Rear ride…..shocks?

[Koko3052]

As a first time R3 owner for almost a year now, I’m wondering what others have done to make this beast ride a bit better. I’ve been riding big bikes for about a half century now around Canada and the US and our highways up here in “The Great White North” aren’t getting any better.
I’ve been messing with the adjustment on the rear of my ‘08 classic but really…. how much can you do with only four spring settings?
What have other riders done or changed to what other shocks to get a more comfortable ride? My stature is 6’2” and weigh about 220 lbs. with gear and my wife weighs about 135 geared up and both seniors.
I‘ve been looking at Progressive’s site because that is what I’m most familiar with after running Harley’s most of my life, but I’m sure there are many other good brands. Just want to get the most “real life” info as possible and the best bang for the buck….because when looking at shock prices there is a really big BANG!
Thank’s to all that respond.

 

[2023R3GT]

Raised the pre-load on the rear, 2 clicks form full and soften up my suspension front and rear wrt rebound and compression damping.
Essentially you want to use as much of the travel (comp/rebound) that’s available.
Because of the low slung chassis/weight the rear shock in particular has very short travel. same would apply for any aftermarket shock, so no real gains make swapping shocks out. The showa’s are good, just lacks travel, setup will help a lot!
Tire pressure will also influence the ride, I have them lower than what’s recommended, but how I ride, our road surfaces and temperatures influences this.

 

[Koko3052]

Raised the pre-load on the rear, 2 clicks form full and soften up my suspension front and rear wrt rebound and compression damping.
Essentially you want to use as much of the travel (comp/rebound) that’s available.
Because of the low slung chassis/weight the rear shock in particular has very short travel. same would apply for any aftermarket shock, so no real gains make swapping shocks out. The showa’s are good, just lacks travel, setup will help a lot!
Tire pressure will also influence the ride, I have them lower than what’s recommended, but how I ride, our road surfaces and temperatures influences this.

This bike is an ‘08 and there is no rebound dampening, just a coil spring over shock with 5 settings.

 

[2023R3GT]

This bike is an ‘08 and there is no rebound dampening, just a coil spring over shock with 5 settings.

you mention R3 which influenced my response, I somehow missed the 08 reference, apologies. that said the essence of the message remains...

 

[bikecrazy]

I have an '05 and am 230 lbs and even on the softest setting the rear shocks rode too hard. I replaced them with Progressives and the ride is better.

 

[Tripps]

I put Hagon Nitros on the rear and progressive springs on the front, it was a bit of an improvement, but it's always going to be an 800 lb bike, and ride like one.