Ok, so I bought my first bike, an 05 XL883, and thanks to the previous owner living next to the water, there's some oxidation/light rusting on the shocks.
My father-in-law has a set of shocks off of an 03 883 custom, and I can't seem to find a definite answer online. Anyone out there got any experience?

 

Are the shock mounting eyelet diameters the same? I believe that they are.

 

As you have them available I suggest you try them! They are bound to fit IMHO. They may be shorter than yours, so you will have to support the rear of the bike while removing both current shocks, before installing the 'new' ones. I did that using a scissor jack, with my bike on the jiffy, so it is easy to do.

 

Thanks guys, I'll give a try as soon as my father in law gets the shocks out of storage