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Vtec Shock Options


Baileyrock

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I don't know, I guess I'm just trying to make myself feel better. I buy and sell quite a bit, and I sold one of the base models like that years ago and I listed it as being fully adjustable. I didn't even know what it was for..

The last one I sold, man I wish I coulda made it fit the VFR, picked it up at the flea market for $50, it was in a box of extension cords and the spring coils blended in. That one ended up being for a 99-07 Busa and it was their top of the line model, and MINT.

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05 VFR. This question probably has been answered already, but I weigh around 270lbs and losing weight, thank God! But with my leather, I am closer to 290 right now. Could a CBR1100XX shock work for my lardassness? What spring should I use with it or would a spring heavy enough for me be too strong for the shock? Should I just buy some thousand pound Harley full dress tractor? :blink:

Edited by Lint
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Guest 91talon

05 VFR. This question probably has been answered already, but I weigh around 270lbs and losing weight, thank God! But with my leather, I am closer to 290 right now. Could a CBR1100XX shock work for my lardassness? What spring should I use with it or would a spring heavy enough for me be too strong for the shock? Should I just buy some thousand pound Harley full dress tractor? :blink:

You might as well upgrade the standard shock, and then get a better spring, tailored to your weight. Just getting the XX shock will do little, but it might be a small step up from the standard VFR shock.

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Should I just buy some thousand pound Harley full dress tractor? :blink:

That is a definite option, but then I would have to point and laugh.

I went the spring/revalve for my weight route via Daugherty Motorsports. It was $395 for shock, spring, revalve, and mount adapter.

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05 VFR. This question probably has been answered already, but I weigh around 270lbs and losing weight, thank God! But with my leather, I am closer to 290 right now. Could a CBR1100XX shock work for my lardassness? What spring should I use with it or would a spring heavy enough for me be too strong for the shock? Should I just buy some thousand pound Harley full dress tractor? :blink:

You might as well upgrade the standard shock, and then get a better spring, tailored to your weight. Just getting the XX shock will do little, but it might be a small step up from the standard VFR shock.

The CBR1100XX is no better than the VFR800. Nothing to be had there!

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Guest 91talon

05 VFR. This question probably has been answered already, but I weigh around 270lbs and losing weight, thank God! But with my leather, I am closer to 290 right now. Could a CBR1100XX shock work for my lardassness? What spring should I use with it or would a spring heavy enough for me be too strong for the shock? Should I just buy some thousand pound Harley full dress tractor? :blink:

You might as well upgrade the standard shock, and then get a better spring, tailored to your weight. Just getting the XX shock will do little, but it might be a small step up from the standard VFR shock.

The CBR1100XX is no better than the VFR800. Nothing to be had there!

I'm talking from merely a higher rated spring than the VFR point of view. Not everyone has nearly $400 to throw at the suspension, and you can pick up a XX shock for less than $50.

If you HAD to go cheap on the quick, it is a viable option for people over 200 lbs.

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05 VFR. This question probably has been answered already, but I weigh around 270lbs and losing weight, thank God! But with my leather, I am closer to 290 right now. Could a CBR1100XX shock work for my lardassness? What spring should I use with it or would a spring heavy enough for me be too strong for the shock? Should I just buy some thousand pound Harley full dress tractor? :blink:

You might as well upgrade the standard shock, and then get a better spring, tailored to your weight. Just getting the XX shock will do little, but it might be a small step up from the standard VFR shock.

The CBR1100XX is no better than the VFR800. Nothing to be had there!

I'm talking from merely a higher rated spring than the VFR point of view. Not everyone has nearly $400 to throw at the suspension, and you can pick up a XX shock for less than $50.

If you HAD to go cheap on the quick, it is a viable option for people over 200 lbs.

The 929 is a much better option. Has external reservoir, fully adjustable, same srping rate as the VFR too. You throw a spring on one of those for $80-$100 and you might have $20-$30 in the spring.

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The CBR1100XX is no better than the VFR800. Nothing to be had there!

