I read on one of the threads on this board that someone had replaced the 11" shocks on their Savage with longer ones, 13 1/2" I believe. The idea was to get a better ride and some more leg room. I would like to know how this can be done. I built the wooden bike lift (4' x 4" x8", )works great. When you raise the bike so the swingarm is free, the maximum distance from the bottom shock bolt to the top bolt is 11" and that's with both shocks removed. Think someone was telling a fib? I have not seen one picture of a Savage with non factory shocks. Am I doing something wrong???
Help ???
Ike

Definetly not the belt, plenty of slack there ...
Ike

Just this past Thursday I replaed the OEM shocks with Progressive Suspension shocks # 412-4207C+ (12.5" center to center).   From start to finish, it was about a 45 minute job with no problems.  To lift the bike, I used a large hydraulic floor jack with the front wheel secured with a couple of bungee cords to the front downtube. With the drive belt on, I did have to pull down on the rear wheel to get the swing arm to move down.  It was a very light pull; just enough to overcome the resistence of the belt and the belt guard pivoting around the front pully.  

It may be that the lift you are using doesn't raise the bike high enough to let the swing arm pivot downward enough.

As a side note, I would not use shocks longer than 12.5" (I know others have) given the fact that these shocks raised the back of my '02 so high.   Also, of all the mods I have done, this one has produced the best results.  Simply put, the ride quality, in every respect, has improved dramatically so that the bike now rides like one weighing some 200 pounds more, but has lost none of its agility. However, I found that this mod did not produce any additional leg room. I think if you want additional leg room you may want to add highway bars and/or forward controls.

Quote:


Very straight forward.  It took me longer to get the bike raised and stabilized than anything else.

Before raising the bike, set the OEM shocks on softest setting and unbolt and remove both.  Raised the bike, pulled down a little on the swing arm(on the tire actually), slipped on the new shocks and bolted them down. Had to use the supplied bolt shims to get a tight fit. No problem.

Just be careful when removing and mounting the shocks not to mess up the mounting bolt threads.  It is real easy to do if you remove or mount the shocks at a angle.  You shouldn't need to force anything. A little penetrating oil on the shock mounting mounting points makes removal easier.  A little white lithium grease on the shock mounting points makes installation easier.

Thanks for all the help, apparently the brake cable was a problem, with it unhooked I did manage to get a pair of 12" center to center (at the lowest setting) suzuki shocks installed. There was no way to fit (force)the 13.5" harley shocks. BTW the rear wheel is completely off the floor using the 8"high lift I made. Judging by the height of the fender now, the 12" shock may be plenty to improve the ride, also gives more clearance for the 140/90 tire back there. I have some other work to complete before I take it back down to test it.
Again
Thanks to all ...
Ike

I have a pair of Progressive 11.5" shocks and a pair of H-D sportster 13.5" shocks, both of which have been on my Savage.  The Progressives work better but I do like the extra clearance and travel of the longer set.  I had no problem installing either set.   I did remove the belt guard with the long shocks because there was a tendency for the belt to rub the front end of the  guard when hitting a bump.   I did have to order a hardware mounting kit from Progressive since those shocks did not come with it...it was a used set I got from ebay.
Both sets of shocks were a significant improvement over the stock shocks.

I found these "economy" shocks that appear they would fit the Savage.  The ones right above the PS420 single shocks.

http://www.cyclewareables.com/pages/just_touring_shocks/tour_shocks.htm

Much cheaper, but would there even be an improvement?

No luck there.  The best price I found was close to $200 w/ shipping.  Most are well over $200.  Do you recall where you have seen them for less than $100.  I would gladly shell out up to $150 for a set, but I may have to wait a while if I can't find them for any less than that.