I've read a lot of what is already on here about the various lowering options and what not, but there are a couple things I would like to know.

I realize that money not being an issue, most everyone would go with an air shock set up. I see that most people that go with Progressive's 422's are happy w/ that set up in leiu of an air shock, and also that people that just go the longer bolt route are satisfied w/ that as well. I know that lowering w/o an airshock will affect the ride quality.

1. I'm wondering how much it affects the overall handling of the bike? I'm not looking for racing, but I live in Colorado and like to be able to lean into a turn in the mountains from time to time.

2. How much ride difference is there between using longer bolts on the stock shocks and using the 422's once you lower the bike 2" and adjust the pre-load to accomodate?

3. Is there a noticeable ride difference between the longer bolts off ebay and the adjustable bolts available from Progressive?

 

Not so much about the different options you have listed, but I have the Lo and with it being lower the the regular Fatboy, I drag the floorboards alot when i start riding faster on the back roads. You may want to think about that since you ride alot in the mountains. Just a thought, hope it helps.

 

I lowered the rear on mine about 1.5 inches with the cheapo method and everything seems the same to me. Now if I drop the front I am sure my boards will start scraping even more.

 

Well I saved up for several months and bought the Shotgun Shocks. Before I had a cheapo lowering kit on the back and scraped everywhere I went.

 

Bolts here. OWWW!!!!

 

My thought, FWIW....

If that's your ride in your avatar, I'd say the way you have your bars pushed forward would affect your handling much more than any lowering option.

Not saying anything negative, I like the look.

 

I love my 422's but I do scrape a lot.

 

That's pretty much what I figured... like I said, not looking for the best in handling, just don't want something that looks cool but isn't very functional... believe me, I was a little hesitant the first time I took it up in the mtns w/ those apes on there like that!

 

You will definitely scrape boards if you lean much, or the frame if you go over certain dips in the road, or curbs. My heritage was lowered in front and back when I bought it. I found the ride to be hard. Handling was fine but hitting bumps was tough to deal with. I put the front back to stock and that helped especially absorbing some of the jolt from bumps or pot holes, probably scraping the boards too. At about 1,000 miles I put stock shocks back on the rear. Much better for 2-up riding. Don't get me wrong, I love the look of lowered bikes but between the harder riding suspension and my long legs it wasn't for me. By the way, most of my riding is on back roads in Maine, lots of curves. I don't have any experience with air shock systems.

 

Maybe I'll just do the bolts to experiment w/ ride height and see how much I scrape w/ my style of riding and go from there.

Do you get any shock dampening at all w/ 422s when you're slammed?