Some Possible Upgrade Shocks

[TheBrainII]

On my stock 07 AL, I get 6 1/2 in. of travel with the shock off before the linkage binds/fully extends.
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[red2003]

Originally Posted by daveJ

it seems like the spring in it is HUGE

That's probably because it is bottoming out.

[elroyjetsn]

Originally Posted by TheBrainII

On my stock 07 AL, I get 6 1/2 in. of travel with the shock off before the linkage binds/fully extends.

BrainII,

Thanks for the photos. That looks just like the links on by Viva. Uses the bolt-on links rather than the drift-pins??, rivets?? not sure about the others.

If mine'll go 6 1/2" i'd be very happy. Just put a decent shock on in place of the stock boat anchor

[red2003]

Originally Posted by elroyjetsn

BrainII,

Thanks for the photos. That looks just like the links on by Viva. Uses the bolt-on links rather than the drift-pins??, rivets?? not sure about the others.

If mine'll go 6 1/2" i'd be very happy. Just put a decent shock on in place of the stock boat anchor

I know for a fact that the stock Viva linkage WILL NOT give you 6 1/2 inches of travel. I worked with member SamM here with his Viva. It was the identical setup to my Roketa. 3 inches of travel then the linkage was completly extended and useless.

[TheBrainII]

I don't get anywhere near 6in travel with the stock shock on (4+ in. maybe). See the big yellow bumper. I might take that off and rig something thinner. Might get a little more travel. And, one thing I noticed when I took the shock off. The rear drops another inch or 2. That’s wasted travel. So a little longer shock might fit in there if did not interfere with the linkage when the shock fully extended. It don’t really matter to me because I’m happy with what I have seeing how I do 99% street driving.

[elroyjetsn]

Originally Posted by TheBrainII

The rear drops another inch or 2.

The xtra travel isn't probably useful since the chain will most likely drag on the swingarm mat a lot more.

[elroyjetsn]

Originally Posted by red2003

I know for a fact that the stock Viva linkage WILL NOT give you 6 1/2 inches of travel. I worked with member SamM here with his Viva. It was the identical setup to my Roketa. 3 inches of travel then the linkage was completly extended and useless.

Wasn't SamM's also using bolt-on links unlike the Roketa. The bolt-on type may give a different travel range.

Of course, those 3 and 4 foot jumps may have distorted the mounts a bit on BrainII's bike to allow his 6+ inches of travel.

[elroyjetsn]

Read thru SamM's threads a couple times and yours too, Red and it appears that the stock shock is all but worthless for offroad use. If the swingarm will move 5-6" or more with out it, might just be the shock with it 1" travel is holding it back.

I'll be buying a FAstace in the near future and trashing the old clunker. Hopefully that'll give another inch or so. Maybe more. At least i'll then be able to lower the seat height some and get the chain off the swingarm a little. :roll:

[red2003]

Originally Posted by elroyjetsn

Wasn't SamM's also using bolt-on links unlike the Roketa. The bolt-on type may give a different travel range.

Of course, those 3 and 4 foot jumps may have distorted the mounts a bit on BrainII's bike to allow his 6+ inches of travel.

The Roketa DOES use bolt on linkages. They are identical to the Vivas. At least the Roketa RSX200E (DB07A) is. I know some of the Roketas, like the RSM, mount the shock directly to the swingarm. I agree with your hypothesis about BrainII's extra travel.

[elroyjetsn]

Bump.

I can verify that the travel on my Viva swingarm at the axle is at least 6 inches. 8O

The linkage permits the swingarm to travel well past the midpoint so that the tire travels past the toolkit housing.

Too bad the shock only has 1" travel(after trimming down the bumper to almost nothing). So, with the OEM shock in place the travel is only 3-4 inches.

Kudos to Brain, thanks Brain for correctly pointing that out! :oops:

[Frog]

My problem is not overall travel it is that being heavy most of it is taken up in sag as I sit on the bike - I may try a load more preload to see if this helps but I suspect that on the standard shock damping may quickly become an issue.

Does anyone know of a good alternative shock to make best use of the available movement?

Cheers

Frog

[Frog]

I just cranked up the preload on my standard shock - spring length was set at 16.5cm and I took preload up so it is now 15cm. Feels much better - I have a couple of inches of sag when I sit on the bike and quite a bit of travel left - I feel I am sitting on the spring now not the bump stop!8O

Be interest ing to see how it feels off-road now that it is not hard tailed :?

Frog

[madmaximum]

I have the same bike as red does, and I bought the rear shock off of sams viva. The viva shock is about half an inch longer than the roketa shock. I too measured the travel with the rear shock off and it is about 6 inches.
Last winter I goofed around with different rear shocks. The R1 shock mounted on unmodified mounts binds up. I did find that a 1990's crb shock is a direct bolt on for the roketa. Gave me maybe an inch more travel over the stock setup, and it has rebound and preload adjustments.

[elroyjetsn]

Originally Posted by madmaximum

I have the same bike as red does, and I bought the rear shock off of sams viva. The viva shock is about half an inch longer than the roketa shock. I too measured the travel with the rear shock off and it is about 6 inches.
Last winter I goofed around with different rear shocks. The R1 shock mounted on unmodified mounts binds up. I did find that a 1990's crb shock is a direct bolt on for the roketa. Gave me maybe an inch more travel over the stock setup, and it has rebound and preload adjustments.

The Viva's shock is 11.5" center to center. Kind of an odd size, but there are lot's that are 11" for use on Pit bikes. Fastace does make one or two 11.5" shocks. Could maybe use a 12" and just adjust the preload to 11.5 maybe.

[elroyjetsn]

Just bought a Marzocchi shock off a Montessa trials bike. It's 12", but has about 2 inches of preload adjustment. So, it should work OK. Has a clevis also and that may require a tweak.