Which unless I'm mistaken, would make them into 2.5s. Which I have. If you really want to go that route, I might consider trading mine plus some $$ for your complete system.

 

I'm going to keep them. I was initially frustrated with the installation procedures. Once I decided to make a bracket, it was actually fairly simple.
I found using the rubber blocks along with the stainless steel clamps to mount the reservoir was a pain in the ***. Using a bracket makes the job a piece of cake. I can easily remove and install these shocks. When I was mounting them under the tour-pak, I had to obviously loosen the tour-pak, jack the tour-pak up on some shims, squeeze my hands under there to wrap the clamps around the chrome support, etc.
Plus I didn't like the way the hose seemed to rub against the saddlebags. Even without the washer, I didn't see how to prevent the hose from rubbing. With the bracket, everything just seems to work and the hose doesn't rub.

 

That's quite easy. Support the bike upright, so the weight is off the rear wheel. You will need a simple jack as well (I used a scissor auto jack). Disconnect the rear shocks at the swingarm (or remove them). Use the scissor jack to lift the swingarm and wheel until you reach the fully compressed length of your shocks. In my case I have 13" Ohlins with 3" of compression (actual dimensions are metric, but those numbers are close enough!), so lifted the wheel until the imaginary shocks were 10" long. If necessary you can relocate anything that gets too close for comfort.

Hope that helps!

 

I have the 6s and had to manipulate the mounting position so the hose didn't rub. Lookout, I was looking at your spring position adjustment and wanted to ask if that's set up for solo or 2 up? I'm 200# ride solo and mine was adjusted for my weight when delivered to me, but my spring adjustment has about 1-1/4" of thread showing above the collar. I see yours is about 3/4", mind if I ask how that works for you and your weight set up? Mind seems to ride a little stiff sometimes and I'm wondering if I lessen the preload it might take some of that out.

 

I was hoping for some type of answer suggesting the use of a piece of string and some math, but the brute force approach as both you and Howard (via an email) suggested will work.

I did as suggested and disconnected the bottom bolt on the shock, placed a floor jack under the rear tire and raised it. The #6's have a 93mm (or 3-5/8") stroke. I actually raised the rear tire to what I thought was the highest it would go, which seemed to be 4-1/2" of potential stroke.

There was no contact between the swing-arm and the remote reservoir using my bracket, BUT the shock spring actually hangs out further than the swing-arm and I was concerned that the spring would contact the reservoir. See attached pictures 1 and 2.
Picture 1: shows the swing-arm lifted 4-1/2", no swing-arm contact
Picture 2: I moved the shock inline with the rear mounting hole, showing potential spring contact with reservoir. From the angle, it's difficult to see in the picture, sorry

I decided to make a new bracket and aim the shock in a more vertical position to allow more room for spring clearance. See pictures 3 and 4. Notice in picture 3 that the left saddlebag mounting bolt is now moved to allow the shock to sit at a more vertical angle. Picture 4 shows that I now cut off some extra width from the reservoir mounting side.

The question people are probably asking is why not just use the nice stainless steel brackets that came with the shocks? There are a couple of reasons.

1. Out of the box, the brackets didn't fit. According to the Ohlins instruction sheet, the brackets are for HD touring model years 1986 through 2008.

2. I didn't want to drill the original brackets since I wanted to position the remote reservoir so that I had maximum clearance between the reservoir and the sprocket/brake disc and the stock bracket didn't do that. I also wanted the reservoir moved a bit forward and closer to the indent area of the saddlebags.

The width of the stock mounting bracket for positioning on the saddlebag supports is 1-5/16". I used 1-1/2" aluminum angle, so I was able to move the reservoir 3/16" closer to the indent area of the saddlebag.

But more importantly, the stock brackets have the mounting holes for the reservoir closer to the edge of the bracket. This makes sense for use on the earlier frame models, but you need to flip the bracket around for use on the later frames, which now positions the reservoir closer to the sprocket/brake disc compared if the mounting holes were on the other side of the bracket by the angle. One could drill new holes, but I thought it was just easier to make a bracket and leave the original ones untouched.

Picture 5: New bracket installed and we have the clearance we need.

 

Unfortunately the piece of string won't guarantee good results, as so many moving parts can come into play! Brute force is best for this application.....

 

Here are a few more pictures. I always find pictures useful when I investigate any potential project, hence I hope other people find this useful.

Picture 1: New bracket and looks like there should be no clearance issues.
Picture 2: Shock with new bracket. You can also see the vertical support for the Mchitch trailer hitch and the stock saddlebag guards on an Ultra.
Picture 3 & 4: A look behind the saddlebag

I'll make the bracket for the right side today.

Here is what I used to make the brackets
a. (1) 3 foot piece of 1/8" thick, 1-1/2" width aluminum angle
b. (4) #10-24 x 3/4" stainless machine screws
c. (4) #10-24 stainless nylon lock nuts
d. (8) #10 stainless washers

 

I haven't had a chance to ride the bike yet with the new shocks. I still need to make the bracket for the right side. I'll report back on my settings once I get a few miles on them.

The setting you see on the shocks is just the "free sag" I setup when I had the remote reservoir mounted under the tour-pak. I never got a chance to setup the ride height since no one was around when I was working on the bike.

 

I have a 2000 flhpi and the hoses are 2 inches too short to use the supplied bracket if you have quick disconnect luggage/backrest hardware and want clearance to access the hardware and not have the hoses rub on the bags.

I imagine longer hoses could be installed.

 

The bracket for the rear disc brake side is done. The top hose clamp is very close (almost touching) the saddlebag. Since the brackets are fairly easy to make and I have plenty of aluminum angle left, I may redo this bracket at a later time. I'll also paint them black over the winter.
I did get to take the bike out for a short ride. Felt good, but I still need to get it dialed and broken in.