adjusting Rear Shock

[4xflyer]

I concur 100% with red! By setting sag you are only eating into your total travel which as he says is 2 3/4". He was able to get more travel from the r1 shock because it is longer and raises the back of the bike to mechanically let the linkage travel farther..thus more rear wheel travel By modifying the linkage he has increased the scissor travel which transalates into rear wheel travel without raising the rear of the bike. A direct shock to swingarm mount, (no links) would be another alternate for more travel as dicussed.

I'm picking up an r1 shock today. My upper shock mount is already a 10 mm bolt and I'll only have to "washer" weld the lower linkage bolt hole to accomodate the 12mm bolt. It will raise the rear of the bike though. I'm going to stop with the mod there as my son mostly rides on the street and the front end geometry is quite a bit slack stock. We raised the fork tubes to make it steer quicker stock. A little sag in the rear should work well with the stock or higher fork height.

If dirt riding a lot...Go for Red's full mod!!, though there might be shocks available with a lighter spring rate. (R6, CBR600?)

Evaluate any mod very well at a reasonable pace before even thinking about pushing the envelope!!

[red2003]

4xFlyer,

The R1 shock will slightly raise the rear ride height and result in a little less then 5 inches of travel before the scissor is fully extended. You will have to compress it slightly to get it in there if you don't raise up the top mount like I did, but it will work just fine. The real problem with the rear of these bikes is the linkage. It is just a messed up design. With the stocker shock it is way too stiff, and with a softer shock with more travel, the linkage binds open and you still don't have a good setup. The R1 shock was much better, but the full benefit of the softer setup with decent travel is only attainable with a modified linkage, or by moving the shock on top of the swingarm and eliminating the stock scissor all together. The worst trouble with mounting it on top of the swingarm is you'll need a completely new top mount fabbed onto the top chassis tubes under the seat, and the shock will be unprotected from debris flying off the back wheel unless you make up a new inner fender. You would also have to eliminate the stock airbox, and run a pod type filter with this setup.

[molypod]

Thanx Red,
A co-worker of mine also owns a welding shop and helped with my wakeboard pylon for my boat. I'm sure he could fab it up with your instructions and diagram from the other post without too much trouble.

[John22j]

Originally Posted by 4xflyer

By setting sag you are only eating into your total travel

sag is more than just eating travel -- a race sag is important to have the bike handle properly and soak up the various obstacles encountered (but these are not race bikes though are they :wink: )

Proper balance is achieved by changing spring rates in both front and rear suspension for your weight... then if you had adjustable shocks you would use the compression and rebound (and possibly revalve to change oil flow) to fine tune for the conditions.

Travel alone is not the key -- it's the setup... and sag is one part of that setup.

[red2003]

Well, actually travel IS the point to this thread. With the stock linkage, you have less then 3 inches of usable travel. That's gonna suck no matter what adjustments you try to make. Believe me, I tried!!!

[molypod]

Red,
As per your other post I'd have to have the OEM parts cut and fabed up to match the diagram.
I guess just flipping the linkage(scissor) front to back wouldn't work because of the change in angles.

[red2003]

Originally Posted by molypod

Red,
As per your other post I'd have to have the OEM parts cut and fabed up to match the diagram.
I guess just flipping the linkage(scissor) front to back wouldn't work because of the change in angles.

Nope. Flipping would still require fabrication as the width of the front mounting point on the frame is wider to accept the cradle, and the rear mount is narrower to accept the pullbar (dogbone). You gotta chop it apart either way, so if you're gonna do it, you might as well do it all the way. Even if you did just flip it, you wouldn't gain any travel as the stock links are just too short. No easy way around it unfortunately :( .

[Savage]

What about using a linkage off an MX bike? Just wondering if it could work for you guys.

[red2003]

Originally Posted by Savage

What about using a linkage off an MX bike? Just wondering if it could work for you guys.

That would work fine if you could find the right one. Someone here just fabbed a 125cc MX shock and linkage into their bike like a month ago, but never posted final results?? If you could find a linkage with the right dimensions, it would probably be easier to MOD it onto our bikes, then build from scratch.