Longer shocks, retain seat height.

brandersnatch

brandersnatch

Club Member
This is a bit of a sanity check to see if this will work. Bike is a 2014 Street Glide that I want to make a bit more comfortable for Mrs.B on the back. I’ve bought a Sundowner Saddle which works well but the ride is a bit harsh with standard shocks. The Sundowner is a bit taller than the standard saddle, not a problem as it is now but I don’t want the seat height any higher.
My plan is to get some Hagon shocks that are an inch longer than standard and combine them with inch lowering blocks thus keeping the seat height where it is now.
Would this work? Any pitfalls? Any recommendations as to the lowering blocks?
Thanks.
 
? Why the lowering blocks and extra inch on the shocks ? hagons build to order they just need both your weights in riding kit plus luggage they will build the shocks allowing for the supplied weights giving the correct spring rates and damping and with their nitros your ride height will stay the same but with the correct springs and damping to match the ride will improve no end good people to deal with direct on the phone with loads of help and advice (y) :cool:
 
Thanks for your reply. I’ve been into Hagon to talk about the shocks. The very helpful bloke there suggested the inch longer shocks would allow more travel and therefore more control and comfort. He was very keen on the longer shocks.
 
depending on your model and year i think there are 2 shock lengths listed with the special model being the shorter shock and differing spring rates between them so the inch longer he’s recommending may not need lowering blocks when you take sag into account which is the amount the bike sits as you bring it upright and add your load on hes allowing more travel with a softer spring rate for a plusher ride when i did Logan’s r/k we went back 3 times to get the spring rate right as hes 10.8 stone in riding kit and the guys there were ace changeing springs till he was happy while we waited all i did was pop em off in the car park all free of charge (y)
 
I’ve had a measure up and the existing shocks are 12 inch. The extra inch would make the bike a bit tall when combined with the new saddle. Is there a problem with using lowering blocks? As I said before, the guy at Hagon was keen on the extra inch.
 
brandersnatch said:
I’ve had a measure up and the existing shocks are 12 inch. The extra inch would make the bike a bit tall when combined with the new saddle. Is there a problem with using lowering blocks? As I said before, the guy at Hagon was keen on the extra inch.
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Go with what hagon say. If the sag is set up correctly, you will retain a similar ride height. Im going 1" over on my sg shocks.
 
There are a few points to consider with in this case twin rear shocks and they can get confused.

First the length of the shock, this will be the distance between the two eye bolt position on your H-D shock and this will be measured generally when uncompressed, so off the bike is the best way to measure this or with the weight off the rear wheel and off the ground.

Then there is the length of travel, this is the distance the shock can move when fully compressed to un-compressed. (generally you have to take what the manufacture says for this)

Now we come to pre-load, adjustment and sag, so basically what this is about is getting the shock absorber in the right position when it has a normal load, (i.e. the rider and or what ever else on the bike normally) so it can move both up and down the ideal amount to absorb the bumps and irregularities, so if set wrongly and it is too far either way it will loose the ability to absorb the bumps etc. For example if it is set say fully compressed it will have no movement to to compress further and be in effect solid suspension.
We will not go into damping here.

This is why getting the shock absorbers set correctly can make a very big difference.

Not all shock absorbers are the same, you can have the same overall length but have a different amount of travel, i.e. say 3 inches of travel as opposed to 4 inches, the more travel you have the more the shock can move and ability to absorb shocks to some extent, so may well be more tolerant to not being set quite right regards preload and sag.

Street Glides and Tourers have the same frames etc, with the Street Glide running the Shorter rear shocks, it is generally consider they will ride better with the longer standard touring shock length, longer shocks will affect the steering angle, so to some extent change the handling characteristics and steering. I believe the longer shocks generally also have more travel.

So a longer shock with more travel may well be able to be set up to the same overall seat height when seated on the bike as the shorter shock with less travel, though it may however give a taller seat height when unladen, but should give a better overall ride.

Using lowering blocks is not ideal as this changes the position and angle of the shocks, thus the forces and leverage and in some I believe rare cases can lead to failure of the swinging arm mounts.
 
Great informative post thanks. I measured the shocks on the side stand, maybe I should get it on the lift and measure again. What you say about longer shocks giving the same ride height as shorter ones is interesting. My previous bike was an Electra Glide Standard with presumably longer shocks and pretty much the same saddle as my new Sundowner. I had no trouble with the ride height on that one but I feel that if the Street Glide is any taller I’d have a problem.
Very good point about the potential pitfalls of using lowering blocks. I think I’ll rule them out as a poor solution.
I’ll have to pop into Hagon again armed with the correct shock length and talk about sag as if I know what I’m talking about 😂
 
Have you gone to Hagon's with the bike, so they can can actually look at/measure the shocks, this may save you a lot of effort help you out greatly.
 
That’s also a great idea. Last time I popped in I was just passing in a car. I’ll have to wait till I’ve got a day off as they’re not open on Saturday.
 
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