I have an 08 ultra with air shocks and 55,000 miles and i have a pair of air shocks from a 2017 trike with 500 miles on them . They are the same on the outside , length etc . Is there an internal difference ? maybe oil weight , not sure , Does anyone knows who made them for harley ? I could then reach out and ask the difference . THANKS

 

All oil weighs the same as long as it is the same volume. The only difference I could think of is how the shocks would attach to the bike as those are two very different bikes I would think they have a different mounting set up. But I could be wrong

 

By oil weight he's talking about viscosity, not how much it actually weighs/volume, and with that said, different oils can indeed have different densities. Shocks can look identical, but have different compression/rebound damping rates, spring rates, etc., and perform totally different.

To the OP: I'm betting a set of shocks for a trike would be different from those for a bike. Check the part numbers, they should be stamped on the shock bodies. If the numbers are the same, the shocks will be the same.

 

Shocks are probably made in China, good luck reaching out.

 

Who makes harley oem shocks ?

I think they're made by the same company that produces this.

 

Showa was making all the shocks

 

should be a showa sticker on the shocks.

looking in the parts manual, the drawings look similar. of course those are just 'representative' diagrams. definitely don't outline the internal differences.

It isn't difficult to change shocks, switch them out and give them a try. there's more than a few folks who are putting road king shocks on sportsters.

 

The pre 2017 shocks were made by the Flintstones. The 2017 are made by Showa.

 

Showa has made stock Harley shocks since 1969/70.

 

Spring rate for the 83480-09 (trike) shock is higher than the stock 54565-97C shocks that came on your bike- You may find them to be too stiff, but if you don't try, you'll never know...