I was blessed with a brand new set of 13" air shocks for my SG. Now I need to lower it back down an inch. Both Burly and LA Choppers make lowering kits that drop the shock straight down. Anyone have any experience with either of these kits ? And, why did you choose one over the other ?

 

And you want to do this because? SG has 12" air shocks. Putting 13" air shocks w/1" lowering kit gives you a kludge of what you had OEM?

 

Having 13" shocks vs the 12" oe shocks = better ride because the 13" shocks have more travel. I still want to drop them 1" to lower the seat ride height.

 

If you drop them 1" don't you then lose 1" of available compression travel before tire to fender clearance issues? Seems you don't gain compression travel & extension travel shouldn't be an issue in either case?

 

Nope.

 

OK. Just didn't seem to make sense to me, but I've never done this. Did put 2" longer shocks & 2" over front suspension on my '91 FXRS & turned it into a fantastic cornering machine.

Sorry I don't have an answer for your question. Good Luck with it. Hope it works for you.

 

Look at it this way. The lo-profile shocks that come on the SG have very little travel. Great for around town bar hopping, suck big time for serious road travel. Installing 13" shocks gives me more travel and require less air in them on a SG with a loaded tour pack and saddle bags. A 1" lowering kit simply drops the seat height back down to where it was with the 12" shocks. No clearance issues but a lot smoother ride for me when the bike is loaded for long distance rides.

 

Not exactly. I did this same thing on my 07 SG. It did improve the ride quite a bit. The 12" air shocks just plain suck. You can never seem to get the right amount of air in them. Your either bottoming out or it rides like a rock.

However, having done it, I wont do it again. Pretty sure my tire rubbed the fender a few times on certain bumps in the road. Not worth the risk IMHO.

On my 09 I put on the premium ride 12" shocks. Huge improvement. IMHO, they rode better than 13" air shocks. Plan to put them on my 14 as soon as money permits.

 

Well, I bought the Burly lowering kit. Far simpler install than the LA Chopper kit.

 

What shocks do you have