[Help me Un-Fook this Blackbird Please]

Would an entire stock shock fix your problem? I have a high milage example sitting in the garage, it's yours for shipping. Mount it up or remove the parts you need. It's a piece of crap, but it sounds like it'd still be a considerable step up for you.

Cool - thanks for the offer man! I've never messed with a shock on a sportbike to be honest, so I don't really know if it would be easy to swap out that lower collar or not. Anyone happen to know??? From the microfiche it looks like it wouldn't be too bad, but I'm wondering if some sort of spring compressor is needed to do the job. This bike only has 10,000 miles on it, so I'm thinking maybe there's more life left in it (and the spring) than yours, but I don't really know.

In any case, I'll gladly take you up on your offer. I'll send you a PM if I can figure out how to do that.

Thanks again!

[Help me Un-Fook this Blackbird Please]

Well, first let me introduce myself - my name is Todd and I have a motorcycle addiction problem. Much like the crazy cat lady who just can't help but to take in yet another wayward, neglected, or abused kitty, so too am I afflicted with motorcycles. [sigh]

My latest "rescue" is a '99 Blackbird (some of you may have caught this in the thread BPG started about his roomie). I'm familiar with the bikes primarily through BPG and another friend of ours who "had" one (until a car targeted it/him recently). I got it for what I think will prove to be a pretty good price, but as of now, it's rather fugly and has a variety of "issues" I'm trying to sort out.

I won't bore you with all the sordid details. First thing I'm trying to do is "un-lower" it and could use a little help. I raised the forks back up and adjusted the pre-load on the shock (is that really the only adjustment there is???), but it's still sitting too low in the rear. I looked closer and compared it with BPG's bike (which just happens to share a garage) and I see where the trouble is. The link looks stock, and the "triangles" are still in the stock position. However, some idjit has removed the piece(s) that fit into the lower collar on the shock just beneath the spring. With these little pieces gone, the entire collar (and spring) are able to slide down all the way to where they actually rest on the triangles (!!!). WTF?! In fact, on the centerstand the spring & collar just flop up and down on the shock as there is no tension whatsoever. :icon_duh:

These missing little pieces are not shown as separate bits sold by Honda. The collar & the piece(s) appear to just be part of the shock unit from Honda. Sooooo, my question is whether anyone here has the little piece(s) that go in the collar; whether someone has a collar with these pieces intact; or if anyone knows of a suitable fix for this? Perhaps a big washer might do the trick, but I don't think I could get the right ID (since the part it fits around is actually rectangular rather than round) Now before you say it, yes, I know a Penske, Ohlins, Workx, Hagon, etc. would be a great improvement, but I'm having to do this repair on a shoestring. For now I just need to make it rideable, an upgrade can come later.

Ok, beyond the suspension stuff I've got some electrical oddities that I'm hoping are related to a very dead battery (it's on the charger now). There are also plenty of cosmetic issues - gonna need some plastics (an upper and a right lower in particular), and maybe more. Soooo very much to do to make this thing respectable again.

Anyhow, thanks for letting me come play in your sandbox. Looking forward to learning and I'll try and contribute when I can.