+1 on the Intiminators. Installed mine a couple of days ago on the Nightster. Front end is vastly improved over stock, even with the stock springs. I agree, you can really notice the crappy rear shocks even more now. Waiting on my Ricor shocks to be built. If they are any where near as good as the Intiminators up front, I will be very happy.

 

Yeah I've followed XLXR's work,,He convinced me that the two ends
of the bike work together on every bump.

The Works performance shocks I orderd were a few hundred dollars less.
also Rebuildable,,use two separate springs so the crossover point can be adjusted.
I just could not afford the Ricor IAS rears I wanted.

We shall see.

 

I told you that you'd love em. I went with RK air shocks on the rear of my 06 XL, and man what a nice riding combo.

 

OS, would you please explain this "crossover point." I think that's a BS term you just made up.

 

Osco did not make the term up .
from the worksperformance web site





Q: What is the reason for the dual- or triple-rate springs? My stock shocks only have a single spring.
A: The dual- or triple-rate springs allow the optimum spring rates for each application. These multi-rate springs are soft at the beginning to soak up the small bumps, but "cross over" to the stiff part of the rate to resist bottoming on jumps and other big "hits." The dual-rate springs have two rates, a soft and stiff, while the triple rate adds a "medium" rate in between. The application of single-, dual-, or triple-rate springs is based on the overall length of the shocks, the shaft travel, and available spring rates. Customer requirements also make a difference.

 

The Progressive wound springs have an infinite number of crossover points then, the change from softer to stiffer gradually increases as you compress the spring more and more. I could see this crossover point being for real in a stack of three springs with differing rates. For example when the first soft spring was full compressed then the second stiffer spring would start to compress at a higher rate. Since each fraction of an inch of compression would ocurr at a different rate gradually, where would you say the crossover/transition point is?

Progressive"s springs are not stacked except in the case of some special ones.

 

Shure the stiffer part of the progressive spring begins to compress,,
a little but only after the softer part Is overwhelmed,,maxed out.
Only then the stiffer section really start taking the load.

It Is a measurable point where this compression resistance changes.

It can span a whole Inch of travel, or only a quater Inch,
It can be In the first third of total travel or the last,,
No way to tell. The progressive company doesn't show this,,

I just don't like progressive springs. They serve a purpose and are
often the only option for a lowerd bike and two up riding.

Excluding air shocks of course.

With the Works shocks, the two separate springs offer me some tuning
as to where the crossover point Is,,
I can change the two rates Independently....

I am giving up IAS tech because of my budget.
I also wanted all my current rear travel.
with the Progressive brand, the IAS system added more than a half inch
to the shock Itself. That means I have that much less travel over
non IAS dampers.

My shocks are 13.5" with 3.69" of total travel
Progressives 13.5" shocks have only 3.1" travel (IAS 440's)
Works,,,13.5" shocks have 3.5",,,measured.
With only a little over 3 inches total travel and 1/4 to 1/3rd already
gone to proper sag I wanted more control over spring weights
and crossover points....

Here Endeth the Lesson XD,,

Hope this helped.

 

This Is Incorrect,, In a short travel shock.

did you know the stock front springs are progressive ?

Yep and we don't much notice the crossover point because
of the greater travel range of front forks.
In most forks the crossover point IS more like a range,,more spread out
as you said.

Its simple,, a 75 Lb rate compresses 1 inch with 75 Lbs,,,right !
So we have a short shock say on a 1200Custom,,,,
2.12 inches of stock total travel..

Now add IAS,,you just lost a half inch..

Remember 1/4 to 1/3 travel gone In rider sag or you will top out
and If In a turn,,here comes the painfull Hi side crash.

So the only way,,,,the first softer rate of the progressive spring Is
Gone by by,,,that leaves you alreay In the stiffer 110 Lb rate.

No thanks,,that may be ok for Easy riding but not for handling.
Considering the gains I have gotten so far I will no longer accept that a Sportster has to ride like crap.

 

In the end what matters is that I weigh 205 lbs and have never had either end of my bike bottom out since I put the Progressive fork springs in and installed the 13.5" 440 standards. That means more to me than all the theory in the world. If Progressive told me the progression rates the suspension would still work as well.

 

I hear ya,,, It's all good.

Judge,,I plead Insanity !!!
I'm just crazy bout my motorcycle XD