Rear shock options for 19st rider

[Stinka]

I'm looking to upgrade the rear shock to suit my fat **** weight. What's best for my 2002 curvey to suit my 19st without gear

I've searched and read threads but not really found anything conclusive

[Bibio]

this all depends on how much you are willing to spend.

[Biker Biggles]

Kwack zx6r 2003-4.Not really ideal but a cheap option much better than the standard one.Minor cutting of battery tray required.

[Stinka]

Assuming gsxr1000 shock would be heavier spring rate tho due to heavier bike ?

[nutzboutbikes]

At 19st I would guess you are going to need a spring rate of around 675lb/700lb so after market would be your best option IMO.
You will not get any where near that lb spring with a ZXR/GSXR shock, Busa is the heaviest sprung I think.
Take a look at the Nitron sport shock it will cost you around £370 but it will be sprung for your weight.

[Stinka]

How about a gsxr1300 shock with an aftermarket spring

Surely that would be ~£200 and cheaper than nitron etc

[nutzboutbikes]

Busa shock is 700lb so that would probably be ok, you would however need to check it for length, more than the standard 338mm is preferable and also find out if its a straight swap.

[Stinka]

Cool :)

[nutzboutbikes]

Looking at the reservoir on the Busa shock I think you are going to struggle to get it to fit.

[Stinka]

This looks suitable

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/191556580092

[nutzboutbikes]

I don't think it will fit!.

[Stinka]

Maybe shorter dog bones too

[Stinka]

I don't think it will fit!.

Why because of battery tray/box ?

[nutzboutbikes]

Yes the reservoir sticks up to far.

[Stinka]

So I need to modify the battery box which should be doable

[maviczap]

Its a big reservior on that Busa shock, its a tight fit for the zx10 shock, so it might be a bigger struggle to fit that?

But nothing ventured nothing gained

[embee]

This is a useful site
http://yssshocks.co.uk/fitments.html
The part numbers have some info to give compatibility at a superficial level anyway, the free length between mountings is given (e.g. 340, 335 etc) and the first bit gives a fitment type for the ends, bosses or forks etc. (e.g. MZ506 ).

As far as I know you can't tell the spring rates etc, but other sites for suspension units could probably give this.


If the part coding is correct, would the ZZR1100 D1-5 type be a viable alternative, like this ebay item (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KAWASAKI-ZZR1100-ZZR-1100-D-LOW-MILEAGE-REAR-BACK-SHOCK-ABSORBER-/141783008297?hash=item2102ed0429), don't know what the spring rate is.

[maviczap]

Also think that a Busa shock of that vintage is going to be pretty tired & will need a service, so factor that into the cost.

Here's a much better option and a good price, Nitron will be able to re spring it for your weight

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/99-02-SV650-SV-650-YSS-Monoshock-NOT-Ohlins-WP-Hyperpro-Nitron-shock-absorber-/151801863912?hash=item2358189ee8

[Bibio]

you are looking for a zx10r 2004-2005 this shock is perfect for hight and for your weight.

at 19st you should also be looking at changing out the front springs to 1.0kg as the stock springs are grossly under sprung for your weight.

[Stinka]

It had ktech springs and heavy oil for 17 stone rider so it should be ok, but I'll see when I start riding it

Cheers

[nutzboutbikes]

you are looking for a zx10r 2004-2005 this shock is perfect for hight and for your weight.

at 19st you should also be looking at changing out the front springs to 1.0kg as the stock springs are grossly under sprung for your weight.


Zx10R shock has a 559lb spring which is not stiff enough on a curvy for a 19st fella, I spoke to Nitron this week about a new spring for mine as its a little soft with a 575lb spring, I am 14 1/2 stone and he recommended that a 600lb spring would suit my weight for road riding.

[yorkie_chris]

You want a #700 spring.

-10R shocks are too soft and short.
busa has 700 spring but is only 300mm. This will fook the job right up. Standard length is WAY too short, you need 355mm long shock.
Good luck finding one, cos there isn't.



I would say don't fook about get a penske. I went through all these half arsed jobs fitting other bike shocks for ages, eventually bought a brand new penske and even though I'm a tight yorkshireman didn't regret it.