I'm talking from merely a higher rated spring than the VFR point of view. Not everyone has nearly $400 to throw at the suspension, and you can pick up a XX shock for less than $50.

If you HAD to go cheap on the quick, it is a viable option for people over 200 lbs.

This is true, but it is still WAY low for the VFR. The spring on a CBR1100XX shock is good for a 65lb rider, so if my 10 year old daughter was riding the bike it would be ok.

The 929 is a much better option. Has external reservoir, fully adjustable, same srping rate as the VFR too. You throw a spring on one of those for $80-$100 and you might have $20-$30 in the spring.

Same goes here too. The stock spring on the CBR929 shock is the same as the VFR800, the problem is an ideal rider for that spring is 12lb. None of my kids are that small anymore so I won't even make a correlation for that! :biggrin:

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Ive been looking around trying to figure out a new shock, as my OEM has 85,000+kms on it and I'm sure its close to needing a rebuild or replacement. Problem is I almost think I need two shocks.... :(

One for everyday riding and one to swap in when the wife and I go touring. And no I'm not calling my wife fat, with gear I'm sure she barely breaks 135lbs.

Normally I run the preload up around 75% of max, for my everyday riding. Install all 3 bags and loaded up for a 3 or 4 day trip and have the wife jump on, I've gone from a daily load of 200lbs to almost double. Even with the preload at max, the front end is light and when it gets dark the head lights blind the guys up on the ISS....

The wife and I have been toying with the idea of me riding the bike out west sometime in the summer of 2014 and she'll fly to Calgary. Then spending a few weeks touring Banff in to BC. So current setup isn't going to cut it.

Is it posable to just swap out to a heavier spring when needed or is it just simpler have a second shock?

I've been toying with the idea of getting a Uni-go trailer, but that's $3000 for something I may only use once or twice a year.

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05 VFR. This question probably has been answered already, but I weigh around 270lbs and losing weight, thank God! But with my leather, I am closer to 290 right now. Could a CBR1100XX shock work for my lardassness? What spring should I use with it or would a spring heavy enough for me be too strong for the shock? Should I just buy some thousand pound Harley full dress tractor? :blink:

You might as well upgrade the standard shock, and then get a better spring, tailored to your weight. Just getting the XX shock will do little, but it might be a small step up from the standard VFR shock.

The CBR1100XX is no better than the VFR800. Nothing to be had there!

I'm talking from merely a higher rated spring than the VFR point of view. Not everyone has nearly $400 to throw at the suspension, and you can pick up a XX shock for less than $50.

If you HAD to go cheap on the quick, it is a viable option for people over 200 lbs.

Yes, the XX shock would be a slight improvement over the VFR shock only because of the slightly higher spring rate (16.9 vs 15.3). But as JD says, heavier riders should have a much stiffer spring rate.

Ideal would be something over 23kg for you.

BR

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this is the link to British made nitron shock...used on many tt race bikes. http://www.nitron.co.uk click on store for full range of motorcycle products.

Edited by firebladestan
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After a good long ride yesterday, the JD 929 shock lost its damping abilities after sitting in traffic on the interstate. I expected this due to the proximity of the motor to the shock reservoir but did not have a long enough screwdriver to tighten up the comp/reb adjusters mid ride. I know they are just a hair tighter than halfway in the adjustment range. Otherwise the shock feels great.

I also refreshed the fork oil with 500cc's in each of OEM 10wt. Reinstalled the forks and raised the front up a bit more, Genmar bar riser spacers prevent it from going too high, but the steering felt much better. The combined suspension improvements yielded much more confidence and feel (til the shock got hot) and I was cranking down some local backroads at the same pace I would normally only do on the Super Duke.

Advance Auto sells aluminized cloth material and I may secure it around the top of the shock to better insulate it from the engine and exhaust. Unfortunately during the failed install of the shock with reservoir on the right I removed quite a bit of the shielding from around the headers. In conjunction with that and the reservoir being on the left and almost touching the valve cover, prolonged sitting with engine temps above 200 degrees seems to affect the damping performance.

I'm no suspension expert by any means, but I know when a bike feels right and have the race results and laptimes to prove it.

