High speed, laid over, bump then...

[HellFire]

Nearly every bike I've owned in the past had some type of adjustable dampening, even my old Seca 750 had easy to adjust dials on the top of the rear shocks and air pressure adjustment on the forks. It's too bad new cruiser manufacturers don't seem to think they are necessary and leave that simple little option off. It would make a huge difference in the safety and ride quality, I thinks it's one of those items that outweighs the cost savings. Seems like such a waste to have to replace perfectly good shocks on the R3 just to keep your ass from bouncing out of the seat on the highway for lack of a simple adjuster.

 

[RocketDaryl]

You could always get a Tiger, ride it down to Florida, adjusting the easily adjustable suspension along the way, and then go riding with me once you get here. We could blow the tops off of a couple of brewskis and argue about the virtues of Flipper's .50 mod in person.

 

[moklodge]

I went to Prog 440 13" HDs within 2 weeks of owning my R3C. The wallowing on the stock rig was horrible and I was bounced out of the seat numerous times. Huge (and I mean HUGE) improvement with the 440s. I just wish I had gone 13.5" for improved ride height and a little more forward bias but I was nervous to change the set up too much as I'm no engineer. Just a guy switching from a Ducati who still wants to corner with some excitement. Get 'em.

 

[Keith_H]

I picked up some 440's last week. Haven't had time to install them yet.

 

[TriumPhil]

You will not be disappointed - just dial them in in accordance with your load!

 

[HellFire]

I WAS enjoying the new 440's, but ever since our little vacation trip to Ocean City MD during Bike Week the wife has been yacking up a storm about how much she wants to ride more. The more she and a friends wife I introduced to her on the trip, discussed more trips they both wanted to to take, the more I had to rethink my choice. The standard 440's just don't work well on a two up, loaded down bike. And a really long trip like the one we took together to Niagara Falls Canada would bottom out too often. Summit Racing has a 90 day return policy so I sent them back while I had the chance and ordered 418 HD's. The 418's are more adjustable in that they have a dial on top for setting the dampening on the shock itself. There hasn't been any talk around the water cooler about them so I'm hoping they ride at least as good as the 440's did. I had to put the stock shocks back on while I wait and They SUCK!
They are being drop shipped from Progressive so they should be here next week, I'll let you guys know how they do.

 

[Txclassic]

Put 418s on my '06 R3 classic in the first year. I mostly ride one up (165 lbs) and have the Corbins loaded.

With the stock shocks, small bumps and highway expansion joints used to bounce me right out of the seat. Hard cornering at highway speed was downright scary.

With the 418s, everything changed for the better! I have the rebound set at 3 and the preload set at 2. Works well for me. For 2-up riding, I increase the preload to 3 and all is well.

Only one problem (covered under warranty). Oil seal failed on left side shock in the first year. Progressive rebuild both shocks at no cost and had them back within 2 weeks. Temporarily had to put the stock shocks back on and was reminded why I needed the Progressives in the first place.

You will like the 418s. I chose them over the 440s because of their adjustability and my lighter loading.

Good luck.