Lately when im riding 2 up (combined weight of 340) and i hit a speed bump a little fast it seems that the rear is bottoming out.... time for new rear shocks?

 

guess nobody has mechanical knowledge of rear shocks?

 

Your shocks are 28 years old, I'm guessing that replacing them would not be unheard of.

 

strange thing is, theyve been on the stiffest setting for those years and i just adjusted them to the lowest setting... they bottom out less on the lowest setting the the stiffest

 

They bottem less on lower settings cause they have more free travel distance and since the dampers are dead they can travel all the way.
They bottom sooner on high setting again cause the damper is dead and the spring has less room before it hits the end.

 

anyone know the difference in the dif. series that progressive has? anything besides the looks?

 

Yeah, its all about the budget. A set of 12.5 Progressive 412's would work great on that bike unless you want to lower it a tad. Then go with the 12 inchers. I believe all 4-speed Shovels since 1972 ran the 12 inchers and the rubber mount FXR series ran the longer 12.5 shocks. They are about 200 bucks. Just a note, I ran some of the FXR style shocks on my '75 Shovel and they were the best shocks that bike ever had. If money is not the issue, go with the Progressive 440's. I have a set on my bike now and after some initial issues, they are freakin' amazing. I mean true "ride like glass" shocks. The other series shocks are more about sport ride suspension and tuning for your particular style of riding. They are good shocks if your into corner carving. Most of the guys I know with Shovels aren't all about the twisties, they are all about budget or style first. So if it were me, I would get 412's if money was the issue and 440's if I just wanted the best there was for the bike. Also, figure out RIGHT NOW if your a one up or two up rider. If your mostly one up, get the standard springs, if your mostly two up, get the heavy duty springs. Yes, that really does make a huge difference.

 

cool good info.. most of the time im 2 up.. and if im gonna do them im gonna get the best i can get.. looks like the 440s is the way to go.. thanks

 

I agree with the 440 idea. My problem with the 412's wasn't with anything but adjustment. There was no single adjustment that worked good "both" one up as well as with the 200lb passenger. So switching from setting two to setting 4 was getting ridiculous every time she wanted on or off the bike. The 440's I can put in one spot and leave them there. For example, even if I crank them up to say 6 turns out of a total 10 1/2 turns, I can still ride solo without touching a thing. If your passenger was say 140-160lbs, I suspect you could run maybe 4 turns two up and would have a SUPER comfy ride solo without changing anything on the shocks. And just for the record, I'm running 6 turns with 1 inch lowering blocks. Without the blocks I would probably be even less than that, but I run a springer up front and super slushy rear suspension with a springer up front seemed a little funny handling. At 6 turns, the shocks seem to match the springer pretty well.

 

Before you spend any bucks, I have recently cured my bike from bottoming out, by having custom shocks built by HDF sponsor Motorcycle Metal. The springs and damping are built to suit our combined weight and riding style and quite a few of us on HDF are happy customers. Give Howard a call.

Sig pic is our new shocks resting in France, on the way home to the UK after a trip to Poland, in all weathers!