Road King shocks installation

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Sep 30, 2009 | 02:27 AM

lbfam730

Thread Starter

Cruiser

Joined: Jul 2009

Posts: 143

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From: Lake Elsinore, CA

Road King shocks installation

Hey all. After reading few posts about RK shocks i've went ahead and purchases a set. i will be installing them tomorrow on my iron and i was wondering, would i have to put the bike on the lift? i know that the RK shocks are longer than my stock shocks and figured that i'd have to take it to a shop to use the lift since i don't have one but before doing that i just wanted to make sure from the people that actually done the installation. also, would i need washers even though i don't have belt guards? i hope this isn't too dumb of a question, thanks all.

Last edited by lbfam730; Sep 30, 2009 at 02:29 AM. Reason: forgot to add something else.

Sep 30, 2009 | 07:06 AM

fox4

Road Master

Joined: Jun 2009

Posts: 933

Likes: 1

From: Indianapolis

Yes since they are longer it would be easiest to use a jack to gain the extra clearance needed. I don't think you would want someone to pick up the back of the bike and hold it while you bolt them up. I don't even know if that would be possible. Bike jacks can be found for pretty cheap if you go to a place like harbor freight.

Sep 30, 2009 | 07:36 AM

dlhike

Cruiser

Joined: Jul 2009

Posts: 207

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From: Bellevue, NE

rk shocks...

did mine in driveway - no lift - do one side at a time...have someone there to lift back of bike - start by putting top bolt in then lift rear end and get bottom bolt started in hole no need to hold while tightening bolt...

A jack would make things easier if available - I didn't have access to one

You will need washers as RK shock is larger in diameter than regular sporty shock - you may be able to get by with 2 instead of 3 since no belt gaurd...

My experience only here - so if I got something wrong it's generally cause I do things the hard way...then figure it out afterwards

Sep 30, 2009 | 06:35 PM

Austen

Road Captain

Joined: Aug 2008

Posts: 636

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From: Illinois

as they said, its better to use a lift. prolly find a decent one for 100 bucks.

its real easy to swap them out. have fun. u might want to buy lowering blocks cuz the rk shocks are 13 inch. unless ur ok with that

Sep 30, 2009 | 07:16 PM

SPECIAL ED

Elite HDF Member

Joined: Jun 2006

Posts: 3,572

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From: Templeton California

Quote:

I don't think you would want someone to pick up the back of the bike and hold it while you bolt them up. I don't even know if that would be possible.

That's exactly what I did and I have a lift.It just seemed easier for me to hold up the rear of the bike while my wife lined up the shocks ad bolted them up.I suppose I could do it by myself with a lift but I think it would take longer.Oh, and I've done this three times now with taller, shorter and even shorter shocks for my Dyna.

Last edited by SPECIAL ED; Sep 30, 2009 at 07:18 PM.

Sep 30, 2009 | 07:31 PM

Austen

Road Captain

Joined: Aug 2008

Posts: 636

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From: Illinois

to each his own, i believe in working smart not hard. a lift is def easier.

Sep 30, 2009 | 09:57 PM

lbfam730

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Joined: Jul 2009

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From: Lake Elsinore, CA

Thanks for all the input guys. I went to harbor freight and purchased a lift for $66 and tackled the job today. i thought it would be piece of cake but it took way longer than i thought. when i brought the lift home it was a bit high so i had to figure out a way to get the bike on the lift so i can jack it up. i got few pieces of wood and pushed the rear wheel on it then got more wood and placed them in front of the front wheel and pushed it forward so now both wheels were on the wood so i can slide the lift under. it would've been so much easier if there was someone around but since it was just me it took a lot of sweating to get it done. i had to slide the lift by stepping on the lift and sliding it underneath. then i jacket it up while holding the bike upright. plus to line up the shocks, i had to lift the back fender while trying to keep the bike from tipping and to line up the bolts to the holes. i thought this would be a cake but to be honest it was a pain in the ***... but so worth it in the end. i used 4 washers in each side, 2 top/2 bottom and dropped the bike almost to get the stock height since RK shocks are long as hell. took it for a spin and look for few bumps to test it out and i'm very pleased with the result. again, thanks for the advise and i'll post some pics soon.