Well, couldn't stand the sag from the stock rear shock anymore. The works were 300 plus, so I opted for the cheapee Progressive 512. I'll post my opinion after mounting and beating the living wee out of it. I also orded the ox a-arm guards. Hope they mount up nice and firm.

 

Well, I put on the 512 in the rear, and it did raise the back end up to where it was when I purchased the quad. No noticeable ride differences yet, it does clunk a little when unloading. The pre-load adjustment and cover is nice, but I question the long term reliability. I hope to ride over some rocky terrain next weekend, hopefully it will impress me more. Maybe I should have saved up some more and went the with works shock instead. (No duh!)

 

I took the bike hunting last weekend over rough, rocky, silty terrain and on the beach. The 512 shock worked fine, the clunking stopped, like it said it would in the directions. The rebound is a little slow to react still. If you walk up to the bike from the back and lift up on the rack, the shock will fully extend quickly and hit the stops. Do it again and it works correctly, adding resistance. Strange, but oh well. You get what you pay for.

One thing I'm in love with...the moose air ride fin grips. It's so much nicer having my SKS sit in that rack instead of banging around hanging from the shoulder strap. I do wish they had something added to the clamps to the rack, one side is plastic, so that is no problem, but the other is metal and it is digging into the paint. I guess I'll have to keep taking them off and re-painting to keep rust away. A quick release system like on a bicycle seat release would have been a better idea. Easy on, easy off. These are clamped on with four bolts on each grip system. Also, the pump on a shotgun is a very tight squeeze to fit in the grip.

The oxlite A-arm guards are okay, I don't care for the bolts and nuts hanging down. They were catching a lot of grass, and I can forsee a problem when scraping on a rock. It seems like it might create even more damage than protection. I dunno. We'll see. At least they cover the front better than stock, as they go up higher.

 

If you don't mind me asking.....how much $$ was the shock??

For the gun rack digging into the paint. How about cutting a piece of old rubber innertube and put it between the steel piece and the ATV rack??

For the A-arm protectors.... can you cut off the excess bolt sticking down with a hack-saw??


Kev