The shocks they are talking of are the stock shocks that are taken off road kings. You find them used all over when people upgrade or change their shocks on their road king. Ebay and craigs list are good for that.

I just put mine on. Found some on ebay for a decent price that were almost new. I just need to go out and ride some to feel the difference. It was quick and easy. I used a #50 torx bit. The washers needed are half inch washers. I needed to use 4 washers on top and 2 on the bottom to clear everything on my 06 1200R. The top fitting is where I needed the extra clearance vs the belt gaurd. I was able to do it to it myself by doing one side at a time, the right side first to get the number of washers needed then mirroring the left to it. I put the bottom bolt in first then lifted the bike slightly to put the top bolt in.

All in all a 30 minute job. Hope the ride is as good as others have said.

MH

 

OK that is great. Thanks MechsHands for clearing that up! LEt us know what you think of them. I usually ride 2 up, some touring with my 883 custom 2004. Sweet handling but the roads around here are rough. It seems the majority as I read them are happy with the RK shocks, but another opinion is always helpful. IMO

 

Hey I put 8psi in mine I'm 230lbs seem kinda bouncy. Should I raise presure or lower?

 

Drop your pressure. I would try 0 pressure first and go up by 2 lb increments from there. Sit on the bike and drain the air while you are sitting on it to insure youve got all the air out. Thats a good start.

 

Sweet thanks. I didn't drain the air out I'll do that right away

 

I have a heavy 2w axle on my 04 SportyR. Its the DNA axle on Santiago Chopper swing arm. You can see pics in my profile garage if you like.
I estimate the whole axle package incl rubber, wheels and fenders to be tipping around 225lbs.
I am looking for a suspension solution and want to try a set of Showa 54565-97A I found in a parts bin with other shocks. These look exactly like the Road King or Glide air shocks. They have small red plastic inserts where the valve bung would be. The inserts are two round, stacked rings with a hole in the middle. The outer disc will move in and out, is held captive and returns to center when pushed in or pulled out. I would guess this to be a coulppler for a remote air line? Does anyone know about these?
Also, The bucket I found these in has copious amounts of oil leaked out into it.
I could not tell if this oil came from the Showas or from other shocks. Is there a way to replace lost oil into the Showas?
Thanks.

 

That sounds like the stock "push to connect" fittings used with the air line kit. Those fittings are 1/8npt to 4mm (or 5/32) tubing. You are missing the one fitting that would join the two air lines into a single schrader valve. That fitting seems hard to come by without buying a full air line kit. It's made by SMC, but I have not been able to find it in any of their catalogs.

The alternative is to use individual valves, I bought a pair at the hardware store for like $3, they are sold as 1/8npt tank valves, found in the air compressor tools section. You'll need an accurate hand pump to fill/adjust the shocks no matter which way you go, and with the pump, it's pretty easy to get the two shocks filled equally, even without the air line kit.


If you just had open air line fittings, there is probably a good chance some of the oil leaked out. They can be refilled, I've done it on two different sets of air shocks, and found that both the 12" and 13" air shocks take exactly 10oz of oil. You basically set up a mount for the shock and a lever that you use to pump the oil out of the shock, then use a syringe to push fresh oil into the shock.

This will help:

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/sport...provement.html

 

Thats good info.

I have since figured out that the QDs are on a brass base that can be removed and replaced with schraders,info av on other threads.

Does anybody know the lenght of these 54565-97A shocks? I have not figured out how this measurement is made since shocks are designed to change length by several inches. I will not be test fitting to my bike to find out before I do an oil change. The length determines the quantity of oil used. Couldn't find any info on Showa web site.
Thanks

 

I may have found an answer (after 2 hrs of reading threads)
Thanks all,

54565-97 (A) FLH 13"
54565-97 (B)
54565-97 (C)
54631-02B Road king FLHRS or FLHX or FLTRX 12" shock pair "low profile"
54632-98 bagger 12" or 12.5
54635-09 12"
54661-02A Road King FLHR Street Glide 12" single shock "lowered"
54662-09 street glide 11.5"

Credit: DaytonaSportster
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/sport...shocks-18.html

 

For what it's worth, the 12" and 13" seem to take the same amount of oil. I changed the oil in my 12" shocks (54662-09) after riding on them for a season, they were sold to me new in the box and they each had 10oz of oil in them.

I then got a set of 13" shocks, again, these were supposed to be new take offs (but who knows)... 10oz exactly, and the oil was fresh so I am confident they were new.