Progressive shocks on my 2009 GS

[daltmeyer]

So I just went ahead and ordered the Progressive fronts(435-1000) and the rear shock(465-1180) from Phat Performance Parts. They had the best prices as far as I could tell.

Then.. They arrived.

May as well slap em on!

Started at the rear. One thing to notice is the mounting points of the new rear shock has ball joints. And yes thats the correct shock according to my phone call to Progressive. You wont go through the trouble I did of worrying why you can move the shock a little bit after installation as I didnt realize it was a ball joint until after I took it back off and noticed the movement is part of the design... I thought I had the wrong shock or they put the wrong bushings in it. So back on it goes... and on to the fronts.

For the fronts, you have to remove the two side panels right under where the gas tank should be. This reveals the last screw holding the panel you really need off which is the panel around the fog lamp area. If you have fog lamps installed like me, its going to be a tight fit getting your hands, wrench, and ratchet in there. You could probably just remove the fog lamps but I didnt. I just unplugged them to get the wire out of the way and pushed on, with slow, tight, hand pinching success.

The old ones come out somehow. Once you get the shocks loose and theyre in your hand trying to get them out of there you might be puzzled. But they do come out. Find the right angle on accident like I did or you can take off the lower a arm plastic piece like I shouldve done. 4 8mm bolts and theyre off but I didnt bother or think of it at the time.

Get the new ones in somehow. Be carefull not to lose any of the little bushing caps on each side of the mounting points. Its tight but they do squeek in there.

[daltmeyer]

So how do they ride? I like them alot. Im not a suspension expert and have no clue how to go about fine tuning shocks and just left everything as out of the box. I did check that the spring lengths were within spec as per instructions. Also that the two front shocks had exactly the same spring length as they should... And they did right out of the box.

The ride is more firm, as expected. After a few hundred miles I have adapted to the new suspension and dont plan to adjust anything so far. Its on rails as they say especially with my Bajaron sway bar.

My main fear was to have an unpredictable ride where I was in fear of hitting a bump in a corner and the trike not reacting well or something of that nature... None of that here. Im well pleased and glad I went with these shocks.

I dont show mine off like I would like to as I have put shock covers on mine to keep the muck off. Especially the rear, it really needs one.

[daltmeyer]

Heres a pic before the installation

[Chupaca]

glad it all worked out. I like the progressives but unfortunately they don't have them for the 12's. Have to stick with the stocks for now. The bajaron bar and pitbull re-locators have me ryding where I want. Some day they will make progressives for the newer models...congrats..!!

[daltmeyer]

Yes thats why I started on the rear. I wasnt sure if it would work on mine as they had changed the rear shock mount bracket somewhere along the line even before 2012. Something about going from a two stage shock to a single and maybe the length of shock got changed even before 2012. Very confusing.

Luckily, Everything fit and works as advertised!

[flamingobabe]

My husband has put Progressive on every bike he has owned...he loves them....

[daltmeyer]

Id like to point out that these shocks didnt alter my ride height. I didnt like the idea of raising the front end at all. Or the rear for that matter.

Also, I believe I changed these out at 7300 miles and the stock shocks all had obvious damage to the bushings or mounting points with the rubber compound being compressed at the pressure points. I saw a picture someone posted of theyre stock shock bushings and thats the main reason I changed mine out. The handling I never really had a problem with... Its the bushings that go bad.

[lapirow]

Is the word used as a brand name or a feature of their design? If you want progressive springs you will need some pretty tricky tapered steel bar. Or you could do what I did, install Fournales units. They use air for the spring. Each time you halve the travel, the spring rate doubles.

I have used these units since the early 80s on a Goldwing outfit, on my BMW from 2000 and on my Spyder from 2010. Other advantages are very light weight and (with a very high pressure pump) really significant and effective "preload".

The only downside is cost.

And these units all have spherical mounts with no bushes.

Cheers