[Bibio]

ermm thought the curvy was 337mm from eye to eye and pointy is 330

[Stinka]

Yeah from my research it's about 4mm shorter

I'd be putting shorter dog bones on anyway

[Typhon219]

I just got a zzr1400 shock to fit. will let you know how it fares. I'm 18stone still on the orignals so the bike pretty much doesn't rebound anymore :/

[Stinka]

I just got a zzr1400 shock to fit. will let you know how it fares. I'm 18stone still on the orignals so the bike pretty much doesn't rebound anymore :/

Ooh nice one mate, take some pictures please would love to see how it fits etc :smt041:)

[Bibio]

Yeah from my research it's about 4mm shorter

I'd be putting shorter dog bones on anyway
i think you'll find that its 1mm taller. also racetech recommend 9.95kgmm and the zx shock is 10kgmm. if push comes to shove then buy another spring. but hey i'm only trying to help.

using the busa shock you are going to have to raise the rear and i think the smallest you will get is 25mm rise which i suppose you could counteract a little by sticking a 70 profile front tyre on or leave it arz up and make it turn in quicker.

do a google for 'sv shock swap chart'.

if you want a shock that fits properly then buy a proper aftermarket like nitron etc.etc.

[yorkie_chris]

ermm thought the curvy was 337mm from eye to eye and pointy is 330

I said what he needs not what is standard

Stock is way too short, anti squat is all to c*ck.


Don't use shorter dogbones, they mess up the linkage ratio. Stock is nice, linear in range we are interested in.

[Typhon219]

Gimme a couple of days, bloody wrench broke trying to undo the top bolt so need to get a new one before i can fit it.

[Stinka]

Lol sounds like fun

[K1600]

Does a K4 shock spring fit a K8? I am 9 stone soaking wet so OE does me just fine

[Typhon219]

Ok Stinka I've finally, after much f*cking around got the zzr1400 shock on. No pics but I'll talk you through it a little.


Mines a curvy 2002 S.


So I'm a bit of a lazy sod and figured I'd leave the back wheel on when doing this. It's not made a huge difference But I can see that access would be easier by removing it. I've got an Abba stand that is brilliant so just raised the back on that and put some wood under the back wheel to support the weight. I also put a small bar across the top of the wood so I could easily lever the wheel up when sliding the bolts back in. I removed the left heel guard to get a little better access.


After removing the stock shock I tried putting the ZZR shock up through the bottom but the reservoir is pretty big and wouldn't fit so it needs to go through the top. I didn't remove the tank completely, just undid the 4 bolts and displaced it and got the better half to stop it falling whilst I dropped in the shock.


Getting the shock to fit was a nightmare as the reservoir is in a really bad spot compared to the battery box. I basically got a hack saw in and butchered the box to get it to fit. it took ages and looks **** so I'd recommend taking the tail unit off and removing the whole battery holder to do a proper job. left corner needs to be completely removed so my battery is currently sitting on top of the reservoir which is not ideal. I'll try to fashion some kind of proper setup this week but it will do as a temp fix. The battery is a good inch or more higher than it was originally but if you slide the fuses off the tray that usually sits above the battery there's plenty of room for everything.


Once I'd hacked the box the shock went straight in. It's a few mm shorter than stock but it fits with the standard dog bones. I used the SV bolts top and bottom of the shock instead of the Kawasaki bolts (still have the kwack bolts if anyone wants them)


I've only ridden it to the petrol station and then work this morning. It feels noticeably lower than it was and softer than I'd hoped for but that could be the settings. there's definitely some rebound now and the usual bumps are a lot smoother. I'll update in a few days when I've sorted the settings out and put some more miles in.

[Stinka]

Ok mate, that sounds relatively straight forward. I'll be interested to see what you can get out of the settings, a good bit of preload should help the ride height/sag etc

[Biker Biggles]

If it feels softer than standard that suggests its not suitable for a 19 st rider,never mind the "noticeably lower" bit.Are you sure this shock is a good idea?

[Stinka]

I'm not sure of anything. I'll await more feedback from typhon

[Typhon219]

Biggles, softer than i hoped for but not softer than standard.

Ride home yesterday was in the dry and pretty clear so i could ride at a normal pace. Its alot better than stock at bump management and feels more planted. Should have feedback on settings for the end of the week.

