Thanks
I'm 5'9" tall and 250lbs a perfect Santa shape. With my Original shocks most of the time I'm on my toes at stops, so I was thinking of going with a shorter shock but woundered about any problems with a shorter shock?
Santa
Santa, as to shock length, you have to decide based on your riding style. I am also 5'9" (185), with a long body and short legs, and I have no problem putting my feet down with lowrider and bigboy seats with 13" shocks at most flat stops. I may not always be comfortably flatfooted but I can get there if I get up on the seat. And I am often only left foot down, with right on the brake (which believe it or not can be more stable than both feet down). But I ride in a sporting manner and drag boards, and go looking for the best twisty/elevation roads I can find. So I want all the turning clearance I can get. I traded away 12.5 440s to get 13s on my second bike.
But many here use 11.5, 12, 12.5 shocks and like them. All function perfectly as suspension, except the shorter you go, the less travel you get. You can go to any shorter length and get your feet down a bit easier, but you do give up a little turning clearance to get it.
You could easily go to 12.5 and probably not even notice the difference in ordinary riding. The only difference I could find between 13s and 12.5s was I drug the boards sooner. And remember, an inch at the shocks is somewhat less than an inch at the pegs/boards. I would not go lower than 12 in any evet, but that's me.
Do you run a Lowboy seat (an inch under stock)? Wear tall sole boots?
You have not said if you ride an IS or std/tourer or if you carry a passenger regularly. At 250 I think you need the HD shock. They come set to the lowest/cushiest setting (with ten turns of adjustment). It sounds to me like you want a 12.5 or 12 HD440. I could be wrong.
