sokanxx Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 I've heard plenty about shimming up the rear shock. I was wondering if there is anyone that has directions on going about this? I did a search for it but the words rear shock and shim all bring up lots of results. I was hoping some one could walk me threw what is needed to shim the rear shock. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airborneXX Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Bike on centerstand. Remove or lift gas tank. Loosen the nut that holds the upper shock mount, this nut is sometimes very tight and you may have to grind the plastic from the inner fender that surrounds the nut in order to get a good grip on the nut. Loosen the nut until the rear tire touches ground. I used 7/16" flat washers, you will need 3 or 4 and measure the thickness until you get enough to make 6mm. cut out enough of the washers so they will slip around the shock bolt. Put them between the upper shock mount and the frame. This space will open up as you loosen the nut. Tighten nut reassemble bike and enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sokanxx Posted April 11, 2006 Author Share Posted April 11, 2006 Easy enough! I'll do that this weekend. Its supposed to rain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiona Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Bike on centerstand. Remove or lift gas tank. Loosen the nut that holds the upper shock mount, this nut is sometimes very tight and you may have to grind the plastic from the inner fender that surrounds the nut in order to get a good grip on the nut. Loosen the nut until the rear tire touches ground. I used 7/16" flat washers, you will need 3 or 4 and measure the thickness until you get enough to make 6mm. cut out enough of the washers so they will slip around the shock bolt. Put them between the upper shock mount and the frame. This space will open up as you loosen the nut. Tighten nut reassemble bike and enjoy! You have any pics of this? What is the benefit? Sounds like less rebound..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airborneXX Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Bike on centerstand. Remove or lift gas tank. Loosen the nut that holds the upper shock mount, this nut is sometimes very tight and you may have to grind the plastic from the inner fender that surrounds the nut in order to get a good grip on the nut. Loosen the nut until the rear tire touches ground. I used 7/16" flat washers, you will need 3 or 4 and measure the thickness until you get enough to make 6mm. cut out enough of the washers so they will slip around the shock bolt. Put them between the upper shock mount and the frame. This space will open up as you loosen the nut. Tighten nut reassemble bike and enjoy! You have any pics of this? What is the benefit? Sounds like less rebound..? Raises the rear end of the bike for quicker steering. HUUUUGE difference. It has no effect on the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbird Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Taken from forward of the shock, that's the battery box you see behind it. Washers or spacer goes between the goldish upper shock mount and the horizontal frame section directly above. Please don't make me edit in an arrow. I'd recommend taking the extra 20 or so minutes it takes to drop the shock and put whole, unslotted washers on there. Also, some locktite on the nut when you're done is a good idea, as the locking portion of the nut will not engage as well with the now limited threads you have to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiona Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Taken from forward of the shock, that's the battery box you see behind it. Washers or spacer goes between the goldish upper shock mount and the horizontal frame section directly above. Please don't make me edit in an arrow. I'd recommend taking the extra 20 or so minutes it takes to drop the shock and put whole, unslotted washers on there. Also, some locktite on the nut when you're done is a good idea, as the locking portion of the nut will not engage as well with the now limited threads you have to work with. I think I understand what you're explaining... following the silver line directly up the middle of the pic to the round gold piece to the rectangle gold piece to the black part(forgive my ignorance about the actual names of each piece)... the washers go between the rectangle gold piece and the black part? Friggin eh, wish I was more mechanical. I look at that picture and I start sweating......but it should be so simple... :icon_wall: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbird Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 And I even said please. Here you go, clear as I can make it. The yellow represents the bolt for the shock mount going up through that section of frame, you'll see the nut on the top of it right in front of the battery. The red would be the washers or spacer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiona Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 And I even said please. Here you go, clear as I can make it. The yellow represents the bolt for the shock mount going up through that section of frame, you'll see the nut on the top of it right in front of the battery. The red would be the washers or spacer. Yep, that's exactly as I was describing in my previous post. Makes sense. Thanks for the illustration anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlasticxxHead Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Tim, We should add your photo to the shim bank... Brett's description was pretty good, you will need someone to lift the tail of the bike up to put the washers in. after you loosen the nut till the rear tire hits the ground ps thanks for mine Brett.... Perhaps we could make a permanent sticky of the poular mods... Shim..... bar lift/vfr clips....buell pegs....etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airborneXX Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Tim, We should add your photo to the shim bank... Brett's description was pretty good, you will need someone to lift the tail of the bike up to put the washers in. after you loosen the nut till the rear tire hits the ground ps thanks for mine Brett.... Perhaps we could make a permanent sticky of the poular mods... Shim..... bar lift/vfr clips....buell pegs....etc... I didn't have to lift mine to install the shims, but yours we did. Maybe you had more tread on your tire :icon_think: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZDave Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Just put a board under the Centre stand. It makes it a little more difficult to lift onto the stand but it gives it a lot more rear wheel travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redxxrdr Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 For a one man operation, I used two 2x6 boards. I placed the bike on the center stand and slid a board under the rear tire. Took the bike off the stand, rear tire now on the board. I then put the second board under the stand and lifted again. Since the bike is higher, it takes less effort to lift onto the stand the second time. Not all of us are as strong as Nik. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardCranium Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 I just did this to my bike. I unbolted the shock top and bottom. Gravy. if you do that you won't have to use boards or anything and its very easy. Actually I did it while I had my swingarm off for powdercoating. I went with about 6mm worth of washers and I also raised my forks around 3mm. What a HUGE difference. I'm not any better of a rider but is sure as hell takes less effort to drop into a turn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demon Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 It's more expensive, but get an adjustable dogbone and you can adjust rear ride height up or down to whatever you want. I guestimate that I am running about 8-9mm of "shim" to mine. I put 6mm of shims above the shock before I got it and it sits higher in the rear now. On the centerstand, my tire is approx 1/8" above the asphalt. I also have raised my forks 1/4" in the trees. Needless to say, my bike don't like high speed sweepers, but a twist of the wrench brings things back down to more "sane" geometry in about 3 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sokanxx Posted April 17, 2006 Author Share Posted April 17, 2006 I just did this to my bike. I unbolted the shock top and bottom. Gravy. if you do that you won't have to use boards or anything and its very easy. Actually I did it while I had my swingarm off for powdercoating. I went with about 6mm worth of washers and I also raised my forks around 3mm. What a HUGE difference. I'm not any better of a rider but is sure as hell takes less effort to drop into a turn. I would like to see a picture of your powdercoated swingarm. I have been contemplating PC'ing mine but just couldnt quite imagine how it would look! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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