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SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Better Shocks !! /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1391577640 Message started by bobdog on 02/04/14 at 21:20:40 |
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Title: Better Shocks !! Post by bobdog on 02/04/14 at 21:20:40 Where can I find good replacement Maybe a little more length . Stock ones really suck ?? |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by WD on 02/04/14 at 21:41:12 Suzuki VS800/S50. Take the big white boat to Seattle and head to Auburn or Lynnwood. Bent Bike should have them. Direct swap should raise the rear 2-3 inches depending on how much junk is on your rear fender. You will need to relearn the bike, it is going to handle a lot differently, more weight on the front end. |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by Serowbot on 02/04/14 at 21:48:18 Progressive makes some, if you have $100's to spend... Stock Sportster shocks are usually taller, and can be adapted by changing the bushing sleeves... ...or, shocks from a Suzuki 800 Intruder are 12" and bolt on... (you can find them on E-bay for 20 or 30 bucks)... Just watch for clearance issues up at the front pulley area if you go beyond 11.5"... nothing serious... it can be fixed with just a little grinding on the upper beltguard, and replacing one sidecase screw with a roundhead... |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by bobdog on 02/04/14 at 21:48:27 Good call, I checked with them about a dyna muff. for cheap. Dude said he had a good variety, new and used. |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by danjray on 02/05/14 at 06:56:35 What kind of difference in feel of the bike would more weight on the front end create? This is my fist road bike (I had a dirt bike when I was younger), so I don't know what better shocks would really feel like. Could anyone try to give an example? Because I've heard plenty of you say the stock shocks suck, but (from my inexperience) I don't understand why. |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by Dave on 02/05/14 at 07:15:44 I rode a year on the stock shocks. I weigh 156 pounds, and my biggest issue with them is the stock shocks only have 1.5 inches of travel. Occasionally I would hit a bump or pothole that would bottom out the shock, and it really hurt. On one pothole I jarred my spine and got that electric jolt feeling as the shocks bottomed out. Bringing the back up a bit will get you more suspension travel and a smoother ride with the right springs. |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by WD on 02/05/14 at 07:22:50 Steering will be a bit slower with the extra weight shifted forwards. The front end is going to feel heavy and a bit slow compared to the stock ride height rear shocks. If you ride the least bit aggressively, even with them set on maximum spring preload, you'll bottom out the stock shocks. Any road rougher than riding over a handful of soggy cigarette butts. Unless you are extremely light weight yourself. They'd be fine on a 100cc or smaller Lifan or similar baby bike. The factory rear shocks are one of Suzuki's known design errors. Along with the vacuum petcock, flawed timing chain tension controller, weak stator, and hygroscopic spark box... yep, the electronic ignition is not waterproof... supposed to be, but it isn't. |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by danjray on 02/05/14 at 09:01:27 After lurking and posting for almost a year why does this seem the first time I'm really hearing about the weak stator and hygroscopic spark box problems? Maybe I'm just content with being deaf, dumb, and happy haha. But I have felt the lovely "electric jarring sensation" before, especially when riding 2-up, so I will definitely look into the bolt-on conversions, especially if I can pick up a set for $30. I haven't searched yet, but I'm now on my lunch break and know what I'll be doing, but are there any threads on how to prevent a problem with our not-so-waterproof ignition? And now that I'm reading it more, the weak stator does sound familiar, and I think I know the answer, but has a solution been proposed or found to this yet? |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by WD on 02/05/14 at 09:17:13 Spark box is easy to seal up, gray rtv around the posts or a simple application of di-electric grease (preferred) around the posts. There is a guy on Do The Ton that has figured out how to replace the expensive black box with a $20 GM HEI control module. Solved all the running issues on his early 80s GS300, black box for those bikes is made of unobtainium... The last hurdle to calling the Savage a good motorcycle is the low output stator. Everything else has a work around. Delete the safety switches, Raptor petcock, go up one size on the jets, Intruder rear shocks, type F atf as fork oil (at own risk, some seals will break down in it), V Star 950 rider seat, Dyna muffler, HD handlebars, GM HEI module... All contribute to turning a cute little toy into a functional motorcycle. |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by prechermike on 02/06/14 at 07:15:50 7A6C7B667E6B667D090 wrote:
Where do you get these bushing sleeves? |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by verslagen1 on 02/06/14 at 08:15:01 Lancer might have some or know the part no. But contact Progressive and they should be able to tell you the part no. The difference is not much. I was able to get dimensional tubing to fit the ID of the sportster shocks and fit the savage mounting posts. |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by Serowbot on 02/06/14 at 08:15:47 Preach,... I think Progressive sells them... danjray,... our stator ain't bad... it's about average... Stators on bikes, run in hot oil... they only last so long... There are bike models out there that eat stators every 5 to 7k miles... ours usually last 30 to 50k... It's part of routine maintenance... same in cars... You must expect to replace batteries, tires, alternators, stators... along with belts, chains, shocks, fork seals, brake pads, bearings... Nuttin' runs forever... ;D... Stators are just a bigger PIA to replace than most things... :P... |
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Title: Re: Better Shocks !! Post by engineer on 02/06/14 at 08:32:11 Quote:
I bought a length of stainless steel hydraulic tubing at an auto parts store (NAPA). The ID was perfect with just enough clearance. I never did press them into the rubber bushings of the Harley shocks because at the time I didn't know if I would like the change and wanted to keep the Harley shocks in good shape since I know a couple guys who could use them. So I made my own rubber bushings out of a piece of thick rubber hose using a lathe. It works. The Harley Sportster shocks are great for my 170lbs and some day I'll get around to pressing the stainless sleeves into the proper rubber bushings. Handling is improved with these shocks. They are an inch longer than stock and that boost in the height of the rear end, reduces the trail and rake angle slightly which makes the steering a little quicker, not much but it feels better. Best of all is that I have not bottomed out since I put them on and it prevents some seriously hard jolts to the spine. |
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