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Lowering the Wife's Vaquero

11K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  SteveJB 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey Guys,

This is just an update on my wife's Vaquero. We put on a pair of Progressive Suspension's 430 series shocks and have effectively lowered the bike at least an inch. We each rode the bike about 30 miles or so today and were very satisfied with the ride quality. We did not do any serious leaning but we never dragged the boards either. The bike does now have a semi/sorta slammed look that is pretty cool. Progressive Suspension is a good product. Now my wife can easily flat foot the bike at 5' 7"

Happy New Year Everyone.

pwbritt
 
#3 ·
Progressive's 430 for the Vaquero is 13" long. I was surprised that an inch made that much difference but it did.

pwbritt
 
#4 ·
Are you still satisfied with the results? Do you ride 2 up? any issues?
Im looking at this option also, as Im 5'3"...but worried about bottoming out while riding 2 up.
 
#5 ·
I just put them on my Nomad. I had to buy a few washers for the top. The progressive are not as thick as oem. Only rode a few miles so far and it feels solid and seems to handle hwy speed turns with a little less bounce. What setting do you have your wifes on pwbritt? I have the heavy duty and at the softest postition but need to do some more riding and adjusting.
 
#6 ·
I am contemplating going with the 430's or the Luverne kit to lower my bike. Doing the math the 430's are not much more expensive ($370) considering you must modify the saddle brackets with the Luverne kit which brings the cost up more. Are you still happy with the 430's?
 
#10 · (Edited)
I'm barely 5 foot 7 inches w 30 inseam, I'm close to flat footing my Voyager. Removing the tabs under the rider's seat and replacing the rear tire ( needed replacement anyways ) with 180/65/16 made a huge difference. This tire is a little over an inch lower than the stock one. I have a third option under my sleeve but I'm going to ride the Voyager a few days / weeks to see how it goes. I'm 1/4 of an inch to flat footing the bike.
 
#13 ·
Your height only becomes an issue if the seat is too high for you to plant your feet firmly. If the seat is too high (my Mustang probably would be for you, but not the stock seat), the bike will lean harder when you stop and require more leg strength to keep it upright. Also, backing it up could be an issue on downfacing inclines. You need solid footing to push this beast backwards up a hill!
 
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