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[Mr. P]

My 2011 CVO Street Glide is too tall. Need some help as to what can be done. The shocks have no sac at all. Stock seat.

[VaEagle]

First welcome to the site!
If you look in the suspension section you will find many threads on altering the suspension.  In general for best handing and cheaper mods look at having a shoe shop add an inch or more to your boots to make you more sure footed, then you could have an upholstery shop (or seat company) reshape your seat to make it narrower and lower so you don't have to reach so far.
If you lower your suspension much more you will have ground clearance issues when cornering and you will bottom out the suspension with it's smaller travel.
If after trying the above then you may be interested in an adjustable air suspension that you can lower when in a parking lot and raise up with the on-board compressor when riding. It will cost around $1,000 or more though.

[TinSpinner]

You have several options. Depending on how much too tall the seat height is you can either have the stock seat modified by some place like Mean City Cycles or replace it with an aftermarket seat that is lower and narrower at the front. Another cheap option that is often overlooked is riding boots with thicker soles. Next option is to look into lowering the suspension. I would check the seat options first before I changed the geometry of the bike though.

[Mr. P]

Thanks Guys. I was thinking there should be some sac in my shocks, but I have none. They are coil over with adj. on one side. I though when I sat on the bike it would have some sac. There adj. to low setting ride is fair.

[Midnight Rider]

Thanks Guys. I was thinking there should be some sac in my shocks, but I have none. They are coil over with adj. on one side. I though when I sat on the bike it would have some sac. There adj. to low setting ride is fair.

There should be some sag in your shocks, just from the weight of the bike, and a bit more when you are on the bike.  How are you measuring the sag?  Are you certain that the shocks are set to the weakest preload setting and then starting adjustments from there?

Your bike is already 1" lower in the rear.  I would not recommend lowering the rear end any more than that, unless with an air adjustable shock system.

[Mr. P]

With bike on jack with wheel hanging, then on ground sitting on it 12 inches.

[Midnight Rider]

Here's an article on how to measure and set up suspension...it's not a HD bike, but that doesn't matter.  http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/howto/122_0508_motorcycle_suspension_setup/


Basically, sag is measured by the distance between the rear axle and some point on the frame perpendicular to the axle.

With whatever kind of shock, set to the lowest preload setting (the least amount of spring tension), it is virtually impossible NOT to have some sag unless the shock is frozen due to malfunctioning internally.  All the spring does is set preload...I have no hands on experience with the SG shocks, but my understanding is that they allow spring preload to be adjusted via a knob rather than a spanner tool.  The bike itself should create at least 1/2" of sag, unladen.

Read the article...it explains it in detail.

[Mr. P]

Thanks for the info. I am thinking maybe different shocks. Must be one that works better then mine.  

[grc]

With bike on jack with wheel hanging, then on ground sitting on it 12 inches.

If the shocks measure 12.0 inches eye to eye under both circumstances (fully extended, then with the weight of the bike and rider on them), then you either have the preload adjusted incorrectly or there is something radically wrong with the shocks.  It would be normal to have approximately 1 inch of sag if preload is adjusted correctly and the spring rate is correct.

Jerry

[Mr. P]

Jerry. I have stock HD shocks. Have no idea how to set preload on them. Thanks for any help.   Paul

[Midnight Rider]

Jerry. I have stock HD shocks. Have no idea how to set preload on them. Thanks for any help.   Paul

I'm not answering for Jerry, BTW...

If I'm not mistaken, the stock shocks on the '11 CVO SG were the hand adjustable (with a knob), which adjusted ONE of the shocks (not both).  If there is a knob on your shocks, rotate the knob all the way counterclockwise.  That should be the minimum preload.  Measure sag.  Then adjust the knob slightly by turning it clockwise a couple of turns and measure again.  Do this until your measurement is at least 1/2-3/4" less than when the suspension has NO load on it.  That will get you started in the right direction.  Rotate the knob clockwise for firmer and counterclockwise for "softer".  But, you do not want it soft to the point where the shock is bottoming out, so it will require a bit of fiddling to get it right for your weight and typical load.  If you load the bike up more, either with a passenger or luggage, rotate the knob clockwise to add more preload to avoid bottoming out.  The shock should NEVER bottom out under normal riding conditions.

This should be a link to the exact shock you have on your bike:  http://www.harley-davidson.com/store/hand-adjustable-rear-shocks