Lowering...

THANKS!!! I cant wait to see how it makes my bike look! I will have to post a new pic....

 

Ok, so I took a little over an inch off....damn! Its gonna be a rough ridin' S.O.B!! Its raining now so I cant drive it but just sitting on it it bottoms out! Also, the retaining ring thingy just spins loosely and is not very tight...is this normal? I guess I will understand what they mean by hardtail... LOOKS BAD ASS THO!!!! 8)

 

Before and after pictures please

 

Before is up above, I will take an after and post asap!

 

That is another reason you can only remove an inch off the springs. The retainer ring will be lose. Mine is lose when it's on the center stand, but when I drop it down on the wheels, it's snug. My shocks haven't bottomed out yet, but I try to avoid pot holes also. Maybe you took too much off the springs?
You may be able to salvage the shocks by stacking large washers on th ebottom, before installing the springs. That should take up the slack and keep the spring tight when there is no weight on them. Good luck!

 

Ahhhh.....Good idea! Mine bottoms out when I just jump up and down on it! Like I said...looks good though!!

 

Here is the after....



I like it!

 

im going to bring this thread back to life.
does it matter which side you cut off the spring and how do you determine cutting one inch off the spring, as the spring is a spiral...?
im running struts on my bike right now, so the shocks are just sittin in my garage. i think i might give this a try.....

 

I cut the top of the spring off, because it sits inside the chrome cover and the cut-off end can't be seen that way. *Don't cut off more than an inch. I'd suggest cutting off 3/4" to start out with if your heavier (I only weigh 140 lbs.)

 

im made struts for my bike and rode it around the hood....not liking it, way to rough for me(bad back)...
im going to give cutting down my stock shocks down when i get a chance..
thanks for your help peeps....

 

any one got pics of what the struts look like that they have made ? also what should they be made out of ? I'm a big guy so i don't think that cutting my springs would be a good idea and i'm not sure if harley shocks would really be much better of an idea. I'm 270 lbs

 

here's a pic of the ones i made, solid aluminum. i didn't care for the ride, but i have a bad back.. i now have shocks off a suzuki savage, they are a bit stiffer then stock xj shocks, imho and lowered the bike two inches or there abouts.

 

Rogger:

Look around for some Progressive shocks. They have just about every possible combination of spring rate, length and travel. I have some 440's mounted on my MaximX. They're about 11.5 inches and have nice heavy springs. I forget the exact rate, but think HD bagger. Anyway... They look great (to me) and ride nice. Even with a passenger, I haven't bottomed these, even over speedbumps.

Lemme see if I can find a link to pics...

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... art=0.html

There're pics of the 440's on the second page.

 

Someone on this site reported frame cracks on a 650 Maxim after just 2 months of struts, so you may want to lower the back tire pressure a bit.

I think the easiest way to make them would be to go to a machine shop or fabricator and have them drill the 4 holes in solid bar with their drill press.
Bring your measurements. Aluminum would be trick !

 

does anyone have a definite answer on whether or not the suzuki savage shocks are 10.5" eye to eye?

 

They are 10.5 "

 

Bike looks great. What seat is that on there? I was going to go with struts, but now I guess I'll scour ebay for some savage shocks. Thanks!

 

the seat in that pic is a stock 85 700 seat. you can also check out
suzukisavage.com for a set of shocks.
just join and ask around....good luck

 

thanks a lot Hoe... I'll do that

 

I weigh 240 and have Showa shocks with 11.5" eye to eye and four stage valving, the bike definitely handles much better but mine has 18" wheels so I can't go much lower. how much weight are the savage shocks rated at, does anyone know?