Progressive 440 Shocks

[Toystoretom]

I know a lot of other people already have these.. but things are a little slow around here, probably since half the forum is sleeping off Americade, so I thought I'd throw in my 3 cents worth.

I ordered them from MAWonline, part no. 440-4209C and they showed up in 9 days. These are not all chrome, but have a black shock body, chrome spring and alloy end caps. They look nice.

I installed them on the bike and bounced up and down on the seat just to see if they felt any different from the stockers. Both shocks started to squeak terribly. It sounded like a cheap motel room. I sprayed a little silicone on the shock shafts and that killed the squeaking.

I went out for a ride and what a difference! The back of the bike doesn't seem to do anything but glide smoothly. You can hit some terrible bumps and these shocks can handle it. I have them set on soft and I really could never get them to bottom out. You can really feel the rear suspension work now, especially going through dips. The stockers would have broken my back on some of this stuff. The 440's really keep things under control.

Vondbonds mentioned that they expose the front end, and I think they do too. The front seems a little harsh or stiff and judders over rough surfaces. I didn't really notice this before, probably because the rear end was so bad. The front isn't near as bad as the stock rear end was, and I can certainly live with it. Does Progressive sell springs for the front? Has anyone tried a different weight fork oil?



MAWonline

1-800-241-2222

I had to call MAWonline because they didn't list this part number on their website... but they had them in stock. $399 plus shipping....

Tomo

[Trackerjack]

Hello Tomo,

I have heard that progressive produce the 44O I.A.S with a new look from 2005 :
Black Chrome !
It seems that the spring and the end caps are black chromed.

I'm unable to find a picture about that black chrome version.
Do you have any information about that ?

Thank you

[Toystoretom]

All I've seen is this little pic from the Progressive website:

440 Black Chrome

I have no idea if the Black Chrome is availabe yet but MAWonline lists a 440-4209B which may very well be just that... I would give them a call... or if you have a distributor in France for Progressive products, give them a call....

I think the reason most people in the States are using MAWonline is the price... most other vendors are more expensive...

Tomo

[RickL]

Tomo,

Thanks for the post - I'd been considering the 440s, and you've pushed me over the edge.

Trackerjack,

Re: black chrome, I had it on a Yamaha in the early 80s (1982 Yamaha Midnight Maxim 650, with black chrome handlebars and exhausts), and it had real durability problems - rusted very, very quickly. I would imagine that technology has marched on in the 20+ years since then, but you might want to check before spending that much on the shocks.

Rick

[Trackerjack]

Thank you for all these informations.
There is no distributor in France for Progressive products, I will call MAWonline about those black chrome 440 and the shipping cost.
As you said they are much cheaper with Mawonline than with other vendors I've seen on the web.
bye !

[smokin]

Toystoretom,

Timely post.
Sunday went for a quick 100 mi. run around lake Winnebago.
Mostly rolling hills surrounding the 30 mi. long lake. Roads
were perfect asphalt ribbons until I hit Oshkosh, then 26 mi.
of choppy concrete pavement squares. Never ridden on that surface before. Thought my back was not gonna make it. It was like riding my motoX bike on dirt trails in the 70s. It was
bouncing all over ..When i finally got to the end and pulled over to realign "everything", only one thought came out.
Gotta get some Progressives..On next month's budget.

[G-Man]

Progressive 440's:

Has to be done!!! An absolute MUST!!!!

Got mine installed a couple weeks before Americade - THANK GOD!!

Gone is the Rocket's tendency to:

1. Launch you out of your seat on the smallest of bumps.
2. Rear tire "hop out" when hitting a bump in a sweeper.
3. Rear end lateral misbehavior (side to side sqirmies!!) during hard acceleration and or hard rear braking.

The ONLY down side is it is slightly more difficult to bring the front tire up because I am guessing the 440's do not seem to compress as easily or as quickly as the stock shock.

I am 230lbs and find the 2 to 3 marks down (stiffer) from full soft setting just perfect.

Gary

[Trackerjack]

Hello G-man,

Could you confirm that you have the standart progressive spring with those setting or the heavy duty spring.

Thank you !

[RocketlessTodd]

At first, I wasn't too impressed with the 440's I installed less than 2 weeks ago.

Turns out I had them adjusted wrong. Now I've got 'em like Gary does...I'm going back and forth between 2 and 3 notches, trying to decide which I like better. Definitely feel more confident in turns.

Standard (4209C).

[ This message was edited by: RocketlessTodd on 2005-06-13 15:24 ]

[NeilH]

Trackerjack,
I have been chasing down Progressives in UK and it turns out that Progressive :
a) will only sell through established dealerships - the most common being Harley-Davidson dealers who will already have credit accounts set-up since H-Ds use them also.
b) have a stock point in Sweden and all European orders will be supplied from there. When I ordered mine on Friday last week they had some sets in stcok and supposedely would be into the local HD shop in a couple of days.
c) will not be making the full chrome units (unless to very special order) but intend to only supply the chrome end caps for self-install. They are $125 or £65.

Final point, although the end-caps seem to have a fair exchange rate, the same cannot be said for the shox !!! The price of the 440s to us in UK is a massive £350+tax (17.5%) so I'm glad they are getting rave reviews !!!

Bye for now, NeilH

(whoops, sorry gave incorrect price edited down to correct £350)



[ This message was edited by: NeilH on 2005-06-14 00:22 ]