Guest Sparky40sw Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 I ride a 1995 VFR 750, which currently has 19,500 miles on it. I weigh in at a very chubby 325 lbs, and the bike often feels a bit squirrelly when pushed in the corners - wallowing in 90 mph sweepers etc. It embarrasses me that my courage on the bike runs out in the corners before that of the couple on the Harley in the Friday night ride group. In search of a remedy I have ordered up-rated springs front and rear from Racetech, for a very reasonable $250 total for both ends. When I call my local shop, the quote was 5.25 hours of labor and shock oil, for a total of about $500. Is this reasonable, or conversely - Is this something I can do my self, and not have the wife on my back for spending the mortgage money on the bike? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zoomzoom Posted March 14, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 14, 2013 I can remember swapping out the rear shock on my 97 VFR (same style as yours) and it took me about an hour to undo the shock, remove and re-install the unit. I had sent the shock away to be resprung as I'm not sure you would want to try and install the actual spring on your own unless you have a spring compressor (those spring are under a lot of tension and without the proper tools, you could hurt yourself). The rear shock took a little more than a half hour to remove (never having done it before) since it was only four bolts to remove and then about another half hour to re-install the shock once I got it back from the company that rebuilt the rear shock for me. As for the front shocks, I have never changed the springs in my forks so I am not really sure how long it would take but after reading the manual it does seem a little complicated, especially if they have to remove the forks to do the swap which I believe they would. I don't think 5 hours labor IMO is out of line as far as time goes, but that is likely book rate and that is just what the standard labor rate is for those particular jobs. May not take that long to do, but that is what they say it will take, so that is what you will pay as far as hours of labor goes. If I were you, I would consider giving Jamie D at www.daughertymotorsports.com a call or sending him an email. Jamie is a member of this site and he built a shock for my 2000 VFR800 that is more adjustable than the stock unit and has a higher rate spring. I commonly ride with my wife on the back and between the two of us we weigh in at around 325 lbs and Jamie installed an 1100 lb spring as I recall. Jamie is an excellent guy to deal with and I'm sure he could offer you a tremendous amount of information on how to improve the suspension on your bike. Just adding a stiffer or stronger spring to the rear shock, I don't think will make a very big difference unless the shock is also re-valved to match. Instead of a spongy pogo stick you may wind up with a really bouncy one instead and I don't think that would be beneficial to you either. I am certainly not a suspension expert but JAMIE D. most definitely IS, so drop him an email and see what he has to say. Good luck with the suspension swap and all the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted March 14, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 14, 2013 Hello Sparky, from my recollection, it took me a good coupel of hours to swap the oem for the Wilbers rear and springs up front. I wanted to do it myself, some theraputic time when work stress was trying to kill me off..... Getting the battey box out was a biatch as I recall..... http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/28935-wilbers-on-a-4th-gen/page-2?hl=wilbers The time quoted seems reasonable to me, so for you it is a choice if you have/want the pennies to have it done or like to get your hands dirty... :-) If you do want to do this yourself, download the manual for the 90-97 here on VFRD. If you do decide to let the garage do it, you give them the relevant pages (if they are not a Honda dealer) I would stay away from trying to fit a different coil on the rear shock, unless access to somenone with the right tools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer luvtoleanit Posted March 14, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 14, 2013 I trust Racetech. They are a good outfit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Thanks to all of you - I will keep studying - and saving to have the shock replaced with the spring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Duc2V4 Posted March 15, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 15, 2013 I also went the Jamie D route. I sent him an OEM ABS shock to have him revalve/respring it and send me the spring/shims for the front end. I did the rear shock install in less than an hour and a half and the front took me the better part of an afternoon, but I also had to disassembled the fork innards to replace the shim stack(s).The amount of time the shop quoted you seems about right if they are also changing the spring on the rear shock for you. However for a little more than what you would be paying them, Jamie can revalve the front and rear for you, at least that was my case. If you have any mechanical apptitude, you should be able to handle the "installation", but unless you have the proper tools, I would probably say replacing the rear spring should be left to the professionals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I guess you have to decide if it's a job that your comfortable doing, considering your skill level. And if yes, do you have more time or more money to spend? I used to do a lot of things myself, because I couldn't afford to pay anyone. Sometimes couldn't afford the right tool, but never a shortage of garage words. Personally I'd be paying someone, but I'm older and less broke these days. I just wanna ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NakedViffer Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Any shop worth their weight should be able to do the job, not including time if they are already busy, shouldn't take them more than 10 minutes max.. Shouldn't cost you much either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted March 15, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 15, 2013 If you're just replacing the fork springs and not the oil you can do that on the bike quickly. I assume the shop quote includes removing the forks to remove the old oil, clean and put new in. That and the shock install sounds like about 5 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted March 15, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 15, 2013 Any shop worth their weight should be able to do the job, not including time if they are already busy, shouldn't take them more than 10 minutes max.. Shouldn't cost you much either. HUH? If the shop tells me they did the front and rear swap, in 10 minutes, I'd say they did SFA. Just drank a cup of coffee and charge for "work done"... ymmv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 the quote was 5.25 hours of labor and shock oil,Did they perhaps mean fork oil? If they include replacing fork bushings, seals and putting new grease in the rear suspension bearings, 5,5 hours doesn't sound too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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