Choosing a rear shock. Questions

I'm researching some different rear shocks for my 550. I'm looking for a different length. Going the opposite direction that many have on this site. I want to go taller.

My stock shocks are around 12.5". I'm thinking I want around 13.5" to 14.5".

I'm not exactly sure what to look for in a shock. What is it called when one shock has a "Loop" w/bushing on each end of the shock (like my shocks) and other shocks have only one loop? I know the others won't work but want to narrow my search.

I like the look of the stock shocks with the coils and all so I'm not looking at the harley type shocks.

Anyone have some links to some parts sites to look for shocks? Or know of other bikes to pull from?

Any xj's with that size shock?



BTW: Here is a quick photoshop rendering of my bike with what I have planned. I'm just guessing, but I probably lifted the rear around 2" and lowered the front about 1" (hence the question about the taller shock).



Vast improvement visually. Now I just have to execute.

 

Have you tried Partsnmore.com? I'm planning on doing something very similar to you and I've been looking at these...just scroll down to the shocks.
http://www.partsnmore.com/parts/yamaha/xj750/?filters[page]=4

 

That's perfect! I dig the look of those shocks. Great prices too. Thanks man.

 

No prob. By the way, that bike looks EPIC! Good luck with it!

 

Remember, in regard to shocks, you get what you pay for.

You can do the same thing with quality shocks; get Progressive Suspension 12-series and pick your own lengths and spring rates. But they do cost a bit more; not crazy expensive though.

 

2 inches up in the back and 1 down in the front might get you some strange handling

 

I'm waiting for a response from Progressive Suspension.
I wrote them asking them to consider us as a multi-unit purchaser of lots of 10 (pair).
Sooner or later, ... we are going to get one of these places to honor our willingness to do business.

 

BET ON IT.

Especially with it being a 550 Maxim and all... but hey, it's gonna look cool. You don't want function getting in the way of form here.

 

I'm gonna see how close lowering the front gets where I want, first.

It has to LOOK a lot better than stock. Maxims are hideous in stock form, IMO. The giant 2 story banana seat that goes halfway up the YinYang tear drop gas tank...yeah, those have to go.

I'm not naive in thinking its not going to change the handling. This conversation never seems to come up in the umpteen billion bobber threads or hardtail threads.

At least I'm keeping the airbox and not installing pods.

 

i think you'll find most of the bobber/cafe threads are lowering the back.
raising the back will get you quicker turn in and plowing on the front wheel, lowering the front will do the same, together, who knows.
it's going to take some getting used to but since you never rode it you'll never know

 

Raising the back is good for quicker turn in, and for improved ground clearance too.

Dropping the front is good for quicker turn in too, though lessens ground clearance/reduces available suspension travel - so improved springs WILL be needed.

However, 2" up at the back AND 1" down at the front may be a bit too far and go past the point you're looking for.

You might be better going 1" at both ends, in the required directions, as you'll be altering the bike's geometry a little less.

 

If the Maxims are so "hideous" in stock form, why not start with a Seca instead?

I'll have to agree, in stock trim the small Max does look a bit "cartoonish" in the seat area. But the frame is contoured for it.

I'm not saying you can't pull it off; but you're starting from a point further away than where you want to be by starting with a Maxim. You also have leading-axle forks whereas the Seca has straight forks (the axle is on the end, not the front of the lower tubes.) I don't know how that style fork would be affected by the rear-jacking and front dropping; you could end up with an inherently unstable machine.

The conversation doesn't come up in bobber/hardtail threads because they're generally not trying to improve the handling of the bike; rather, the desire seems to be to eliminate "handling" altogether.

We're just trying to help you keep from spending a bunch of money and effort to build something TOO radical to the point of it being unrideable. Keep in mind a lot of bobbers, hardtails and really radical cafe bikes don't ever see a lot of actual highway time...

 

I would heed the warnings if you plan on going more then 40mph. I realize that it sounds hard to believe but the combination you are considering COULD cause your bike to be riding fine down the road at 50mph and something as minor as a lane change COULD induce what some of us lovingly refer to as a tankslapper. I've endured the extreme entertainment of a few in my time but you might want to pass if you can, they really aren't something I ever enjoyed.

Back in the day we made changes at the track.....in increments of 1/4" that sometimes gave us a real handful at speed and if we were lucky, we got all the way around so we could change it before we licked the asphalt.

I have another bike I'm modding and also raising the rear but I'm going to do it just a 1/2" and might go to one full inch. I'm fortunate enough to have several sets of shocks and I'm worried that you are going 2 full inches because they are the only ones you have that will fit.

Just be very careful. Once you get past that moment of stability, you won't know it until bad things happen and when they happen, they may not give you any warning that they are about to ruin your world.

For a show bike, fine but I can't even get my head around all the changes to trail, CG rake etc that you're going to change....I know, get Mikey to ride it first!! <LOL>

I'm joking but you get my drift....

jeff

 

I really do appreciate everyone's constructive concerns. That's why this site is so great!

