Well, I now have about 120 miles on my new Progressive 440's (13") and am starting to have reservations. Going from stock 12" on my SG to 13" 440's, they are worlds apart. The 12" stock were back breakers BUT the bike handled great in the corners. Just a little push on the bars for countersterring and she leaned right over. With the 13" 440's the center of gravity is higher and you need to corner sooner with more pressure on the bars so, in that respect I prefer the stock shock.
The ride on straight aways is far superior with the 440's, no bottoming and the eat up imperfections in the road BUT they do tend to be a little stiff. I weigh 200 lbs and the shocks are standard spring load. I also feel like the *** end of the bike is sitting high. At one time I had 13" HD air shocks on the SG and they did not feel as high. After investigating this sensation I uncovered the reason, the 440's are only compressing about 1/2 inch when I sit my butt in the saddle. I called Progressive and they said it should compress about 1 inch.
They offered to fire treat the springs to make them softer for me but I am undecided if I want to go through the agravation.
Those that have 440's, do these shock have a break-in period and become softer after more miles?
I'm now thinking I should have gone with the 12 1/2" size but the Progressive tech said they would be stiffer yet.

All opinions are appreciated. Thanks,

Frank

 

im quite happy with mine.... i almost went with 13 1/2s for more lean angle but i stuck with my stock length 13's (im on a egs) the scoot may be a little slower in transitions from your shorter ones but im sure it will take corners even better due to more lean angle... id keep em and log some more miles on em and see how you adapt...remember the longer the sock the better hadling it will be as far as rebound and dampening... it will just slow transitions down a little and the rider can compensate for that...

 

Don't the 440's have a certain amount of adjustment you can make to them? Maybe you just haven't found the sweet spot with them.

 

they do but he said his seemed stiff.....they come one the softest setting from progressive.... im 265lbs and i stiffened mine up a bit.... i prefer a sportier stiff ride....

 

I bought the 12½" 440's and find them a big improvement over the stock 12", and find them much softer on normal bumps. In fact, they were such an improvement that I started noticing the relative stiffness in the front. They are much less inclined to bottom out than stock, but still do occasionally. When this occurs I haven't felt the bone-jarring sensation I had with the stock shocks, however. I found mine a bit loose in the softest preload setting and dialed them in three turns, which is about right for me. I weight 170# and have the standard springs installed. I hadn't thought about it before, but your question about break-in raises an interesting point since mine were used, the PO claiming they had 1k miles on them previously.

I hadn't checked before, but mine compress about 1/2" after sitting on the bike, if not less, so maybe I've added too much preload. OTOH, I'm happy with the setup, so I don't feel a change is necessary, and the ride is fine. As for handling, I didn't notice much if any difference. I have 3/4" floorboard extensions on the bike, which created cornering problems, but then raised them a notch which totally fixed the problem. I have yet to scrape the floorboards since doing that. Both extending and raising the floorboards were done prior to installing the 440's.

One minor negative to the 440's is the relatively weak rebound control, although I haven't found this a problem and is just an observation.

 

iclick, what you said is a little puzzling to me. You weigh 170 lbs which is 30 lbs lighter than me and your shocks are 12 1/2" which according to the manufacturer will be stiffer than the 13"since there is less travel and they want to prevent bottoming out. Yet you say you have the preload set at 3 clicks (very stiff). Mine are totally counterclockwise which is the softest position. The only thingI can figure is that they do soften up with some miles.
You also say that you have bottomed outon occassion but my shocks don't even come close and I have been going over every bump I can find.

There is a number on the spring that denotes how many foot lbs it takes to compress the spring. My spring reads 90/125 (if I remember correctly. I may bewrong and will check again), what rate is listed on yours?

 

put a 1" lowerin kit on it...best of both worlds i'd think

 

hotpursuit, do you feel like the rear end is way up? How much sag do you have when in the saddle, how many miles on the shocks and how much do you weigh?

Thanks,
Frank

 

I have the 12" 440's on my SG and they ride beautiful. They don't take very much preload at all. I was surprised how little preload was actually needed. Try backing it off some. Even when I load up with gear for a trip it doesn't take more than a 1/2 turn more preload from where I normally have them set. If I hit hyrdraulic lock on the biggest of bumps once or twice on a long ride (100 miles or more) I figure I'm set just right.

Regarding your handling comments the bike should actually steer quicker and easier with the longer shock as you would be reducing the rake by raising the rear end. The SG has comes with 12" rear shocks but stock EG front suspension. That's the geometry and physics. In the real world with the wheels moving through there suspension stroke you would barely be able to notice the difference, especially on these bikes.

 

its more of the change from one side to the next in the twisties that you may notice a little slower response... but im also 6'3" and 265lbs, so i didnt notice too much as i just man handle it.... the longer the shock the more time it has to dampin, just as the spring does not have to be as "progressive" due to its longer travel.....

end is not way up at all.... got 2000 miles on shocks...