engineer wrote on 02/20/11 at 14:12:27:Assuming a person bought a pair of Progressive shocks, about 115/150 spring rate which is what they recommend for the Intruder 800, what would be the longest shock you could use before the drive belt would start rubbing on the belt guard? [b]And if you go long enough for the belt to rub how much do you have to trim off? Quarter inch, half its' length, more?
With the Intruder shocks on my bike, I got contact at full extension rebound at the very front of the guard, and had the belt just touching one small bolt head up there too...
The spot I ground off was about a quarter inch deep by one inch long, plus I put a flatter head bolt in place of the original. The bolt is under the front pulley cover plate at the bottom inside edge of the belt, just as it leaves the front pulley... and it might not even happen to another bike. It wasn't dangerous anyway,... I'm just particular.
The clearance is not a big deal... or a huge amount, just install, and observe at the front end with that plate off.
I ended up tossing the guard for cosmetics... no issues with debris damage in 20k miles...
Hope that allays any fears for you...
PS,.. 12 1/2" of shock is a heavenly ride...
...
EDIT... a pic is worth a thousand words...
Top one is modded for clearance.
Bottom is stock.
(2 minutes with a hand file, or 30 secs. on a bench grinder)...
here's a pic of the bolt... I replaced the hexhead bolt with a roundhead allen... (bottom side of belt, just as the belt leaves the front pulley)...