodgy]

Very happy with the Progressive 944's over stock shocks.

Dave

[strokerjlk]

Good setup without breaking the bank .
Progressive mono cartridges up front , Cvo shocks on rear .
Ditch the lowering blocks .

[HighLiner]

Ohlins on the back of mine and I'm fairly happy.  Still looking for a good solution for the front but I hear Ohlins is coming out with a drop in cartridge soon.

[Deye76]

Harley short air shocks flat out suck. If one needs a lowered height, installing the 13" factory air shocks with lowering mounts gives a good ride. Handles pretty good too. 

[ndmp40]

I have progressive monotubes on the front of my 2010 EG Classic, Ohlins in the back.  Not convinced the ohlins are the right shock truthfully.  The fronts are a big improvement over stock.

[frankieb]

I have ohlin 6's on my bike and the wife has 12" jri's both are excellent shocks. the best rear shocks will be something that is built for the weights the bike will carry. I have had racetech springs and gold valve emulators that did pretty good but changed them out for monotubes. The monotubes ride better to me.

[strokerjlk]

I have ohlin 6's on my bike and the wife has 12" jri's both are excellent shocks. the best rear shocks will be something that is built for the weights the bike will carry. I have had racetech springs and gold valve emulators that did pretty good but changed them out for monotubes. The monotubes ride better to me.

That too
Frankie's bike is one of the best handling / riding dressers I ever rode .

[Helmwurst]

Have you looked into swapping out the oil in the shocks. I have read other blogs where some guys have done that and claim a noticable difference.. Anyone want to chime in on that ?

[Admiral Akbar]

Have you looked into swapping out the oil in the shocks. I have read other blogs where some guys have done that and claim a noticable difference.. Anyone want to chime in on that ?

Sure.. Tried it and it didn't work.. Valving in a stock shock sucks.

I have ohlin 6's on my bike and the wife has 12" jri's both are excellent shocks. the best rear shocks will be something that is built for the weights the bike will carry. I have had racetech springs and gold valve emulators that did pretty good but changed them out for monotubes. The monotubes ride better to me.

What was the setup on the racetech,, Bike type, springs, emulator setup?   Mono tubes do what better?  Absorb bumps?  Bottom out less?

What's an Ohlin 6?   

Max

[av ultra]

I've got my front working pretty good, slightly heaver springs, race tech cartridge kits and a mix of 50/50 se heavy/standard Harley fork oil, going to experiment with shock oils this winter on the stock shocks, I've got a 2010 ultra.

[OldFLTRider]

Good setup without breaking the bank .
Progressive mono cartridges up front , Cvo shocks on rear .
Ditch the lowering blocks .

+1 on the CVO rears.  Put them on my 2012 FLTRX last month and it's a night and day difference.  Now do I do the monotubes or the cams next???

[q1svt]

progressive mono tubes up front

On the back try JRI shocks. Give Howard a call from Motorcycle metal about JRI, 12" B shocks , Built just for you

Thanks never heard of them...
FYI, their site has one of the best {non-technical} write-up on Damper Tuning

It's at the end of the install manual...
http://www.jrishocks.com/assets/JRi%20Shocks%20Motorcycle%20Manual.pdf

[strokerjlk]

Good setup without breaking the bank .
Progressive mono cartridges up front , Cvo shocks on rear .
Ditch the lowering blocks .

+1 on the CVO rears.  Put them on my 2012 FLTRX last month and it's a night and day difference.  Now do I do the monotubes or the cams next???

Do the cams .

Bruce
Those are the ones with the remote reservoir 
I think coyote has a set also .
Real nice . And I don't care much for most of these high dollar rough azz shocks on the market .
But these are sweet . Get you a set ordered at the show in cinci .

[TRUBlue]

Progressive monotubes up front to get rid of the brake dive, if you're not too heavy or don't do much 2 up riding the CVO hand adjustable may work.  Otherwise, I'd spend the extra money and go for JRI or Ohlin.  If I had to chose cams or rear shocks, I'd pump up the rears and get the cams.  The other option is a set of Progressive 444s, not nearly as good as JRI or Ohlin but a great deal better than stock.  It seems someone is always sell them for < $300 or so when upgrading. 

[Ajayrk]

Bitubos for the rear and Traxxion Dynamics AK-20's on the front. It doesn't get any better than that. Both are adjustable for compression and rebound. I run the 300mm on back of my 2012 RGC and you can adjust ride height with the preload. They have a canister on them to adjust the compression and another adjustment for rebound. I'll try to get pictures up for you tomorrow.

That has been my experience.

[Bakon]

I ran 440 on an 06 SG with progressive spring on front and Harley's se oil. Then I added a Bagger brace. Bike was on rails and although some extra vibration from engine in handlebars at idle it rode very nice. 2009 stock front springs are improved over 2008 and older. Better spring with progressive wound.

[Admiral Akbar]

Good setup without breaking the bank .
Progressive mono cartridges up front , Cvo shocks on rear .
Ditch the lowering blocks .

+1 on the CVO rears.  Put them on my 2012 FLTRX last month and it's a night and day difference.  Now do I do the monotubes or the cams next???

Do the cams .

Bruce
Those are the ones with the remote reservoir 
I think coyote has a set also .
Real nice . And I don't care much for most of these high dollar rough azz shocks on the market .
But these are sweet . Get you a set ordered at the show in cinci .

The 1700 dollar set then..model HD 927.. Coyote is currently running Works Shocks with ARS AFAIK.. Last time I saw him that was what he had.. Works aren't too bad.. I've got the the single adjustable Ohlins after the last Cinci show and think the Works are a little better.. I still need to swap the Works to the EGC and Ohlins to the RKC..

[flhtruss]

Hello NoCents
Im sure there others but I ended up with Ohlins from Howard at Motorcycle Metal.
Spring and dampening control. Very pleased with the product. I have read that he has out JRI shocks. Might talk with him about those.
Good luck.


ps how you likening the bike so far?

[WI Bob]

I ran progressive 940 on my 2009 SG, they were decent for 25k. Then tried some JRI B. They did dampen and rebound good. But too stiff for just me at 185#. Tried some softer springs, better but still too stiff. Sold them to a 240# rider who likes them.
I am currently running some HD late model 13" with 11 ounces of Amsoil susp fluid. Best ride so far for this bike at 8-10 pounds of air.
I will say the Jri did handle the best in the curves.