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Ive been looking around trying to figure out a new shock, as my OEM has 85,000+kms on it and I'm sure its close to needing a rebuild or replacement. Problem is I almost think I need two shocks.... :(

One for everyday riding and one to swap in when the wife and I go touring. And no I'm not calling my wife fat, with gear I'm sure she barely breaks 135lbs.

Normally I run the preload up around 75% of max, for my everyday riding. Install all 3 bags and loaded up for a 3 or 4 day trip and have the wife jump on, I've gone from a daily load of 200lbs to almost double. Even with the preload at max, the front end is light and when it gets dark the head lights blind the guys up on the ISS....

The wife and I have been toying with the idea of me riding the bike out west sometime in the summer of 2014 and she'll fly to Calgary. Then spending a few weeks touring Banff in to BC. So current setup isn't going to cut it.

Is it posable to just swap out to a heavier spring when needed or is it just simpler have a second shock?

I've been toying with the idea of getting a Uni-go trailer, but that's $3000 for something I may only use once or twice a year.

I don't like to get caught up in the suspension suggestion box.....because I have tried allot of options & know for a fact one option is a guarantee of satisfaction the other options are like wearing shoes with holes, they work but have a limited usefulness (but they did save you money). You won't need 2 shocks if you have one shock that can do the job, because you have been used to the crap OEM shock which has the dampening quality of a tee shirt on a girl running with DD's is why you feel you may need 2 shocks. A quality AFTERMARKET shock like Ohlins/Penske/etc with remote compression will do wonders for your application. You may need to compromise just a little on the spring rate but only on the optimal rate for solo riding it's not like your going to need a truck spring. The reason I say this is that MAGICAL process you get that works properly with a remote res, compression with the piston & o-ring design, not the hit & miss bladder design OEM shocks like a 929. Compression is a wonderful thing when you start to load your bike over the fitted spring rate, compression resists shock compression & it is amazing how well it works just increasing the compression rate a few clicks to handle the extra load.

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Guest 91talon

:bliss::laughing6-hehe:

because you have been used to the crap OEM shock which has the dampening quality of a tee shirt on a girl running with DD's is why you feel you may need 2 shocks.

That was so awesome, I had to add it to my signature!

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:bliss::laughing6-hehe:

because you have been used to the crap OEM shock which has the dampening quality of a tee shirt on a girl running with DD's is why you feel you may need 2 shocks.

That was so awesome, I had to add it to my signature!

It brought back memories of the girl in the STP commercial back in the 70's for me. Those were the days.

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Guest rocketpig

I've read through this thread and it has been super-helpful. Thanks to everyone for the help but I have a specific question someone might be able to answer.

I'm setting up my 2002 VFR (non-ABS) for touring next year. I'm going to invest in a rear shock and probably new front springs. For now, I'll keep the questions to the rear shock only. I've talked to Daugherty and given the fact that I'm a big guy (210 lbs.) and my wife is pretty big as well (170 lbs? she won't tell), the stock shock is woefully undersprung. So, I have two options from Daugherty:

1. Go with a Daugherty F4 unit. I really dislike the lack of remote preload adjustment, as I will have the bike quite loaded in "full tour" mode but don't want the preload set so high as a daily solo driver.

2. This is my preferred option. Find an ABS shock and have Daugherty revalve/spring the unit. The problem is that I CANNOT FIND AN ABS SHOCK. It's maddening... Been checking eBay regularly for nearly a month with no results.

Has anyone here had Daugherty revalve/spring an ABS shock? And where in bloody hell did you find that ABS shock?

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I've read through this thread and it has been super-helpful. Thanks to everyone for the help but I have a specific question someone might be able to answer.

I'm setting up my 2002 VFR (non-ABS) for touring next year. I'm going to invest in a rear shock and probably new front springs. For now, I'll keep the questions to the rear shock only. I've talked to Daugherty and given the fact that I'm a big guy (210 lbs.) and my wife is pretty big as well (170 lbs? she won't tell), the stock shock is woefully undersprung. So, I have two options from Daugherty:

1. Go with a Daugherty F4 unit. I really dislike the lack of remote preload adjustment, as I will have the bike quite loaded in "full tour" mode but don't want the preload set so high as a daily solo driver.

