buy some motorcycle boots with thick heals and soles. ( forgive me if you already have them)

 

Those shocks "look" to be HD premium rear shocks, the 2 inch low travel ones. Should be able to sell them for a decent price to offset the purchase of your progressive ones.

regards,

 

It surprises me that the 944's would be 1 inch lower than the already low Ultra Low model.
What length 944 did you order ? I had 940's on my SG and once I got the correct spring on them I loved the ride. I know you can get shocks one inch shorter than standard height, did not know you could get them lower than the lowered Low height.

 

The progressives are 944-4001UL.
I rode about 120 miles on them today. So Far I like the comfort of the ride of the Harley shocks better. The Progresives are definitely stiiffer even on the softer setting.
But the height of the progressives is much better for me, and there was no bottoming out or scarping.
I am going to need to play with the adjustment some...

 

Don't be afraid to go stiffer on the settings. These shocks do not work well until you get them adjusted correctly and then you will see a much improved ride. You are probably bottoming and don't realize it if you are a conservative rider as you have said.
I went through this with mine until I said the heck with it and cranked em up, what a difference. I think most folks are trying to keep them on as soft a setting as possible because they think thats where they need to be and never get them right.

 

I had the 944 standard on another bike. It took a good 500-1000 miles to get them to start feeling better. I think the springs need time to break in.

 

Mine were 940's, before 944 came out and the initial run were sent out had heavy duty springs on them. Progressive admitted they were too stiff for the average rider. I stopped by the Progressive booth during the Sturgis and they swapped out my HD springs for standard rate. The ride after they did that was great !!

 

Dog gone it, this thread has me thinking. I went out and measured the shocks on my Ultra Low. Center of bolt to center of bolt is just a hair under 12 inches. The 944 ultra low shock is a 12.5 inch shock but sets at 11.5, so yup I could gain a 1/2 or better depending on how the sag is set. I see they are on e-bay for $600. and I REALLY liked the 940's I had on the SG. $600 for 3/4 inch, I don't know. Guess I've spent more and gotten less over the years.

 

I gained 3/4 inch down un-laden and I think a full inch laden.
I have reset the pre-load to about half way between soft and firm and am anxious to get it out and see how the ride is.

 

Much better than air shocks. I had them on my 05 Electra.