I have the 30 dollar lowering bolts on my night train. I figured for 30 bucks and 2 hours work it was worth a try. I think it rides pretty good but I have never rode a bike with the 422's on it so I couldnt tell you. I have progressive springs for the front that I might put in tomorrow.

 

I used the burnout cycles kit from j&p. 100bucks,and did the install myself. they will sit it on the ground if ya want or just drop her an inch. its fully adjustable and does not require disasembly of the shocks like the bolts do. not as nice as air ride but way cheaper and you can do it in your garage without a press.

 

I'm cheap, so I bought the $20 ebay screws. I sat them side by side with an expensive set of Arlen Ness ones. They were identical. Piece of cake to install.

I'm also old and I was worried about a hard ride. I noticed it immediately the first time out, but got used to it very quickly. It rides a lot better than my rigid. I made the mod purely for looks, but if someone was short, it does drop the seat height quite a bit.

 

I went with the 422's because it fit in the budget.
If I hadn't had the money I would have went with the lowering bolts until I saved enough for the shocks. Another reason I went with the full shock kit is I haven't been at all impressed with the stock harley shocks on the night train.

Ray

 

I too went with the progressive 422's - they require some tweaking to get them set up to your liking but it's pretty easy.

RockyRiver - how many turns of preload did you set? I left mine at factory settings (softest) since I only weigh a buck sixty with all my gear. Have not had a chance to ride it due to winter.

 

Another vote for the Progressive 422's. I bought a set from J&P and paid a local indy $50.00 to install and set them up for me with a light pre-load and 1" drop.

That was in September. Haven't felt the need to mess with the adjustment yet. Might increase the drop to 1 1/2" and soften up the pre-load a bit when I get the time.

Totally happy with them and consider it one of the best investments I've made in my bike since I bought it in June '09.

 

my bike sits the same, fender above the tire. thought about lowering it but i already can kiss the pipes when coming out of a drive way and making a right turn. that solved my problem, cant lower it, in fact ive forgotten all about it and that has saved me money and time.

 

if you want to just lower 3/4 and have better speed then get lower profile tires. i dropped mine from the 200/55 to the 200/50. lowered the front also same way. did it for the gear ratio

 

I go by thread count on the bolt. I would figure mine to be firm since I turned the shock so many times and I only have about 4 or 5 threads left on the big threaded part of the shock. Man it really makes the bike cut faster when I lean fast and hard in to it (swerving back and forth) now on the road at any speed.

 

Wow your bike does sit tall, I'd lower it a little at a time till I found a spot of compromise on good looks and not rubbing to easy. Those V&H Big Shot Longs look great but their length is the reason I went with the Staggards on my bike, I was afraid the BS longs would rub, but I'm really low now.