Rear Suspension upgrade

[tempname]

Steve, I went with the Progressive 440's Heavy Duty, they recommend Heavy Duty if the rider is over 200 lbs or if you do a lot of 2-up riding.
They make a world of difference, I went with the standard length of 12.5".

Cheapest place I found to get them was:
http://www.mawonline.com/default.htm

Don't know if they ship down under?

By the way welcome to our little corner of the world! 8)

 

[vikei]

Steve,
I bought a Rocket seven months ago, and also have a BMW K1200RS on which I have done some 50,000 km around SA. I have both bikes, and alternate, and ride exclusively in the country - both important considerations for what follows.
At first I thought the Rocket's shock absorbers were terrible, but after a few weeks I knew what was happening:
1. my body was 'tuned' to a different bike - and one's own movements and anticipation has a lot to do with shock absorption
2. the best setting for a bloke of about 84kg, with bags, luggage rack and so on, was setting 3. When my wife (she is very petite) joins me, I set the shockies to 5 and it works very well.
Now, after about 6000 km, I have a more suitable setting aone (setting 3) and my own body has learned to work with the Rocket (incidentally, I seem to swap between the two bikes very easily, although it seemed odd at first).
My counsel to you would be to put the shockies on 3 and wait for a couple of thousand kilometres. You should then discover that the factory items are actually a very fine compromise, work very well and in the process save yourself a couple of grand or so.
Cheers,
Einar
P.S. go to accessories (how to goldmine) on this site, as I have posted a couple of interesting modifications for the R3.

 

[rubber2burn]

Factory shocks suck , big time , in my opinion , for both comfort for rider and most definetly pillion , and also the handling , changing the shocks solved the wallow mid corner .
I went with Wilbers shocks , but the majority here have fitted the progressives

 

[gR3yWolf]

Buzzo, welcome to our little world!

 

[Pegasus]

Welcome Steve...ditto what Harry said :wink:

 

[TurboFan]

Welcome and ditto. Seemed too much to spend at first, but it is WELL worth it.

 

[patochris]

Steve

Had the same problem, think almost everyone does.
I put on a set of Aussie made Ikon shocks - don't know the model number but if you talk to them they know all about the prob. http://www.proven.com.au/
Most of my riding is 2 up and the wife now reckons the R3 is better than the Trophy BBBB. Set the shocks on 2nd preload and #1 on the shocks - haven't changed them and it transformed the bike
Both are fitted with a sheepskin seat cover - you will prob need one if you haven't already got one. Let me know and I can give you contact in Melbourne - He is great to deal with.
Shocks were about AUD$720 delivered in 2 days to Yatala, Qld.
WELL WORTH the money !!!!!!!!!

Chris P

 

[patochris]

Deleted

dreaded repeat repeat

 

[vikei]

Steve,
I did some research six months ago, and it came down to the Ikons or the Fournales - but before I made a decision I gave the issue some time and came to the conclusion I described earlier.
The Fournales are ahead of the game on looks, but they cost twice as much. Still, whatever you do, please let us know the result. Personally, I ride the Rocket very hard, on all sorts of roads, and the factory shockies work well for me - but you will have to make up your own mind.
Cheers,
Einar

 

[Billythebiker]

Hagon Nitro's here, great shocks