Lowering the back end

[Adam 105th sportster]

On stock shocks I hit a pot hole and the belt guard smacked the bottom of the rear fender bending the belt guard!!! On the Hagons it will never get close to that happening again + once you get used to the new feel the level of confidence they give is awesome. Why they don't fit them or a comparable shock as standard I don't know.

[Squiz]

Originally Posted by Adam 105th sportster

On stock shocks I hit a pot hole and the belt guard smacked the bottom of the rear fender bending the belt guard!!! On the Hagons it will never get close to that happening again + once you get used to the new feel the level of confidence they give is awesome. Why they don't fit them or a comparable shock as standard I don't know.

I suspect their accessory sales etc are second to none and the above is probably one of the reasons for that.

[Father Jack]

Originally Posted by Jon

I've already read quite a few posts on this forum about rear shocks. So I'm aware belt tension change is a potential concern. But silly question; no one seems to have mentioned having to replace the jiffy stand. Has anyone who's lowered their bike had any problems with their original jiffy stand being too long?? I only ask because I'm guessing they must sell different length jiffies for a reason and wondering if 2" lower would come with the headache of replacing the jiffy. And lastly, not asking for much detail, but is it generally a pain to replace the shocks (I'm very VERY green if you haven't already guessed by now heheh)? Or maybe worth buying one of those step-by-step manuals?

Cheerio!

Jon, you're absolutely right. Playing about with ride heights has an effect on how the bike sits when it's on the side stand. If you lower the back end by 2", the bike is going to sit nearly upright on the stand. I have two side stands, one is straight and the other has a bend in it which was too far over when the bike was standard but just right when I lowered it.

As far as replacing the shocks is concerned, you can replace like for like quite easily, one side at a time. When you are fitting shorter, or longer, shocks you need to put a jack under the rear of the frame (with wooden block) and raise or lower the jack to adjust the distance between the shock mountings.

When I fitted the Hagons, I had to get 3/8" spacers as the bushes in the mounting lugs are shorter than standard (the id is 1/2").