[Stinka]

Sound mate

[nutzboutbikes]

You really don't want to fit a shorter than standard shock, the SV suffers from lack of rear ride height as standard.
You could get your standard shock re sprung even though its not the best shock in the world the correct spring rate would be a massive improvement, you would need the spring made as its not a standard size this company can help http://www.dfaulknersprings.com/

[Typhon219]

I'll give what I have a go, sort the settings and if it's still too low get longer dogbones for it. there's a jack up kit on ebay for £15 to add 25mm. this way you get the ride height and better suspension with adjustability over the stock. this would bring my costs to about £80 for the shock, jack up kit and tools I needed. quick browse at a shock refurb would be £120, so more money for a lesser spec shock (albeit a newer one)

[embee]

I came across these folk for shock springs. No idea what they are like to deal with, but they list a pretty wide range of springs.
http://reactivesuspension.com/springs.php


Edit - also found Demon Tweeks offer rear springs at a much more reasonable cost
http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorcycle/rear-springs

[K1600]

Well, having no response to my post I have taken the plunge and purchased a rear shock from a 04 SV and fitted it to my 08. Can confirm that it is a straight swap, just in case anyone was interested.

This bike is a second bike to me and is lucky to cover 1000 mile a year, so did not wish to spend money on a quality after market one when OE does me just fine.

[Rich Clarke]

I fitted a ZZR1400 rear shock to my K3 pointy. I'm also fully grown (!) and it works very well. It was mint and cost me £30 off ebay. I'm not sure if shocks that fit pointys will also fit curvys, so you'll need to check first.
I found that you need to wind the pre-load right down to about 5mm to get the right amount of sag and you need to set the rebound and compression damping to 3 or 4 clicks from the 'softest' settings to get it to right but I'm very pleased with the way it works. It raises the back of the bike slightly, which has a positive effect on the handling too.
Rich

[Stinka]

Nice one mate, what year is it from ? You got any pics of your bike and close ups of the shock ?

Cheers

[Rich Clarke]

Hi Stinka.
No I haven't any pics. The top and bottom quarters are fairly well hidden so I'm not sure how pics will help.
I can't remember what year of shock I bought, but theres another link on this forum that explains all. I'll try and find it and post it up for you
Rich

[Rich Clarke]

Stinka

Try this thread...

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=185975&highlight=zzr14

Like I say, check it will fit a curvy first!

Rich

[nutzboutbikes]

I found that you need to wind the pre-load right down to about 5mm to get the right amount of sag
Rich



with that amount of pre-load added I would guess the spring is a little soft, does it have any free sag with all that pre-load?

[embee]

You can calculate the spring stiffness very easily, at least for a basically linear spring. All you need is wire diameter, coil diameter, and number of active coils (count from where the coil leaves the closed end). Plenty of online calculators if you don't want to make your own excel version. Just for example http://www.acxesspring.com/spring-calculator.html or http://www.reliablespring.co.uk/calculator.htm


I've checked a couple of shock springs and the figures you come up with are very good representative values for mid stroke stiffness, typical short springs do end up slightly progressive just because of the geometry, coil angles etc. for example a CBR600F spring I checked was nominally 13.4kg/mm according to the lists, calculated at 13.6 and measured between 12.6 and 14.5 over the stroke. Note the calc value is very sensitive to wire diameter (fourth power), so allowances for powder coat etc are important when measuring.


My earlier post had a link to Demon Tweeks for shock springs, but I've since looked at the Faulkner spring site direct http://www.dfaulknersprings.com/ , looks useful.

[Rich Clarke]

with that amount of pre-load added I would guess the spring is a little soft, does it have any free sag with all that pre-load?

Ah..... By Preload wound down, I meant tension wise - wound off, not using all the preload up! :oops: With that shock you only need about 5mm of preload on to get the right amount of sag. Apologies if my description caused any confusion.

To clarify, take all of the preload off and then wind the adjuster rings down until theres about 5mm of thread showing ABOVE the adjuster rings. Use that as a starting point and work from there.

LOL
Rich

[Typhon219]

Finally got round to sorting the settings out. Have had a shop crank the preload right up whilst changing for some heavier oil in the forks. the rear now sits just right, a little higher than it was with the standard shock and the whole package is much better. Probably a little more firm than my old gsxr 750 was (k6 factory settings) so i'm loving it. I think there are better fitting shocks out there but the zzr1400 shock (08 model) works well.

[Stinka]

Awesome mate :) I think I'll get one

[Stinka]

You say 2008, is there much difference between years ?

[Typhon219]

According to Bibio on the link below '06 to '10 is the same, probably worth checking for yourself. If you're looking on ebay you could ask the seller to measure the length.

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=185975&highlight=zzr14

Let us know what you get