Ok, I know there has been alot about the shocks on sportys here but i have a couple questions no body has answered yet. I am new to Harley's and to street bikes really. My wife and I both bought 09 Nightsters. I have been riding mine around and in a turn with a little bump i tend to scrap either the jiffy stand or the pipes (done both side already). It doesnt make to bad of a mark but im going to get SE slip ons and dont want to do it to them. Also i dont want to do it in a sharp turn one day and lose the bike. Right now my shocks are on 2 from the dealer i was thinking about putting them up to 3 to see if it keeps me from scraping. Is this a good idea. I am 5'9 and about 165.
Second. My wife is a short woman about 5'3 and can touch the ground but barely. She is also not heavy enough to compress the shocks in the rear. Should i drop hers to 1 to try and help her out on the hight.
I an not looking at adding to much to the bike because we bought them under the ride free for a year deal and want to trade them in next year. Thanks for the help

 

First off adjusting the preload on the stock shock will not alter the height of the motorcycle. This is a common newb misconception.

I would suggest that for your bike you get a taller shock to raise the bike (stock shock length is 11 inches). For your wifes bike I suggest getting the shorter 10 inch shock from lick's cycles.

 

I understand that it would not effect the hight but would it not effect the compression rate of the springs based on your weight. ie my 165 lbs body will compress springs more than my wifes 1** lbs body so when i sit on the bike i would lower the ride height to _ in while my wife would not lower it as far? This is the way car suspensions work i just wanted to make sure it was true for motorcycles and that going to 3 makes it tighter so i would compress it less and 1 would make it softer so my wife would compress it more

 

I would def try adjusting the pre-load, because it definitely would make a cheaper fix than buying shocks. With the very little travel in the shorter than normal shocks that come stock on the nightster I really doubt that a difference will be seen.

 

I would go at least 12.5 and maybe just a better quality shock for your wife at the stock 11.0