Shortening Shocks

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peteybug
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#31

Post by peteybug »

Yes they work great on my bobber. I don't know how they would be on a two person bike. Smooth ride and no bottom out as of yet.
love new ideas for old wing's. AS I have three and am always working on them

[img]http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh55/peteybug8/motorcycle040-1.jpg[/img][img]http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh55/peteybug8/motorcycle037-1-1.jpg[/img][img]http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh55/peteybug8/3%20wings/Townworkandbikes036-1.jpg[/img]
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Dave_J
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#32

Post by Dave_J »

78AZWing wrote:<<<Snip>>>I was thinking about heating the sidestand in the middle and curving it outward an inch or so to return the lean angle to a more acceptable angle. Any thoughts?
That should work ok but do it off the bike or not using the bikes weight untill its cooled, of corse.

As a side question(s), how is the cornering clearence with it dropped that much? What part drags and about what lean angle? I dont need a "Tame the Dragon" carver but it must corner without too much dragging of hard parts. I have low sided when a foot peg hit its limits and lifted/unloaded the rear tire enough off the ground. But that was a Honda 305, not a heavy Wing. DaveJ
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peteybug
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#33

Post by peteybug »

So far I have not scraped at all but I'm not a real agressive driver. I lowered the forks about 1 1/2 in to help also. I took of center stand and have diff pipes. The bike is a blast to drive. The way its set up I sit flat footed when stoped. Im only 5ft 10in tall with a 30 in inseam. So not real tall.
love new ideas for old wing's. AS I have three and am always working on them

[img]http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh55/peteybug8/motorcycle040-1.jpg[/img][img]http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh55/peteybug8/motorcycle037-1-1.jpg[/img][img]http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh55/peteybug8/3%20wings/Townworkandbikes036-1.jpg[/img]
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gungadin
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#34

Post by gungadin »

I had 11" shocks with the forks lowered a FAT 1". Also a 16" rear tire.
The bike was VERY low. I only ever scraped the nubs on the front pegs.
This does wake you up. I think the next thing to scrape would be headers.
I weigh 200+ and with my wife on 115 drippin' wet the shocks would only bottom out occasionally under servere load. My GL is more or less a bobber too so subtract a little weight.
I've gone back to OEM shocks but when I find a good pair to molest I'm going to do Peteybug's mod.
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Re: Shortening Shocks

#35

Post by vintwing »

I've been following this thread, and I like this idea. I have one small concern with this. You will be creating a different angle from the engine to the differential, will this ultimately be tough on the universal joint? Anyone have any thoughts about this? Norm
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Re: Shortening Shocks

#36

Post by Jason J »

I used your method to lower mine and it worked great. That universal has alot of room in it, if you ever have your engne out you will see how much.
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Re: Shortening Shocks

#37

Post by Bobalou »

Nice write up.
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Re: Shortening Shocks

#38

Post by McLeod »

peteybug, great post on lowing the rear shocks. Have you thought about lowering the front forks and giving us all your insight on that?
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Re: Shortening Shocks

#39

Post by Cookie »

Loosen four bolts and slide the tubes up? Tighten four bolts?
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JohnBaxter
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Re: Shortening Shocks

#40

Post by JohnBaxter »

With all of this Shortening of shocks, and reducing fork height, How does all of this affect the ease of putting the bike on the Center Stand ? I know that mine can be a little difficult when she wants to be. :8)
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Re: Shortening Shocks

#41

Post by Cookie »

It makes it harder.
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Owner of 4.4 76s and one lone 75 Wings (does a spare engine make .2?)
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CYBORG
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Re: Shortening Shocks

#42

Post by CYBORG »

shorten the center stand action1 action1
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Re: Shortening Shocks

#43

Post by datsunfreak »

CYBORG wrote:shorten the center stand action1 action1
But unless you move where it bolts up the frame, it will no longer hit the muffler in the right spot. confused22
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Re: Shortening Shocks

#44

Post by mogold »

I'm using this method...just a tip ...check and recheck the size of the threads. I used a bolt gauge template to check the size which looked like m12 1.25 .....it was actually sae 7/16 20 ......I know its weird and I don't understand why but I almost ruined my shock. Also ...because it is hardened steel...it stripped the die...I learned after talking to several different industrial tool companies..that the die's that are shaped like a socket are actually "thread chasers" designed to clean up existing threads and the round ones are made for chasing and cutting new threads....I bought the HS (high speed) round die and it held up well with no stripping.
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Re: Shortening Shocks

#45

Post by dennwhite »

I finally started this mod. I took a chance and bought a 12-1.25 die before I removed the shock. As close as I can tell my shock dia. is 11-1.25. I am having a tough time finding this die. Even the tap and die sets skip 11mm and if they have one it's 11-1.5. Silly Japanese. I tried a 7/16-20 tap and a 11-1.5 tap into the nut by hand and they would not go. I only found one online and they wanted about 15 bucks for it which is not bad. But they wanted another 15 for shipping.
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