[riddlej]

Hope sombody can help, I have a 2004 Electra Glide Classic. I want to lower the seat height so I dont feel like Im standing on my toes when I stop the bike. is the best way to lowering the bike to change out the shocks, I would like to drop the seat height 1 to 2 inches. I think the standard shock is 13 inches. Can I go with a 11 1/2 inch progressive shock and not have any clearance problems.



Thanks for the help

[Seahag]

Well it depends on what kind of riding you do and how much money you have to spend. If you like two up riding and have the money its definitely a good choice to go with a quality aftermarket shock. Works performance is said to build a shock to your specifications...ie. what bike, rider weight, ride height desired. If you do mostly solo riding and would like to save some money you could use one of the aftermarket lowering kits. I recommend Tj's lowering kits at: http://www.tj-products.com/ Tj's are billet machined for more strength. My local dealer stopped selling the White Bros. kit after he had a few come back with broken welds. I've been using Tj's 1" lowering kit for the last three years on my EGlide and had only a minor bottoming problem when riding two up...which I combatted with higher pressures and injecting a little extra heavy suspension fluid into the system to reduce travel. When I get all the other stuff I want done to my ride I plan to install the legend air suspension bagger system. If you've got $1000.00 I can't think of a better way to go. You don't want to lower the rear any more than an inch without dropping the front to match as it alters the ride characteristics slightly by altering the effective trail at the front wheel. This is what I've been told anyway and I have a good ability to understand and retain what I've learned....I just have to add that in case some expert comes in here totally trashing what I just wrote I only have a 30" inseam and have found the extra leverage to be indispensable; especially when trying to back the bike up a slight incline.

[riddlej]

Thanks, for the info I have a 29" inseam, so you know where Im coming from.
I am use to riding a super glide, big difference in seat height. once again thanks for the help.

[Jimkueblerspeed]

and you can get em cheap too! The shocks on my dyna when I got it were too short for my big ass as they allowed the tire to make contact with the bottom of the tag holder, so I bought a pair of stock length progressive types and now I own a pair of perfect progressive nearly new shocks that may indeed get you that inch that you are looking for!

[hotroadking]

First thing I would consider is an aftermarket seat like mustang or corbin, the corbin will be narrower and have a lower seat height on a dual tour seat which might give you the few more inches you need to get flat feet on the ground.

Lowering the bike changes a lot of things, handling, clearance and ride are all compromised, If you lower the rear you change the effective rake of the bike changing the way it handles from stock, like raking out the trees a degree or two.

You will also loose cornering clearance.

So if you do drop the shocks don't go radical go just a little but do the seat first.