Hey guys I'm looking to upgrade the rear springs on my 98 Magna. I've been considering going to Progressive 412's, however I take my girl around with me pretty much all of the time now, and I have the preload on the highest setting. Has anybody tried the HD Progressive rear springs?
I have the Progressive 412 HDs (12.5 inch version) and I can tell you that while they do feel better than the stock rear springs, they don't seem to offer much more in the way of how much weight they can handle. I weigh 180 lbs. and my wife weighs 120 lbs. Any substantial bump results in the rear wheel bottoming out on the rear fender. In fact, I found that the 4 bolts that hold the rear fender to the frame were a bit too long. Turned out that every time we hit a bump, the bolts were tearing into the sidewalls of the tire. That should give you an idea of how far the wheel was traveling up and down.
I'm not sure if the Progressive 418s or 440s offer better dampening, but the 412s are nothing to write home about. Mind you, all of what I said is only noticeable when you are riding 2-up. When I ride alone, I have no issues with the 412s. That being said, I found a store that was having a fire sale and got my 412s for $120 new, so I really can't complain too much about them. If you can find them for a good price, get them. The are better than the stock springs in many ways, but they are not perfect.
Progressive does have different springs also to beef up the shock for you but you might have to go to the lowest setting one up and with two turn it up but there are options I have the 10.5s on mine..
Thanks for the info guys. That's a bit dissappointing about the HD springs, doesn't sound very heavy duty. I looked up the specs on their site, says the spring rate difference is 105/150 regular and 120/170 HD. That doesn't seem like very much difference. I'm going to try and get a hold of someone there and see if I can get a set with a heavier spring, bound to cost a bit though. At least I finally got a girl that likes to ride!