I did the very same with the bel Ray 10 wt much improved, especially with two up. They are not serviceable, but they are !

 

My next move on my 2013 Limited. Bel-Ray 15w fork fluid turned out so good that I'm going with your's and others
recommendations - Bel-Ray 10w shock fluid which, by the way, is not the same as fork fluid. Tnx for posting your
results.

 

I changed the shock oil in my former 2006 FLHX to fifteen weight. Like the OP, I was so pleased with the results that I set aside plans to upgrade them, BUT...those were a different design than my current 2011 FLHX. One shock on the older bike controlled damping, the other controlled rebound...both of the shocks on the later bike are dual action...and on the '06, the issue was they were too soft and bottomed easily. The heavier oil solved that.

On my current Glide, the problem is the opposite...the shocks are super harsh, and I wouldn't think that going to a heavier oil would improve that. However, reading this thread is putting a different spin on it for me, and I'm thinking maybe it might be worth trying.

​​​​​​​For those guys who are confused about the why or the how, there's a ton of info on this very forum on how to get the job done, and why it works. Do a search...and like me three years ago, you'll be edjumicated!

 

I changed mine to AMSOIL shock therapy 10 weight which is medium weight. They have a heavy (could be 15?) which Im going to try because although the 10 weight change made a very noticeable difference from the original stuff (2011 RK with 6000 miles) there's still room for improvement. If that fails to impress Ill upgrade the shocks.

 

I changed mine to 7.5W shock oil. It made a noticeable improvement. I rode it that way for about a year and recently purchased a set of coil over shocks. They are better still.

As mentioned use shock oil if you're going to change it. It's much more stable over temperature than fork oils.

 

I too have changed the rear shock oil to 10wt. That greatly improves the ride. I went ahead and put the Screaming Eagle heavy weight oil in the front forks and improved those as well.

 

Anyone have a how to, or link to instructions for this procedure?


Thanks

 

Here's the video I watched before doing it. It's really easy.

 

I can attest that the procedure in the video works great, pretty easy. I drained my shocks at 20k and the oil that came out wasn't all that bad looking. I filled them with Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF, which is about a 20 weight for what it's worth.

For folks getting hung up on what "weight" oil their using, the nominal weight on the the bottle means almost nothing, it's all over the place from mfr to mfr of the same "weight". For me I found Showa SS8 fork oil works great in forks and shocks, which measures out to about 7.5 cst at 100 deg C which is actually somewhere in the 20 wt range. Showa calls it a 10 wt but remember that varies a ton from mfr to mfr. Turns out that Mobil 1 Syn ATF measures out the same, so I ended up going to that in the forks and shocks since I'm already using that in the primary. Works great all around.

Anyway, look at the specs behind the oil if you really want to make a valid comparison.

 

Thanks, cowbell, about the info on the Showa SS8 fluid...I was in the local motorsports store yesterday pondering on this stuff, didn't buy it just yet, but it seemed to me that it would work well in my OEM air shocks. Probably just the push I needed!