You absolutely do not have to spend that much if you do some legwork and talk to people. I hate to see people quote those prices. People don't state what they actually spent when they are asked not to because of the discounts.

 

Harley Air Shocks suck. Traded a 12 CVO Road Glide with the 12" premium hand adjustable shock in the rear for a 15 CVO road glide ultra. Bike handled like crap in the hard curves no matter how I adjusted the air shocks. I could not run it near as fast in the curves and the 12 Road Glide or my 13 CVO King. With 500 miles on the CVO Ultra I replaced the crappy are with Ohlin's. Great shocks.

When I traded the 15 CVO Road Glide on the 17 CVO street glide, I put the factory air back on the 15.

The premium shocks on the 17 are better than the ones on the 13 King, so the Ohlins are now on the King. Going to the 13 instead of the factory 12 has improved my lean angle, and thus my cornering speeds.

Air = crappy handling.

Premium hand adjustable much better,

13" is better than 12"

 

HD air shocks don't suck. Neither do the progressive 444 or 940 or 944 or dam near any of the others. I am a light rider many are not . Heck I see riders that weight 330 pounds on HD. What works for me will never work for them. Same BS with seats.
I tried 944's on my 2011. IMO worthless for me. I was to light they just did not work for me. Gave them to someone and they worked fine for him.

 

I'm running the 12" on mine and love them.

 

I can say simply changing the fluid in the stockers made a nice improvement on my current bike. Easy and cheap to try.
I sure like the adjust-ability of air shocks as my loads vary by 200 pounds

 

the hand adjustables are just as easily adjusted. tilt your left saddlebag out, and turn a ****. easy-peasy.

 

Significantly better than stock, I had them on my '09 UC and now on my '14 UL.

 

Damn Smitty eat a cheeseburger or somethin' so the shock makers can make a little $$ off you!

 

They are ok but not value for money. In Germany we have some better options available for about 800Euro made to your needs. The spring will be made to your weight wich is of course allways a compromize.

Greetz heiko

 

Does $800.00 fit your thoughts better? The exact price wasn't the point.