I have a 99 heritage softail. The bike has approx 44k miles on her. I have put 40k on her and she has always ridden like a dream. The last few times I rode, she has been bottoming out alot. Tires are like new with good air pressure. My question is, Is it normal to have to adjust the shocks after the bike has rode good for so long, or am I looking at having to replace the shocks? My weight hasnt changed. I do all my own service and repairs, just dont know how long those shocks are supposed to last.

 

I'm no world reknown authority, but it sounds to me like they may be reaching the extent of their usefull life.

 

Thanks. I just didnt know how long they usually last, or if they have to be adjusted when they get wear.

 

Just for the heck of it, look to see if maybe you lost ONE of the shock bolts or something broke on one of the two shocks. My 89 Softail shocks just seems to get stiffer over time (it's got about 40K on it now). I CAN tell you don't buy those cheap azz chrome shocks you see on e-bay for $100. A friend of mine bought them, they didn't last 2 months before losing all of their Dampening ability. The bike felt like riding a pogo stick. When mine go I'll just buy a set of Progressive shocks for it.

 

They can be adjusted for additional preload to get more life out of them. The HD tool is about $12 and one end adjusts the regular shocks on the Dyna's, touring and sporties. The other end does the Softail shock.

 

If she started doing it like all of a sudden. I'd look at the nuts, bolts, look for bent or rusted part.

 

Ok, thanks guys. I checked it out. Theres nothing missing, bent or rusted. I ordered a wrench from JP cycles. It should be here in a few days. Maybe adjusting will help. Piney, thanks for the heads up on the ebay shocks. I already looked at them and was considering them. I dont want them if their junk.

 

I have heard that 00-07 shocks will work, that you just have to change the ends. Does anyone know if this is true and if so, whats involved in changing the ends? Those years dealer take off are all over ebay, CHEAP, from hd dealers that say they took em off before delivery of new bikes, due to customer upgrades. Just a thought.

 

If you do decide to swap the units out you might like to look at Ohlins units...better quality than Progressives but more expensive (Some say better control with the adjustable rebound and pre-load adjustment)

 

if new ones are needed, might check out progressive 422's.. they are quite an improvement over stockers,, at least its reported in here that they are....