2 inches up in the rear is probably too drastic when coupled with lowering the front 1 inch. So, I'm thinking just a 1 inch lift in the rear to start & see where that gets me.

@Polock: I actually rode my bike for 3.5 years before storing it for around 10 years. It was my main transportation during the warm months so I remember it quite vividly (as best a memory can serve).

@Fitz: Would have loved to start with something different (like a CB or 400xs), but it's what I have. It is definitely starting from a further point than where I want to be.

That leading axle is something I've been trying to keep in mind. I really don't know the physics on that.

That was kind of my point about the bobber/hardtail threads. They're eliminating/muting handling which can be just as dangerous as overly sensitive handling. It may be more stable but the extra handling won't be there when you need it.


Again, I appreciate the conversation on this. I was just guessing on the 2 inches & I'm glad you all are here to help bring me back to earth. After reviewing my Photochop, I realize the rear is only raised 1 coil of the spring (which is only about 1 inch).
I want to change the ride angle similar to my picture without making it more dangerous than a motorcycle should be. By the time I get the tank mounted, I may not need to raise the rear.

 

If you go for 1" over shocks on the rear, then you're stuck with them - though I fitted 1" overs on my Bonnie and find it better (plus I'm 6 foot 2 and need the ride height).

If you (instead) first try dropping the front an inch and don't like what it does, its easy to put back to where you started - at no cost.

Personally, I like the "up at the rear/down at the front look" on a bike - so much more purposeful. Plus, I think you can adapt to what you ride, whatever the set up.

Just move away from factory set up in small steps - after all, the designers (so we're told) knew what they were doing...

 

PS - you could always alter the look, without affecting the geometry, by altering the rear subframe/seat angle and the angle of the tank...

 

I agree. I will have to adapt to it. I prefer a more forward leaning position. But everyone's right, I need to approach it very cautiously.

I'll make some wood struts (piece of wood, 2 holes) just to see where it gets me before I order anything.

I'd rather not mess with the sub frame. That would require a full tear down & I don't have the time or money for that (gaskets, broken fasteners & such).

 

Any updates on this? I was about to start my own thread about raising the back end with taller shocks when I stumbled on yours I'd love to see where you're at with this! And the progress on mounting the Honda tank...

 

thanks for the interest.

I put the cart before the horse on this one. Glad I noticed engine problems before I dove into styling changes. My engine is torn down for a while, new rings, rebuild front brake & such. Once I get the engine back together, I'm just gonna throw most of the original parts back on for the initial ring break-in. Once that pans out, then back apart to do the cafe stuff.

 

better that you realized that BEFORE you cafe'd her, otherwise it would hsve been harder to look at her in the garage! keep up the work man.

 

My bike is raised 2" in the rear and dropped 2" in the front. No handling problems I can report, but it's definitely twitchier than stock.

 

I had a Sporty XL1200C once that got weird after LOWERING the rear with Hugger shocks...over 80 mph if you slammed the throttle shut abruptly it'd go into the rapid bar oscillation mentioned above...

Luckily, even though it was the first time I'd experienced that particular phenomenon, I do have a pretty intuitive feel for what a machine needs from me when things get out of shape...and I did exactly what you're supposed to do, according to later reading..."disconnect" your body weight from the chassis as much as possible, and roll back into the throttle until it subsides....if you freak out and clamp your body down on the bike and dynamite the brakes, it will go nuts and toss you...

If fact, my general reaction to out-of-shape handling is usually to do as little as possible except for try to restore the condition that existed before the problem started, if possible....

You watch enough MotoGP and you'll see plenty of times when a bike goes into a crazy shimmy or switchback and bucks the rider, then continues on happily by itself on two wheels, once free of the disturbing influence (the rider)...until it hits a wall or runs outta steam...there's a lesson there...

In fact most machines with motors and wheels tend to be somewhat self-correcting...their nature is to move forward and be stable...anything you try to do in a panic that asks it to deviate from that is going to make it worse. Try to work with it, not against it, because the bike will win that argument.

I've read a lot of stuff about how these different abnormal motions happen in bikes...but it all boils down to the same thing in the end...the bike is a fairly rigid structure with very defined axises of movement and very concise set of rules that govern that...the human body, on the other hand, is basically like a big bag of slushy water sitting on top that moves in really complex motions and oscillations that transmit to the machine when things go wrong and the rider tries to latch on out of fear....and the machine simply has to dissipate that odd movement energy in the only ways it can, through the movements available to it...

So, as I said...you gotta loosen up, neutralize the chassis by eliminating as much of your power or brake/decel input as you can under the circumstances, and let the machine recover its composure with as little unwanted influence as possible.

Just wanted to throw that in, for if you run into unexpected handling weirdisms when you start playing with geometry.

That bike will look great like that. I think key to making it stable as far as unexpected oscillations is to try to keep spring rates and damping as close to balanced front and rear as possible. Seems when you get too far apart in terms of how the two react is when you run into trouble....

 

any updates?