yo streetfighter06: no big deal. I'm an Aquarius and nothing bothers me. I am a ball-buster too. You'll see.

I am definitely going to adjust the rear shocks first for 2 up riding, and hopefully that will help out some. I am sure there are people a lot bigger than me riding Nightsters. I know Nightsters have a "rougher" ride- that I get. But I do think that I need to make some adjustments for a little smoother ride. No big deal. I'll look into the springer seat when i go to the stealership. I don't like the look of them, but I need to feel comfortable on the Hog so I'll do what is necessary.

Peace.

John

 

I weigh 195 and had to set the shocks on my Forty Eight to setting #4 to keep it from bottoming out easily. Adjusting the shocks up will make it ride stiffer but will keep it from bottoming out as often. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say your shocks are probably on #2 now.
The adjustment is easy to do, you'll need a spanner wrench to do it correctly. The dealer has them, they're not costly.

 

Maple Nightster... I believe that if you are going to spend money on making your bike more able to absorb potholes then a first choice should be better than stock / longer shocks... Progressive Shocks are very popular and seem to improve the ability to absorb potholes, specially the longer versions... I really have no idea since I went from stock shocks to rigid struts.. but everybody who got Progressive shocks are happy with them... try that upgrade first... my 2 rusted cents... :-)

 

Alot of people are using Road King or Street Glide lowering air shocks. They will raise the seat about 1 inch. They are relatively inexpensive on ebay and improve the ride quite a bit. I have 0 PSI in mine and I am about 220 lbs. There are many threads on shocks. Do a search and read non-stop for a week or two.

 

Gpsjr10 beat me to the suggestion about the Street Glide (12") shocks. You can find them used in this forum's classifieds and also on ebay if you are patient. If you really want to up your game; look at the Ricor shocks. They are, in my humble opinion, the best available today for the bikes they make them for.

http://store.ricorshocks.com/Product...ode=20-10-2005

If you really want top notch suspension; get their Intiminators for the front forks as well. These two products will transform your bike. The discount code for being a forum member is "hdforums".

Most people don't care that much so they just deal with what HD puts on the bikes.

 

First thing I did with my 2010 Iron is put Progressive front springs and thiker SE fork oil and Progressive 412 12"5 rear shocks. Much better, but then I started reading about the Ricor Intiminators and the new Ricor shocks and I could not resisting ordering both of them. The 412 are ok, I am 180lbs and have the non-heavy duty 412's in position 4 and when riding with my 60lbs daughter I need to max them out at 5 already. Still waiting for the Ricor shocks, they use the same technology as the Intiminators, but the reviews are great.

-- Fons

 

hit a huge bump doin about 75 yesterday. both wheels left the ground and i felt like i was on my bmx.....it was rad. progressive's rule. couldn't imagine hitting that same bump with the stock suspension though, prolly woulda tossed me across the highway!

 

unless you want to spend more money right now and buy better shocks....I suggest setting the shocks to the highest setting in the rear, this will help with 90% of the problems you are having.
Also I have read that springer seats are not the way to go for comfort.
I too would like to upgrade and am researching the best option for "our" bikes
Mine is exactly like yours. I am about 190 and 6ft
Keepn using the search as much as possible and asking questions you will learn a ton about your bike and options for it.
Our bikes are full of options when it comes to making it suit your personal needs.

 

As suggested, until you upgrade the suspension, crank the pre-load on the rear shocks all the way up. I'm about 225lbs and ride with the pre-load at the highest setting. I'm not sure I've bottomed out the rear since cranking them all the way up. The front on the other hand...

 

swerve.