Post by secretlyironic on Sept 13, 2004 10:58:19 GMT -5
Hello,
I just got my new shock absorber from battlescooterstore. I ordered the shorter-than-stock one in white; my bike is black so it makes a nice contrast. I was really impressed with the shipping-- it was almost exactly as long as predicted (not fast, mind you, since it was a special order from Japan, but I knew when to expect it-- about a month and a week.)
So I installed it tihs weekend. No instructions (well, there were some papers in Japanese in the box, but they didn't look like instructions to me, even if I could read Japanese. Looked like a warranty card.)
I managed to squeeze the preload to two notches (out of the four) but not any further than that. I would have liked to, because that would have shortened it more, and lowered the bike. Overall it's about an inch, maybe a half inch lower than it was. So that was kind of disappointing-- I hadn't checked the length of the stock one, so I didn't know this wouldn't be insanely low. I may take it back apart and try to preload it further, but I'm not sure.
On the other hand, the ride is MUCH BETTER than I expected. I thought a stiffer shock would make for a more jarring ride, but the stock shock tends to bounce around, and this just sort of bumps once. I LOVE the improvement in the ride just for that alone.
To install it, I removed the seat frame and unbolted the plastic cargo deck. Lifting that up gave me access to the top half of the shock. I had to remove the airbox for the bottom half. I removed the airbox cover first, which wasn't necessary, but I did get to look at the air filter.
NOTE: be careful reinstalling your air filter and airbox cover-- if you don't tighten it down right, or if you misalign a screw, the engine will have too much air and not enough fuel and you'll find that above, say, 15 MPH the engine whines and lunches and is unhappy and won't go above 20. As I learned the hard way.
The next step is to get my buddy who has a welding kit to make me a new seat frame that really is low. Then I will be riding something truly bizarre.
I just got my new shock absorber from battlescooterstore. I ordered the shorter-than-stock one in white; my bike is black so it makes a nice contrast. I was really impressed with the shipping-- it was almost exactly as long as predicted (not fast, mind you, since it was a special order from Japan, but I knew when to expect it-- about a month and a week.)
So I installed it tihs weekend. No instructions (well, there were some papers in Japanese in the box, but they didn't look like instructions to me, even if I could read Japanese. Looked like a warranty card.)
I managed to squeeze the preload to two notches (out of the four) but not any further than that. I would have liked to, because that would have shortened it more, and lowered the bike. Overall it's about an inch, maybe a half inch lower than it was. So that was kind of disappointing-- I hadn't checked the length of the stock one, so I didn't know this wouldn't be insanely low. I may take it back apart and try to preload it further, but I'm not sure.
On the other hand, the ride is MUCH BETTER than I expected. I thought a stiffer shock would make for a more jarring ride, but the stock shock tends to bounce around, and this just sort of bumps once. I LOVE the improvement in the ride just for that alone.
To install it, I removed the seat frame and unbolted the plastic cargo deck. Lifting that up gave me access to the top half of the shock. I had to remove the airbox for the bottom half. I removed the airbox cover first, which wasn't necessary, but I did get to look at the air filter.
NOTE: be careful reinstalling your air filter and airbox cover-- if you don't tighten it down right, or if you misalign a screw, the engine will have too much air and not enough fuel and you'll find that above, say, 15 MPH the engine whines and lunches and is unhappy and won't go above 20. As I learned the hard way.
The next step is to get my buddy who has a welding kit to make me a new seat frame that really is low. Then I will be riding something truly bizarre.
