Recently got my rebuild set up with refreshed shocks. The rear shock I had sent off to FCR suspension of Ohio, USA per the recommendation of another forum member. Very pleased with their work and I had the spring powder coated black. The front shocks I tore down myself and replaced the oil, seals and bushings. Painted the outer shock tubes to match my rear swing arm. Still need to put some new gaiters on it, but my spare set will work for now. This past Friday I had my new tires put on. I originally did the front one myself, but I couldn’t get the rim lock in right and decided I’d had enough fun. I took it on one quick run after I had the wheels back on. Very pleased with the road performance (it was wet), also went through some light mud and a few patches of leftover packed snow. No rigorous testing yet, but I was instantly pleased. The Suspension has been done for a while now, so I’ve had a good chance to give it the business. Night and day difference from as worn as it had been, and evermore pleased with the performance of this machine.
-Ted
P.S. Homemade damper rod holder- black gas pipe+brass hose fitting ground to suit=$5 at hardware store
-- Edited by commandermullet on Sunday 16th of December 2018 04:29:33 AM
-- Edited by commandermullet on Sunday 16th of December 2018 04:34:07 AM
So, question while I’m at it.. After rebuilding the rear shock, replacing the bearings on both ends, plus the linkage and swingarm bearing, everything should be good. But I still have a slight bit of up and down play which seems to be coming from the linkage-to-frame bolt. It rides fine, it’s not missing any parts, and I’m pretty certain I didn’t mess anything up. Is this normal?
I did all of the Bearings in the Swing Arm linkage and top Shock and still had a small amount of up and down movement when the bike was fully up off the ground, on its lift.
When I renewed the Swing Arm rod and bearings it disappeared.
I thought that maybe the "play" is always there but no.
The pieces that I took out of the Swing Arm looked ok but I think it only takes a tiny amount of wear to get magnified into "play."
Great to see your photos of some snow as we are now in the beginning of Summer in New Zealand.
Christmas in Winter is not how we experience it but have had the pleasure by living in the UK for a couple of years back in the late 1970s to see a White Christmas.
