Ride solo = 199 Lb
Ride 2 up = 340 Lb
Rear tire = 180/55/18 should be slightly taller than stock
Rear fender = aftermarket - looks flater vs stock

The amount of tire mark that i see on the inside wall indicates a few milimeters of contact.
I noticed the tire mark on the softest, second and third (less). No touch on the hardest setting...my back was gone.
if an air 12" stock has less travel (better quality travel) than my stock 12" i may be ok.....same comparision for the 412.

.....if mathematics will not solve this....then i will go for taller

 

You are only .6" taller than the normal 130/90 16, might be enough to make a difference. To be honest your best bet would be to meet up with a highly skilled builder who can take a look at it. Gonna be a tough one on the web but there is always someone out there who has the same experience. Just gotta be lucky to find them. You could always throw longer at it to see, but you will be the one finding out, not us. Just a guess on my part, but its the taller tire. I cant remember exact numbers but its something like every inch longer you go on shocks gives you 5/8 inch more height. That would put you .025" over the extra height your tire added.

Good luck, let us know if you het it fixed.

 

HD Air Shocks are available in 12.75". Those will probably give you the best ride and end you're rubbing issue. You can buy a used set on eBay for under $100 and be done with it.

I suspect that custom rear fender is sitting closer to e tire than the OEM fender, which makes it impossible or anybody to compare to their bikes.

 

If your bottoming out you need more preload, heavier springs or longer shocks. In your case I would start with longer shocks. Even with longer shocks compression dampening is going to play a major role on how smooth the bike is going to ride. Genneraly speaking the more you spend the better your bike is going to handle and the better your *** is going to feel. More travel with quality dampening is the cats meow

 

Than you guys,

yep, i think should go taller, either 412 12.5" or air-shocks 12.75".

One would expect that the builder that widen the rear to 180, and changed the fender should have forseen this.....never the less nice challenges to have....and harley friends to share with.

Most people so far point out air shocks!!!

 

440-4009B/C 13.50 342.90 10.10 256.47 3.40 86 E/E 1394-20B/30 75/120 1.34/2.14

Here are the specs for the 13.5" Progressive. 3.4" travel, to my knowledge I've never used all of it, at least I've never felt them top out or bottom.

13.5" fully extend 10.10" fully compressed.

 

Longer shocks won't help much, it is the springs that hold up the bike plus passengers, damping that controls movement and prevents bottoming out.

Very true! Unfortunately shocks are one of the most misunderstood things in the Harley world. Cheap shocks of any length will give cheap comfort.....

 

But, cheap shocks properly set up will out perform expensive shocks not properly set up.

 

No, can't agree there old chap. Any pair of shocks bought new in a box off the shelf have an equal start in life as far as set-up is concerned, no matter how much they cost. However shocks with high quality damping will out perform cheap shocks with little or poor damping. No contest!

And high quality shocks don't actually cost a lot. If we keep our bikes a long time, quality shocks will give a quality ride for a long time and give back what they cost. If on the other hand we like to change bikes often, quality shocks can be swapped from bike to bike.

 

My 13.5" 440s have 15,000 miles on them, they worked great at the start and have not changed. They didn't even seem to have break in period.