Today I took a girlfriend out for a long ride and this is pretty much the first time I have put anyone on the bike other than me except for a mile or two spin. I have always kinda complained about the rough ride I get from the bike anyways, but with her only being 110 lbs, it was still so rough we bottomed everytime we hit a dip in the road. I am only 5'7 and I can easily flat foot. So no doubt the bike has been lowered somehow and I would drag the floorboards continually when I first got it until I adjusted the preload to the maximum specifications allowed according to the owners manual. I am so disappointed because I really want a smooth ride, it is just unacceptable to have it bottoming so much. So I guess the first order of business is to find out what they have done to lower it. I don't know much about the suspension on this yet except that I did the adjustment on the preload but that is a piece of cake and you really don't even have to look at anything else. Could someone tell me what I need to remove to have full view of the shock and brackets and how difficult is it to remove the shock if I wish to change the spring. I know a spring alone can not be my problem. It has to have been lowered somehow..I need to address that first. What kind of designs are generally used to lower the roadies? I know about the flip and grind because I read about that everywhere..but what else? Thanks. J

You will have to pull the shock out and see if the link has been flipped of if longer dog bones have been installed or an aftermarket link.Check out what you have and we'll help you get it the way you want. Or you can get an air ride, they you can make it good for 1 or 2 up.

Paul

Your bike looks lowered .... probably the flip by the looks of it.

Here is an article so you know what we are talking about .... The Flip

Doc

By just looking at your sig picture I would say it has been lowered. If you have a bike jack you can get it up high enought to see the shock and links. Maybe you could take a picture of them and then maybe we can tell you.

Thanks for the quick response guys..paul I will definitely take a look after work tomorrow and see whats going on. What do I remove to get access to the shock? The side covers, tank? I can figure it out but I am not too proud to ask..lol. Also, this trick air ride I have heard about..how much is it? Thanks. J

Just raise the bike up and look underneath. The shock assembly comes out the bottom.

Doc

awesome! Thanks..I will check it out tomorrow. Thanks for that article. I read it thoroughly and know what to look for on the mount. If its turned, I am gonna turn it back. Do I need to remove rear wheel to turn it back around? Thanks.

Well 1st, If your Pre load is adjusted (Check it as they loosen up very often all by themselves.)

2nd, yea It can be the Spring alone. A lot of people including me have installed a Progressive spring. Do a search on poor mans spring tool.

This spring does work wonders and is a inexpensive fix for your problem. If money is no object then hop on Tricky Air's next sale and so Air spring.

I know someone who did and might have a Spring for sale, he'll PM you maybe. But I know he has only about 3K miles on the spring. I have about10K on mine, two up, Fully loaded for a week, and this is what we weigh in at like that, And I mean packed to the gills.



I did call Progressive spring who said use of this spring on the stock shock is not cool, but, I'll go with the group here and say yea it is. I had some issues but it wasn't what I thought or what Progressive said it was. The shock will work wonders for ya. one and two up.

It is shorter and will drop the bike, they say 1" I found that to be about right but if you adjust pre load to MAX (2" you will be better than now and since it is "Progressive" It will get stronger as it is compressed and bottom out much less if ever.

Can you do it yourself is a loaded question, Many have done it themselves, the poor mans spring tool works great. You'll need normal shop tools found in a shade-tree mechanics lineup. Some tools in the bikes bag can also be put to use.

It's always cheaper to buy what you need and DIY than pay some rip off to do it wrong for you. And this even figures in a few major screw ups Read my Tag Line.

if you adjusted the preload you were looking @ the shock

Wow, thanks MS1700 for that information. How is the ride with the progressive spring? If it keeps you from bottoming does it severely stiffen the ride? Of course my ride is already way to stiff..lol, couldn't be worse than what it is. I used to be an auto mechanic before I got smart and went of to nursing school so the work is no problem with the spring tool of course. I really need to check that dog bone to see if it has been reversed. If it has, I assume I would need to turn it back around to use this spring? And further, I need to make sure they have not installed some other kind of lowering kit. I am not sure what to look for..but I am gonna try and look very closely tomorrow and nail down the problem. Thanks again for that information. That spring is on my list..how much is the tricky air ride by the way?