Last year I added Progressive shocks (front & rear) to my ‘16 Road Glide Ultra CVO and you’re right, I wish I had done it two years sooner! :) I am also looking at adding a ‘16 Fat Boy S to my garage in the next couple of weeks. A riding buddy has a sweet one he’s been trying to get me to buy for a while so he can get a new bike. He’ll get a little more from me than he will on a trade-in. TONS of extras on it plus a badass custom paint job. Anyway, thanks for all of your videos! I’ve been binge watching this week. LOL
A real Softail? I could not see an Evo engine in that thing.....🤣 Great video tho'! I just mounted HD 422's on my 94 Softail, and adapted 2000 up progressive gas shocks in the front a few years ago! I'm around 250 lbs so all the way soft with a lot of travel should do god!
Good job you don't live in England, you wouldn't have any foot boards left after a couple of weeks. The Fatboy lo can be ridden briskly without scraping if you approach the corners correctly!
Glad to hear they worked out for you. Seemed like it was doing a good job for a 700 lb cruiser to me. The Progressive Stuff for the Fatboy comes in standard or lowered. The Fatboy Low obviously has lowered stuff as stock, so the front may be the lowered Progressives if you just specified the bike. They have some pretty good deals on last year's models around here. I was more thinking of a Heritage to haul the wife around for lunch outings. The suspension seems to be the most criticized part of that bike. Good to know it can be made to be compliant and well controlled. I had a Victory Cross Roads that had a great chassis and suspension. It was a blast to ride.
Every time I go to a dealer I forget to measure forks on a fat boy vs lo variant. Techs I have asked say they are the same length but I don't trust the information. The Heritage seems to be the most comfortable of all of the older softails. I bet there are some great deals on lightly used Heritage models.
It is interesting that hardly anyone noticed that not only did MoCo kill the Dyna BUT also the Softails. It seems like only the Softail owners are aware of it. Also, even for California, that's a bumpy road. Oh well, if it wasn't so poorly maintained, then there probably would be a lot more traffic. Fortunately, those new shocks seem to take the sting out of most of them. Enjoy your new & improve suspension. And as always - thanks for sharing the ride ;-)
Agreed. If they related that road it would immediately turn into a dangerous race track. You’re right, that suspension made the pavement tolerable - which is saying a lot. The newer softails should have better handling, better engines, better seats, lighting, etc. but I’m just turned off by the new fat boy appearance. Sometimes we’d rather have fun turning a classic, heavy, fairly slow machine into something special rather than having the factor take a stab at it and increase prices
No arguments from me. All the new not-softail Softails have improved their performance, however, they all seem to have style flaws (and redundancy issues). But styling is an easier fix, especially with all the aftermarkets working overtime to have their stuff ready by next spring. It's never been cheap, nevertheless, customizing a Harley has never been a big problem :-)
If you are interested there is a manufacturer in Austria Europe who makes "Floorboard lift kits" for softail models. These kits give approx. 3/4" extra floorboard height off the ground. I applied them on my 2016 Slim S. Never touched the tarmac again. This is their site cytec-performance.com Hopefully google will be able to translate for you from german. If not click on "eigene produkte", then scroll down to 2nd line and click on "TRITTBRETTERHÖHUNGSKIT". I actually got them via my HD dealer. Where € 200 which is approx $250. Have fun stay safe 😁
badkarma3059 that cooler is even easier to ignore than suspension - I agree it makes complete sense to do it early. Next is either some additional blacking out, extended levers for the feet or a cooler
Thanks for all the great information and videos. I am looking at adding ground clearance and upgraded suspension for my 16FBS. I ride on some poorly maintenanced roads and am used to being on sport bike prior to purchasing this. Any advice from what you have learned on your set up?
Hey Ignacio. The best options I am aware of for ride height and travel are air suspension such as Shotgun or an adjustable shock/spring like the progressive shocks I have. I'm not sure of the benefits of an air suspension beyond the ease of adjusting it - if you need to adjust it frequently. For the front, progressive monotube insert is the way to go. YSS is an alternative to progressive for front and rear components. There are always crazy custom options that will be extremely expensive and unproven but could potentially be superior.
i run a 94 softail springer with original shocks now, however i have recently purchased the 422s with the RAP and upgraded the springer shock to the PAUHGCO shock as its the only shock other than the chinese OEM shocks out there for it. with the Paughco shock in the front it made the springer track correctly for the first time since ive owned it. heres a picture of the day i bought it to how it looks today and i still have a few things left to tackle such as the fishtails www.deviantart.com/q5grafx/art/Beforeandafter-761195152
Did you get standard or heavy springs with those shocks? I just got mine hoping I got the right ones, I got the heavy ones, I weight 185 and I can go up to 195 sometimes in the year
joserubenvega I got the standard. I had the impression that unless you rise 2up very often ,or are mid 200’s in weight yourself, you’re better off with the standard. I’m 190-200lbs as well and the standard set works great. Hope yours work out as well.
Minner Q what are your thoughts now on 422’s? How many miles in a day would you say you can ride now with these shocks........I’m still waiting on my (slim) bike to get them installed now 😩 I want to try them so bad,
joserubenvega sorry you’re waiting bud. The 422’s are great. Harshness doesn’t limit my distance. My somewhat thin seat starts to bother me around 150 miles - nothing a different seat couldn’t fix
Minner Q I’ve been riding already with the progressives, for sure feels better but I just don’t know if I’m getting the best possible setting, I took it to the Harley dealer to get it done. I got the rap set up. When I got it back the rap was completely maxed out counterclockwise so I’m guessing they either had it set up on the softest setting or the stiffest setting although I’m thinking the softest setting. So now I have to be slowly playing around with the rap and see what differences it makes, but then I can’t even play with the second shock because they forgot to give me my tool to be able to adjust the shock 😒
People sit st the light for a few seconds after turning green because you're supposed to look to make sure nobody is running a red so they dont get T-Boned. That's first day of driver's ed stuff.
