Progressive Suspension 430 Series Shocks - Hot Bike Baggers Magazine

There are many ways one can achieve a lowered stance on an FL-based bagger. Some are a cheap fix, some are dangerous and some will make your bike handle worse than stock. Yes, a lower center of gravity looks better, but the ride may suffer if the wrong parts are used. In short, the rule of thumb on lowering a Harley for performance reasons is you have to replace your rear shocks and front springs.

When lowering a bike, you are losing wheel travel. The issue is whether the suspension you are replacing it with can handle the loss. Better compression and rebound damping will be a must since the geometry of the whole bike is being changed and not to mention you are asking it to do its job better than before with about half the travel it used to possess. This is where the proper part for the job comes in.

(1.)Rob starts by pulling off the bags and seat to get at the rear shocks.
(2.)We then pulled the airline and airline covers off of the stock air shocks.
(3.)To make the job much easier, we unweighted the rear tire and then pulled off the OEM shocks
(3.)To make the job much easier, we unweighted the rear tire and then pulled off the OEM s

There are many parameters to assess. Things like measuring just when the floorboards and exhaust will drag, fender and fairing clearance issues, how much stand-over clearance you will need and just how low your local streets and highways will allow before the bike bottoms out. You also need to take into account what wheel sizes are going to be used.

We decided to take a trip to Progressive Suspension and see what they had to offer. While we were there, they walked us through their complete line of shocks and frontend kits for H-Ds, and since we are going with an 18-inch rear and 21-inch front, we decided on a set of their contrast cut 430 Series shocks out back and a 2-inch drop kit in the front. We like the 430s due to their coilover springs having a manual preload feature that allows you to adjust for either a single rider or, with a twist of the upper cover, you can make it firmer for most two-up riding situations.

The complete install took a little more than three hours to conquer. When the bike was measured, it was a true 2 inches shorter in the front and just a hair under 1 inch in the back with the shocks' preload cranked up pretty far. The main difference was the ride quality. The bike rode much better on the flats due to the technological advancements that Progressive Suspension has included in the valving of their shocks as well as the progressive rate springs in their fork lowering kits. The lower center of gravity coupled with the "ride tuned" feeling of the shocks made for some quick work of our favorite 25-mph S-curves. B

(4.)The new shocks are better looking, tunable on the fly and 1.5 inches shorter than the H-D air shocks.
(4.)The new shocks are better looking, tunable on the fly and 1.5 inches shorter than the
(5.)With the shocks off, we inspected the mounts, then installed the new shocks, tightening the bolts to factory specs as per the H-D manual.
(5.)With the shocks off, we inspected the mounts, then installed the new shocks, tightenin
(6.)After a little bit of preload adjustments were made, the bike was sitting nice and low out back.
(6.)After a little bit of preload adjustments were made, the bike was sitting nice and low

(7.)The frontend conversion starts by pulling the front wheel, fender, nacelle and headlight assemblies.
(7.)The frontend conversion starts by pulling the front wheel, fender, nacelle and headlig
(8.)Once all the chrome and other parts in the way were off the bike, we could then pull off the lowers.
(8.)Once all the chrome and other parts in the way were off the bike, we could then pull o
(9.)Now we opened up the fork and drained the oil so we could get at the damper rod and OEM springs.
(9.)Now we opened up the fork and drained the oil so we could get at the damper rod and OE

(10.)For a 2-inch drop, we installed the two Progressive springs on the damping rod on top of H-D's top-out spring.
(10.)For a 2-inch drop, we installed the two Progressive springs on the damping rod on top
(11.)We then replaced the stock Harley-Davidson springs with Progressive's tuned fork springs.
(11.)We then replaced the stock Harley-Davidson springs with Progressive's tuned fork spri
(12.)We added fork oil to the factory specs in our ever-so-handy Harley-Davidson service manual.
(12.)We added fork oil to the factory specs in our ever-so-handy Harley-Davidson service m

(13.)Oh yes, you can see Progressive's lowering goodness (bottom) compared to the stock leg (top).
(13.)Oh yes, you can see Progressive's lowering goodness (bottom) compared to the stock le
(14.)Slide the newly lowered lowers back into the clamps, and reassemble the fender and nacelle.
(14.)Slide the newly lowered lowers back into the clamps, and reassemble the fender and na
(15.)Slide in the wheel, check the brakes and adjust to spec.