Hi all, wanting to drop the *** end of my '09 Nightster, few questions on shock choice please. Progressive 440 11", Licks 2G 10", or Burly Slammers? I know the lower I go the harder the ride and less travel/clearance issues with pipe, stand, etc... but just wanted to know from those of you who have experience with any of the above please? Good/bad points with any of them?

Thanks.

 

Your stock rear shocks are 11.5". Remember that, given the angle they're mounted, moving from 11.5" shocks to, for example, 10" shocks does *not* lower the rear of the bike 1.5", but instead somewhere around 1".

As for the Licks vs the Burlys, both seem ok from what I've read. No matter the brand, there's so little travel it's not going to matter much. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's just a reality of shocks that only have an inch or so of total travel.

I've ridden bikes with both the Burlys and Licks and didn't notice any difference, at least none I could attribute to one brand of rear shock vs the other.

 

Thanks for that, here in Australia the '09 came with 13" or so, stupid really. Either way I agree with what you say, not much travel regardless of brand when going that low. Cheers.

 

UK rider here. Our Sportys also come with longer rear shocks. There is a good reason for that old chap! If you want a good ride you really should buy high quality short shocks, don't stint. Otherwise you might find you are throwing away the cheap ones pretty soon.

I have a SuperLow and have replaced the short stock shocks with longer Hagons, to improve the ride.