I have been looking it to this for some time now. I have heard a lot of talk about doing this, so I had to give it a try!! Well let me say they are way better then the Progressive Shocks that I had on. I have also found a company here in Phoenix that can shorten then any were from stock (13") to 10" if needed, and the cost is only $175.00 (re-working your shocks).
Any one looking for a better ride try them!
If any one else out their has installed them on their bike I would like to get your feed back and see photos.

 

has anyone make this change?

 

I think I remember a thread about this a few days back. The person who did it posted some pics with them on his bike.

 

I didn't put road king shocks on but I did put street glide shocks on. The ride is 100x better. Main street in my town is all brick and I can't even tell I'm riding over them any more. Small bumps disappear and even larger ones are less jarring. I got a great deal from a guy on the forum $65 shipped. The shocks I got are the eastern performance chrome touring lowering shocks. They are 12" long compared to the road kings 13". My plan was to put 1" lowering blocks to set it back at factory height but now I don't think it's necessary. I'm kind of a big guy @ 280lb and I think the ride is awesome.

 

A shock is designed from the beginning to work with a pre-defined travel, how the shock is put on the bike in relation with travel (ratio) and with a load. I have never taken a stand up shock and put it on a ratio type application. Your bike is a ratio as your travel arc is not the same as the distance your shock travels, that is a ratio. This would be trial and error.

Try it first than change the oil to higher viscosity if the ride is too soft or to a lower viscosity if the ride is too hard. Travel is something you may also wish to consider. When shortening the stroke you loose travel. An air shock is not that good to begin with. The air is only a cheap way to set the ride height and makes no difference with either spring rate and valving.

If you are only going to spend money on a set of air shocks than only spend $175 on shortening them please consider saving your money up until you could just buying good shocks in the beginning. You will be happier in the long run IMO if, in fact you use your bike for riding and just not to look at. Of course, you should always do what you want.

 

can i get a solid chrome cover to fit over the shock? than it would seem like a worthy investment.

i need better shocks but they are not behind saddlebags and i need them to look right, if i can cover them with a full chrome cover like the early model sportsters than i will do it in a heartbeat!

 

I'm not much of a fixing stuff kind of guy, I pretty much suck at it. But Fast Harley is making alot of sense to my decade old dirt bike background. And when you're jumping 150 feet routinely, suspension is something you get to know. But that's all those guys would ever really do to their suspension when it was ****. Change oil viscosity, see if it makes it more comfy. Adjusting preload. They'd also do something as simple as changing the spring itself, getting longer ones, shortening them.......I just don't quite see why you'd have to go out and buy a whole new shock. Yes it would happen every now and then when people would buy fancy suspension, but for my money I'd work with what I had first. But yeah, whatever you feel is right, is right for you.

 

Joseph, the shocks I have are chrome with a black rubber boot at the bottom. I think they look good on a sporty. If you like I can pull my bags off and take a pic or 2.

 

FastHarley and Matt, the air in the Harley air shocks do nothing for ride height, they assist with dampening and rebound. More air makes them stiffer and faster, and does nothing to change the ride height.

Matt, I got my airs off Ebay for 35.00. I don't think that you can get springs, or change the shock oil for that price. They only required some 3.00 air fittings and 3.00 spacers to put them on. I added 35.00 more in lowering blocks because they raised my bike too much.

Joe, you can buy the all chrome ones off Ebay, but they are a little more costly as the ones I have seen are all new. Check out Debrix on Ebay and Performance Motorsports.

 

Please post some pics. I would like to see them.