I went from the stock front and rear springs to progressive 422 in the rear and replacement front springs also. They both made a huge positive diff. in my ride. I dropped the back 1.5 inches. The rear is now awesome. The front is way better also!!! My mechanic had me sit on the bike with the stock springs and the new progressive after install. The front end sagged 2 inches with my weight on it with the old ones. With the new front springs it only sags 1/4 inch!!! The bike sits in the right position and rides way better. Used SE heavy duty fluid which I like also. Do both front and back and you will be a happy boy!!! ps found the rear shocks at dk for 385 bucks. only 80 bucks for the front spring kit!

 

I suppose this thread is closed considering the last post was on 23 July; today's date is 30 July. Anyway, I finally have something to share that may be of use to you. I had the lowering bolts on my 09 Fatboy, and although it looked really good, it didn't feel as good whenever I hit a bump on the road. Fast forward to today, 30 July when I finally had HD switch out the lowering bolts with a set of progressive 422s.

I noticed a significant difference for the better, and I was able to keep the rear end lowered 2". The fact is, the only reason I didn't get the shotgun was because the local indy never heard about them and I'm certainly not mechanically inclined...

The 422 is a good compromise for me, but it's to early to tell..

 

That would be my hesitation toward the shotgun shock as well, don't want to attempt it myself and nobody around here has heard of it. But i am curious because of all the positive reviews.

 

Any very basic mechanic can install the shotgun shock. It's all plug and play....fairly easy install. so don't let that hinder anyone.

To OP, if you are looking to get a bunch of folks talk about going backwards from any air ride to a non air ride, you are probably not going to get much on that. Air ride is superior in every way. If you want to hear how good 422's are than open it up for that. There are plenty of folks that love those shocks and as stated earlier they don't care to go the air route. Progressive is a great brand and quality material for sure.

If you have air, I would keep that as a no brainer. Why not just dial in air and not adjust too often? I have ridden on lowered shocks and they are great and I liked it, but there is no way I would compare it or even say it is better than an air ride that's adjustable. Just not a good comparison, but if that's what you want then to each his own.