2. This is my preferred option. Find an ABS shock and have Daugherty revalve/spring the unit. The problem is that I CANNOT FIND AN ABS SHOCK. It's maddening... Been checking eBay regularly for nearly a month with no results.

Has anyone here had Daugherty revalve/spring an ABS shock? And where in bloody hell did you find that ABS shock?

I did and I found it on eBay and I had Jamie rebuild it for me. For some reason with VFR parts, I've been lucky, not so much on finding the right deal on parts for my '95 Duc though! The place that was auctioning the shock was a salvage yard who specialized in MC parts. You may see if there's a local salvage yard and check with them. There's one by my house that I can check with for you, but the last few times I checked with them for VFR parts they didn't have much.

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Guest rocketpig

I did and I found it on eBay and I had Jamie rebuild it for me. For some reason with VFR parts, I've been lucky, not so much on finding the right deal on parts for my '95 Duc though! The place that was auctioning the shock was a salvage yard who specialized in MC parts. You may see if there's a local salvage yard and check with them. There's one by my house that I can check with for you, but the last few times I checked with them for VFR parts they didn't have much.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

So I assume that the shock you purchased came with the preload adjuster? There have been a couple of shocks on eBay that appear that they *might* be the ABS shock but didn't have the preload adjuster attached to them and looking at the Honda part listings for the shock, you cannot buy the remote adjuster separately from the shock itself. Meh. :P

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I did and I found it on eBay and I had Jamie rebuild it for me. For some reason with VFR parts, I've been lucky, not so much on finding the right deal on parts for my '95 Duc though! The place that was auctioning the shock was a salvage yard who specialized in MC parts. You may see if there's a local salvage yard and check with them. There's one by my house that I can check with for you, but the last few times I checked with them for VFR parts they didn't have much.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

So I assume that the shock you purchased came with the preload adjuster? There have been a couple of shocks on eBay that appear that they *might* be the ABS shock but didn't have the preload adjuster attached to them and looking at the Honda part listings for the shock, you cannot buy the remote adjuster separately from the shock itself. Meh. :P

Yes, the shock has the remote preload adjuster attached. Kind of looks like a remote reservoir on some of the higher end shocks. The one I bought also had the mounting bracket for the knob, all I had to do was buy some bolts and tap the holes that are on the backside of the passenger peg brackets, as these are not threaded on the non-ABS models (at least mine were not). If I find anything at the salvage yard, I'll PM you.

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I just finished altering a stock 2007 VTEC ABS shock with a 1092-69/170 (971 lb) Ohlins spring. I believe it is a tad longer than the OEM spring so comes with more preload.

post-2653-0-08648300-1376067878.jpg

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I did and I found it on eBay and I had Jamie rebuild it for me. For some reason with VFR parts, I've been lucky, not so much on finding the right deal on parts for my '95 Duc though! The place that was auctioning the shock was a salvage yard who specialized in MC parts. You may see if there's a local salvage yard and check with them. There's one by my house that I can check with for you, but the last few times I checked with them for VFR parts they didn't have much.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

So I assume that the shock you purchased came with the preload adjuster? There have been a couple of shocks on eBay that appear that they *might* be the ABS shock but didn't have the preload adjuster attached to them and looking at the Honda part listings for the shock, you cannot buy the remote adjuster separately from the shock itself. Meh. :P

I went by the salvage place today and sorry to say no ABS shock. I'll keep an eye out locally as well, hopefully one will pop up.

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Good luck! The 6th Gen shock is crap, so any improvement is going to make a difference.

Duc, loving my new 748. What a scalpel!

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Guest rocketpig

Yeah, I'm quickly finding out just how awful the shock and forks are on this bike. A real disappointment but one that can be remedied if I find an ABS shock.

And if I can't find an ABS shock by mid-winter, I'm probably going to just go with an F4 unit from Daugherty.

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