hello, i have an iron 883 and i am looking at putting 11 inch shocks on the back, currently they are 13 inch standard from factory.
my question is will it scrub with a passenger if i have 11 inch shocks on the back?? any help would be greatly appreciated
I'm a 'poser' apparently, but I won't take offense to comments made by others - however stupid, ignorant or unwarranted. Though it seems a little hypocritical for ANYONE who rides a Harley to call anyone else a 'poser', right? You don;t ride a Harley to just blend in and commute now, do you? Anyway. I have 12-inch eye to eye Road King low version air shocks on my Iron, combined with 3-inch lowering blacks. Yes, its low. I'm 6ft tall and weight 85kg, and it doesn't scrape or bottom out. If, however, I throw the missus on the back (she's a tiny thing at 4'11" and weighs just 43kg) it does bottom on larger bumps. I have the option of adding air lines and pumping up the shocks to 5psi, which will assist, but for now with zero pressure in them they ride nice and the missus is rarely on the back so I haven't bothered. Coming down from 13.5-inch stock springs to 12-inch is easy and you still have 2-inches more travel than I do. You may weigh less too. The question is - which 12-inch do you want to use? You may be able to hunt down a set of the 11.5-inch Nightster rear springs from 2007-8 models sold in Australia, but after this they went up to 13.5-inch. Alternatively, the air shocks like I use can be bought from the dealer, or just grab some from eBay USA like I did for about $100US a pair. Just make sure they have sealed caps on the valves to the oil doesn't leak when they're shipped. When searching you have to make sure you get the low version, as most on offer are 13.5-inch and won't get the arse of the bike down. They do bolt straight on, but you will need to add a couple of washers on the top mounts to space them away from the frame a tad.
Maybe the easiest route is to buy adjustable lowering blocks like mine and add these while retaining the stock spring set up. My set has 1, 2, and 3-inch positions on the mounting brackets. Easy installation but you'll need a bike jack.
in this case i wish i was being a poser but im only looking at lowering it because i am a short guy and would like to be flat footed when im stopped at the light or wherever..
i have got lowering block on at the moment but its just not low enough so i am thinking of taking them of and getting shorter shocks. in the future i want to carry the mrs so i dont want it bottoming out to much, i way 78 and the mrs is about 50. i know that in america the shocks come out shorter on the iron but im not sure of the measurments. i think 11.5 or 11 should just do the job, i was thinking progressive shocks or try to get my hands on the american ones or nightster ones like you said.
your iron looks nice by the way i have the same white walls on it.. avon?.
OK, poser was a bit strong, but the original poster was talking specifically about his suspension when 2 up. Maybe he only rides in the City, but if he lived where I am with fucked roads (most of regional Aus'), his 11 inch shocks would make his bike next to unridable with a pillion. So my comment is neither stupid nor ignorrent, and quite warranted (apart from the Poser comment I admit), but as allways, it is my opinion.
Good advice from Damon. You may also want to try looking at this thread:
www.hdforums.com.au/Default.aspx
Lots of stuff on lowering Irons here. You will probably bottom out with a pillion over bigger bumps with 11 inch shocks...but does that really matter? You wont rub the tyre on the guard, I can state for sure.
Not buying into the poser debate..........but I like how my bike looks.
Its just a 48 seat that I have trimmed in leather and suede with Bentley style cross stitching. Only cost about $130 for a stock 48 seat from the dealer, plus another $180 for the trimming job. Copy it if you want, but isn't the point of modifying to do your own thing?
I have factory shocks on my 883C at the moment and which believe are 11.75"whilst it doesn't scrub it does bottom out when going over railway lines and bridges and the like with one person, so two would be pretty awful. The lack of give in the solid rear wheel doesn't help either. The progressives are meant to be better, but how much so I'm not sure.
After seeing the iron in all pics as US spec, the 13" shocks do look a bit silly as they come here. Any idea why they did it? Was it to meet some ADR as to light or number plate height?
Also in regards to the lowering blocks, are they legal (for insurance)?
