Several weeks ago, I was on a left hand sweeper with my 2015 CVO Limited that I usually take at around 45-50 but this time, my speed was up around 70. About mid-point in the turn, the back end of my bike got real squirrely and I could feel the back end bouncing and moving left to right. I couldn't figure out exactly what was going on. The sweeper has some bumps and pot holes but nothing I am not used to. With my previous bike, a 2013 Ultra Classic, I could take that turn at 70 with no problems at all with speed room left. A couple miles down the road when at a safe spot, I pulled over to make sure my tire pressures were good and they were. I spent the remainder of my 30 mile commute thinking about what happened and how to correct it.

Late into my commute, it dawned on me that I had Progressive 944s on my 2013 Ultra and that maybe this was the difference in the handling of the bike. The very first time I test road my current ride, I could tell an immediate difference in how it rode but really didn't think much about the handling. I have been researching shocks for both front and rear for some time for the comfort factor. That wobble, or whatever you might call it that I experienced just cemented it in my mind that it was time to make a change. For me, it came down to three choices; Progressive, Ohlins and Pro Action Street Series.


On my previous 2013 Ultra Classic, I had the Progressives and overall, I liked them as I think anything would be better than the stock air shocks. The 944s were a little difficult to adjust when changing between 1up and 2up riding. Those shocks, at times, could feel a little harsh. This feeling, though, could have been just having too high of expectations with wanting more of a town car ride versus a sports car. After 20 or so adjustments of the 944s, I had them dialed in as good as I was going to get and they stayed on for an additional 30,000 miles before I traded in that motorcycle.

I had Ohlins on an old bike that was given to me years ago and never had any problems and I don’t have any recent comparison of them. Most of the feedback I read on about the Ohlins was what I read on HD Forums. Almost everyone liked the improvements from the Ohlins shock, no matter the series chosen but then again, anything is better than stock. One of the forum sponsors, Motor Cycle Metal, custom builds each order for the specific rider. I spoke with Howard, the owner, at Motor Cycle Metal as a Joe Blow customer that found his website while doing a Google search. Although Howard was extremely knowledgeable on shocks and gave me more information in 10 minutes than I will ever learn in a lifetime, I was put off by his attitude and line of questioning and the general feeling that he felt like I was wasting his time by asking him questions. With a question or two of mine, he asked me if I had read his website. I found his condescending attitude to be just as many members have described him on the forums.
During my searching and reading of the forums, I came across Pro Action. I had heard of them in my dirt bike days but never anything about them for road bikes. I think there was one thread I came across on HD Forums that mentioned Pro Action Street shocks but had no feedback. I also found a couple articles in the biker magazines about Pro Action Street shocks but overall, very limited information in the form of rider feedback.

The Pro Action website have limited information so I filled out the contact us form on the website and about a week later, I received a call from George. He explained that their website had some difficulties with the contact form and apologized more than once for his delay in getting back with me. George is the owner of Pro Action and one of the first things he did was to give me his email address and cell phone and told me to call or email if I had any questions. He explained his background and that he came from the MX world and that street bikes / touring is a new venture for his company. He assembled a team of moto riders that also own Harleys and used these guys as a test bed to develop the new line of shocks. The riders used street courses to test out each change of the shocks in order to develop a system that handled the big bumps at slow speeds as well as at high speeds. George also started talking about the mechanics of how his shocks work and why this makes them effective on a touring bike. During the conversation, he explained that he was sold out of the bagger version and was waiting on more bodies to arrive so he could build up some more. I asked him to give me a call when he received the bodies and that I would order at that time. He said that was great but that if I wanted a set that were 12 ¾, he would ship them to me free. I took him up on that offer on April 10th and he expected shipping of the shocks the following Monday.

The UPS shipping label was created on 4/13 and arrived at the shipping terminal that evening. The following day, I received an email from George letting me know my shocks had shipped. I was happy for the personal update but the email did lack tracking information. I have an account with UPS so I had already received an email from UPS letting me know I had a package en route with an expected delivery date of Friday. I received the shipment on Friday. The shocks arrived in a shipping box undamaged and nicely packed. It was nice to see shredded paper as packing material instead of those foam peanuts. It took all of 45 minutes to remove the old shocks and air lines and install the Pro Action shocks. There was nothing special about the installation other than I added some blue Loctite to the bolts. The box did not contain any instructions and I could see some people getting confused on which way to install the spacers. I previously watched their online install video so I was all set and I used my service manual for the torque values. After installation, I had a question about adjustments so I sent George a text message. On a Friday night, within 10 minutes he responded that the 13” have the softest springs and very little preload and should be already adjusted. After I installed the shocks, I wanted to test ride but that was not going to happen because of thunderstorms.

Excited to go for a ride but with the storms, all I could do was to sit on the bike and I could tell an immediate difference in how soft it feels. Saturday morning, I had a few errands to run and a prime time to try out the new suspension. I had just over 13,000 total miles when I installed the shocks and only put 40 miles on the bike around town today. I could feel an immediate difference in how the bike took the bumps and dips in the road. On a right turn that has a bump right in the middle of it, I can feel the tire sticking to the road versus bumping or hopping over it. On straight, semi smooth roads, I can feel that the suspension is working and gone is the roughness of the rear, where with the previous shocks, you seemed to feel every little thing in the road.

I’ll be doing some more riding in the back country and my normal commute to see how it handles but based on the initial ride, I am very optimistic. I paid $795 for the shocks and at this time, I think it was money well spent. I will update this thread as I put more miles behind me.


My Update
I have put just over 600 miles on the bike since changing the shocks so I thought it time for a quick update. all I can say is wow, I'm impressed. After my first ride, I called George because at higher speeds, the rear seemed to be riding the tops of smaller bumps that were like ripples in a pond. After explaining how the free bleed system works, I found an area that was 4 miles and had some good bumps and turns. I played for a while and settled with 11 turns in which they arrived with 13. I also adjusted the preload one full turn.

Now, the suspension is exactly what I am looking for. Slow speeds, you can really tell a difference in bumps, RR tracks, grooved roads, brick roads, speed bumps, you name it, it handles them with ease. At higher speeds, you can really tell it's working full time. The larger bumps now feel like a push instead of a slap and the rear wheel stays firmly planted on the ground. That section of road that made me make the purchase, no problems at all.

In another thread, I talked about having my bike at the dealer for some covered repairs. When I was talking to the tech about what he found out on my AVC, he told me that he was so impressed with the rear shocks that he pulled a bag off so he could figure out what I had. He expected to find a one off custom setup with remote tanks. His comment was, these are probably the best shocks I have felt and I have ridden hundreds of bikes.

 

Here are a couple of pictures.

Shipping box




Installed


Storms

 

I bet feeling that rear end get loose like that was....shocking!

I'll see myself out

 

Thanks for the great write up!! I've been thinking about looking at new rear shocks, and am interested in these.

 

That was pretty nice of Howard to send you an email letting you know that George had shipped your shocks.

 

Very good wrightup, I have felt the wobble you mentioned, and recently replaced my shocks and the wobble (or what ever you want to call it) maybe still there but its beyond my riding ability or intestinal fortitude, im happy with the money spent.
Did you get your shocks from George or Howard?

 

Good catch, I updated it to George.

 

I was just busting your chops, glad you are happy with them.

 

No, no, I really do appreciate the catch!!! I'm sure there are other typos or mistakes but if that is the only one with my long winded post, I'm doing good.

 

It's a shame those beautiful shocks can't be seen behind the bags.