Progressive Suspension

Did some searching, but can't quite seem to find what I'm looking for, so here's a new thread.

Looking to upgrade my rear suspension, and it sounds like Progressive Suspension is the way to go. But the information on their site is lacking, at best. What is the difference between the different models: 12 series, 14 series, 412 series. 14 series is listed as OE, 12 series is a good jump in price over 14, and 412 is an even bigger jump in price.

I may also go ahead and replace the front fork springs as well. Can anyone name some competition to Progressive Suspension for both front and rear, with similar pricing? Also, can anyone recommend a nicely priced source?

Thanks guys.

 

I dont hava any of those, but I hear people mostly using 412, and then using progressive springs are a huge improvement

 

i don't know much about the rear suspension, pretty much everybody says theyre crap from the start but mine seem to be acting fine. not to mention that the progressive rears are like $200-$400+ for a set. the front springs however are a different story my stockies were complete crap, and a new set from chacal was around $70. you can get the springs from places like bikebandit but i got mine here from chacal because he offers all the extra stuff you need to do the mods like spacers, spring seats, and even tells you the difference in fork oil that you need.

another user chuckles_no got the forza mdi shocks they sell at oldbikebarn that are fairly cheap but everybody insists aren't very good. maybe ask him how they're working out

 

I'm running Progressive '12 Series' on both of my 550s and they are superb. The only difference from the 412s is a steel vs. aluminum body, as far as I know. And fancy metal shrouds; I threw away the plastic ones that came with the 12's.

I replaced the fork springs in one bike with Progressives and swapped a low-mileage set of stockers into the other; and even though they're not anywhere near worn out yet, I'm replacing the stock set... with Progressives.

Highly recommended-- both ends.

 

http://www.ikonsuspension.com/
http://www.worksperformance.com/html/home.html
http://www.showa1.com/en/index.html
http://www.technoflexusa.com/

 

OK, so for my 550s that would be:

Ikon: $341.00 (Ex Koni, made under license. Interesting story.)
Works Performance: $445.00
Showa: Doesn't appear to be readily available, suspect they do more OEM.
Technoflex: $1500.00 (OUCH!)

Times two bikes (so far.) Considering Ikons for the 650 because of the adjustable rebound damping, otherwise I'll stick with Progressive.

 

$341 for Ikon.... he says... flabbergasted....damn th yankee $

 

Price came off the Ikon USA website.

They're BASED in Australia; I take it that's a really good price? At the current exchange rate it would be $379.00AUD, that doesn't seem so bad?

 

If I'd knocked on th door I could have got them for a bit over $400AUD we have 10% GST, dunno about your taxes. Yes that is a good price..ya lucky buggers.

 

I'm a big fan of Works Performance. Ages back, I replaced the rear shock on my 900 Ninja with a Works Performance unit, and the difference in handling was Night and Day. That Ninja had less than 10K miles on it when I made the swap, so the original shock wasn't worn out. It's just that the Works Performance unit was that much better.

The Works Performance shocks look like jewelry: machined from solid billet aluminum, etc. In comparison, the Progressive Suspension (while good) look like something you may have removed from a Ford Pinto.

Oh and get this: I recently bought a 1985 BMW K100RS to replace my Yamaha (destroyed by step-son), and it has a Works Performance rear shock. That shock is now over 20 years old, and has a leak at the external oil chamber. So: Works Performance is going to completely rebuild that shock for $50 ! That's service!

Finally: with the Works Performance unit, it's built to YOUR specifications. You order it, and tell them the bike (duh), your weight, your riding style, whether you carry a passenger, the kind of roads you usually ride on, etc. The resulting shock is MADE for you. Big difference.

And YES the Works Performance shock is about $500. But being a motorcycle nut, I look at that as only about $100 more than the alternatives and... you get the idea.

 

Jim! Replaced the FJ with a Beemer... I dunno dude, I'm old but...

No seriously, nice choice. How is it in traffic?

In regard to shocks, it's like anything else-- you get what you pay for.

Progressives are a great improvement over the stock (and dead in 6K) KYB (Kills Your Butt) units that came on the XJ for not a ton of money. If you buy an old bike for $800 or less and it HAS to have shocks, spending half the cost of the bike quite often doesn't make sense.

I like the Progressives because you get good performance and reasonably long service life at a sensible cost level.

Their fork springs are an incredible improvement over stock, to the point I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't have the two bikes to ride back-to-back.

 

Yo Fitz!
I re-read my post, and it comes across as a bit too hard on the Progressive Suspension products. I've been in the motorcycle biz a LONG time, and I actually know the two guys who created the Progressive Suspension company... they used to work for S&W Suspension, and when that company got too screwed up, they quit and formed their own. This happened about ... 1984.

Progressive Suspension makes great products... based on standard car parts! Yep. Those guys had connections to great quality mass-produced car shocks, and in the early days, just adapted and cross-referenced stuff for motorcycles. When their order quantities got up to snuff, they could custom-order shocks for bikes that would justify big enough quantities. Of course, they knew the supplier for S&W Suspension (oops... did I say Gabriel Shocks? Oops... I just did), and could order the same products under their own new name. Which they did.

Progressive fork springs are the bomb. I used them on the 900 Ninja I mentioned.

I later bought a 1985 Honda 500 Interceptor brand new in 1985 (I'm showing my age), and made arrangements with my guy at Progressive Suspension. They used my bike, and did all their testing and mods for their rear shock and front springs. I got the bike back about 700 miles later and the difference in the handling was STUNNING. Lean angles were insane... I swear, with that bike I could drag the ends of the handlebars in a turn before the suspension got squirmy. This, on a bike that already handled very very well.

Sooo... reading back, it sounds like I'm dissing Progressive Suspension, and I'm not. It's just that ... if I were about to pull $350 out to buy their rear suspension stuff... I'd add $100 or so and go for Works Performance.

And Fitz: nice to meet you online... we should get together for a beer sometime.

 

Thanks for the opinions, guys. Considering quality and price, I think I'll be going with Progressive front and rear. Looking forward to the upgrade. I think I'll actually ride it a bit beforehand, just to note the improvement.