Rear shocks

[excess11]

I am looking at progressive shocks for my XS, The series 12 and 412. Does anyone have any expierence with these shocks. Is one better than the other. The prices are similar. Has anyone tried other brands of shocks that have worked well. Let me know

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Dan,

Do you do a lot of 2 up riding, or with lots of stuff, sidebags and trunk? The progressives are supposedly very good shocks, but a bit pricey for my tastes and needs!

I remember my OEM's and they didn't damper very much if at all, go the bucking bronco type rise and fall of the rear on accel/decel actions. When I did my rebuild, I got the el-cheapo's from JCW, same as on Mike's XS and Partsnmore pages, they work fairly well, no more bronco billy action, and have dual rate springs wth lots of preload adjustments.

I ride mostly solo, and not much gear, but have had it loaded, and didn't experience any bottoming out of the rear! YMMV.
T.C.

[randy]

Dan,

I scored an NOS set of Progressive #412 and I love 'em. Plenty of range for solo and two-up. No complaints at all.

If you get a new set they come with all the bushings for almost any application and the adjuster tool, too.

Randy

[Dennyz]

I have the Progressive 412s and like them. I noticed a significant improvement in ride and handling. I purchased them with the soft spring. I found the soft springs to be to soft for 230lb me and my seat pack. I replaced the springs with the stock ones and found them to be perfect.

[MartyA]

After years of trying different ages and makes and sizes and brands, I finally bought the Series 12 heavy duty.

http://www.progressivesuspension.com/appview.asp?AppsNumber=507

Progressive suggests heavy duty if you are over 200 lb (I'm 250), have bolt on accessores, and have a passenger (SWMBO 125) more than occasionally.

I had the Parts n More, with the bike unloaded and in a straight line they dampened fine, but the bike sat way too low. I had to tip the bike over to the right just to get the side stand down, and I bottomed out on RR tracks and scraped the muffler often in sweepers. Riding with my wife was not very enjoyable.

With the 13" shocks and the heavy duty springs, the bike rides like a dream, handles very well, and I am not scraping my muffler in the right handers any more, just the pegs. It rides better than my Venture, and even with SWMBO on board, I don't bottom out like with the Parts n More's.

Standard springs are rated something like 70 / 90, these 03-1365B ("B" is for black) are rated something like 120 / 170. Don't quote me on the numbers, I am working from memory.

The trick is finding them. I called Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse and they had two pair left, so I ordered one of them. I am extremely satisfied with them. By the way, they come separate, you have to mount the springs yourself.

[nashville_bill]

I bought the PartsNMore shocks and I am very satisfied. They are a big improvement over the twenty plus year old ones and I have had no problems with bottoming out even while fully loaded. I ride a special, with 16" rear wheel, so I cannot say how they would work on a standard XS11.

[Viking500usa]

Progressive shock chart

Hello all, Im sure many will benefit from this link. its a specification chart for progressive shocks. It is in .pdf format.
check it out !

http://www.progressivesuspension.com/PDF/7100-105.pdf

good luck,
Don 79sf

[79XS11F]

The progressive shocks I have on my bike were bought off e-Bay. Can someone who is familiar with these shocks tell me where to find these ID numbers on the units. Are there numbers on the springs as well? I'm not sure what I have but do know that if I go 2 up the front end is too light
Rob

[pggg]

Another choice is Koni. They call them Ikon nowadays. They're top-quality. Forget Ohlins for now. The 2 pairs I've got that fit an eleven are the 7610-1427 and the 7610-1407. The 1427 is 13 inch and the 1407 is 12 inch. Pick your spring stiffness, mine are good set at hard and the dampers set at notch 3 of 4. Dunno what they charge now, might be a bit dear. Heres the yamaha range.

http://www.ikonsuspension.com/content/bikes/yamaha.html

[xschop]

max

Has anyone tried V-max rear shocks with a full load. I like the firm ride of these shocks, but don't know about luggage/extra passenger ride

[mtmopar]

I'm glad I found this thread; apparently I'm riding to much this year because things are starting to fail. Last night cleaning my bike I see that both of my rear shocks are weeping spouge. Time to do so research. Anyone by chance selling a good set of shocks?

[xschop]

I have a few

Not the prettiest, but in good working order

[portero72]

I have a set of 412s on mine-rides like a different bike after the change. Have the hd springs because i'm 210lbs and tour with gear often. A bit spendy, yes, but worth every penny. cheers

[mtmopar]

??

Looking at the 412's and have a cople questions. Is everyone going with the 12.5" size or has anyone tried the 11" ones? Also did they comes with 3/8" bushings or did you have to make your own? Thanks for any info.

[excess11]

Shocks

I installed the 12.5" progressive 412's on my 78' Xs1100E standard. They came with about 6 different types of bushings, So the bushings you need will probally be included. The only problem with these shocks is that when I took the saddle bags, trunk and faring off the ride height is very high now. I am 6' 3" and can just touch the ground flat footed. I have the spring adjustment all the way down. The shorter shocks might be better. See what other people have to say!!!!