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[Uncle Fester]

Installed 11.5 Progressive 412s today in order to get my feet flat. Set them toward soft. Holy crap...dang near rattled the teeth out of my head. The ride's awful. I knew it wouldn't be as smooth as the stock air rides, but man. Did I do something wrong here, or are they usually such a hard ride? I'm 160 lbs; should I use a stiffer setting?


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[Jswerve]

Installed 11.5 Progressive 412s today in order to get my feet flat. Set them toward soft. Holy crap...dang near rattled the teeth out of my head. The ride's awful. I knew it wouldn't be as smooth as the stock air rides, but man. Did I do something wrong here, or are they usually such a hard ride? I'm 160 lbs; should I use a stiffer setting?


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So now you only have 1.5 inches of travel?

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[FlaHeatWave]

I'd adjust them all the way soft, or hard, it doesn't matter, you just need a starting point to work from, and ride the bike on roads that you are familiar with, making small adjustments and riding some more until you hit the sweet spot (if there is one?).

Keep in mind that giving up suspension travel to lower the bike is a definite trade off, there is no way around it... (Have you tried a lower seat?)

Also keep in mind that for a suspension to be optimal, the front and rear have to play well together...

'Have ridden my friend's Skunk with lowered PS f/r, and while it is more precise than the HD Premium f/r on the '09 SERG, it is too stiff for my taste.

[grc]

You need to start out by setting the preload (sag).  How much actual travel do those shocks have?   A good rule of thumb to start is to set the sag to about 1/3 of the total amount of travel.  Let's say the shocks actually measure 11.5" eye to eye when fully extended and they have 2.0" of total travel.  Get a helper to measure the distance eye to eye when you sit on the bike with your full weight on it.  One third of 2.0" is 0.7", so you need to adjust the spring preload adjusters until the eye to eye dimension is 11.5" minus 0.7", or 10.8".  This will leave you with about 1.4" of travel in compression (when you hit a bump) and about 0.7" of travel in rebound (like when the wheel drops into a dip or hole).  This is a decent compromise setting for regular street bikes.

If you assume setting the spring preload adjusters to the softest (lowest) position will give you the softest ride, you would be making a common but incorrect assumption.  With limited travel what that really does is let the shock bottom out against the mechanical stops all the time, and that is a very harsh way to ride.

There is no way I can think of to make a 11.5" or shorter shock ride acceptably on anything other than a super smooth surface.  As the shocks get shorter, the amount of travel has to decrease due to basic physics.  Try a different method to get your feet on the ground, like a lower and narrower rider seat and a good pair of riding boots with thick high traction soles and heels.

Jerry

[timo482]

a shock riding at a half inch will be rougher than running struts, with struts its rough - but if the travel is very short then its a hammer when it bottoms. a actual rigid frame will often ride better than struts because its all lighter.

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