? For 5th Gens Running A 929 Shock

[Guest PIrat]

I am about to embark on the first round of suspension mods on my VFR (racetech springs and 929 rear). I was going to wait until winter, but since my brother glanced off a nearly stationary truck at 30mph and laid it down, and I now have the bike torn apart, I might as well take care of that list of mods now.

The bike is fine. There was lots of cosmetic damage but most of it minor, and the force of impact on the bike was minimal. The punch line (if there is one) is that he didn't just lay it down and ding up one side, nooo, he had to glance off the truck messing up the right side and then lay it down on the other side!! Thanks Bro...

To the point. Has anyone running a 929 shock on a 5th gen had any issues with it? I have designed and fabricated an excellent spacer that will be quite strong and sturdy (can post pics if anyones interested), but lowering the upper mounting point of the shock will place added horizontal force on the mount when/if the shock doesn't exert upwards force perfectly in line with the mount. This makes me a bit nervous considering the likely results of a failure here.

So, anyone with a few miles on a 929 shock have any input or experience? Hopefully no ones has any catastrophic stories to tell... TIA!!

[dude]

Best mod ive done to date with zero issues. Used a spacer ( forget the dimensions now) and have put over 30,000 kilometers without issue. Worth the time and effort for sure.

I am about to embark on the first round of suspension mods on my VFR (racetech springs and 929 rear). I was going to wait until winter, but since my brother glanced off a nearly stationary truck at 30mph and laid it down, and I now have the bike torn apart, I might as well take care of that list of mods now.

The bike is fine. There was lots of cosmetic damage but most of it minor, and the force of impact on the bike was minimal. The punch line (if there is one) is that he didn't just lay it down and ding up one side, nooo, he had to glance off the truck messing up the right side and then lay it down on the other side!! Thanks Bro...

To the point. Has anyone running a 929 shock on a 5th gen had any issues with it? I have designed and fabricated an excellent spacer that will be quite strong and sturdy (can post pics if anyones interested), but lowering the upper mounting point of the shock will place added horizontal force on the mount when/if the shock doesn't exert upwards force perfectly in line with the mount. This makes me a bit nervous considering the likely results of a failure here.

So, anyone with a few miles on a 929 shock have any input or experience? Hopefully no ones has any catastrophic stories to tell... TIA!!

[magellan]

6000 miles on mine now with no problems other than a tendency for the entire shock body to twist when I turn the preload collar. I'll probably take the shock out this winter and machine a spacer that prevents twisting. Otherwise, a better shock than the original by a fair margin.

[Earthshake]

No problems with mine after two years use. However, now that I've resprung/revalved the forks, I really need to respring the shock or step up to a new one.

[WERA910]

I bent the carriage bolt I was using in my modified upper mount.

Use something better than cheap SAE carriage bolts. Use a grade 8 metric fastener and grind the head down to fit in the area between the yoke and the top of the shock.

I had about 35,000 miles on this mod before I sold the bike... and the new owner has about 3k already.

[Guest]

Great feedback guys, that's exactly what I needed.

The thing I was most concerned about was a possible failure of that ridiculously long 125mm bolt. Everything else in the setup is very solid, but that narrow 10mm bolt will be under a lot of stress and is the only weak point I can see.

I bent the carriage bolt I was using in my modified upper mount.

Use something better than cheap SAE carriage bolts. Use a grade 8 metric fastener and grind the head down to fit in the area between the yoke and the top of the shock.

I had about 35,000 miles on this mod before I sold the bike... and the new owner has about 3k already.

WERA910, How many miles did you put on after changing out the bolt? Did you have any more trouble with it?

Thanks everyone. :fing02:

[Guest]

I thought I'd share a few of my thoughts on building the spacer needed to mount a 929 shock on a 5th gen VFR. Perhaps this will be of some assistance for anyone who's considering this upgrade. Obviously this is not intended to be a thorough write up since several others have already done that, and did a much better job of it than I ever could. I'm sure my suggestion has been thought of already and used by others, but since I didn't see it anywhere in my research, I thought I'd present it here.

The common method used to create the spacer involves punching out the bolt that is in the clevis, adding a hollow collar/spacer/block between the frame and clevis (approximately 1 5/8" to 1 3/4") and then using a much longer bolt (approximately 110-120mm) to make up for the longer total length of the mount. The head of the bolt then needs to be ground down a few millimeters for adequate clearance for the shock in the clevis.

Instead of using a hollow spacer with a long bolt, I decided to use a solid square block of steel with a threaded hole all the way through and use 2 much shorter bolts, one through the clevis and one through the frame, both screwed into the threaded block/spacer. It isn't particularly easy to find hardened, metric class 10.9 bolts (equivalent to SAE grade 8) in such a long length. Much easier to find those hardened bolts in shorter lengths. This also adds a bit more strength to the mount. Instead of the spacer being hollow and allowing flex/play in a very long bolt, this setup will allow zero flex in the bolts. Since the block is square and solid, you can grind down the majority of the length of the block to lighten it up, but leave the ends square for maximum dispersion of force. Leaving the ends square also will keep the block from spinning since it will contact a lip on the frame when it is turned.

Also with this method, you won't have to do any welding. Use Loc-Tite Threadlocker on the bolt going through the clevis, and a lock washer (or more Loc-Tite) on the bolt going through the frame. I ended up having the block welded to the clevis anyway because a friend of mine is an excellent welder and it only took him a couple minutes, but this is probably overkill.

Dimensions:

Block/Spacer, 1 1/4" x 1 5/8"

M10 bolts one each, 20mm & ~78mm (I used a 1.50 thread pitch due to availability)

If anyone wants a pic of the finished piece, PM me.

[magellan]

If anyone wants a pic of the finished piece, PM me.

Why not post it here? I'd love to see it.

[Guest]

If anyone wants a pic of the finished piece, PM me.

Why not post it here? I'd love to see it.

Mainly because I'm retarded and haven't figured out how to upload pics yet. I tried doing it in the gallery, but that didn't seem to work for some reason.

[WERA910]

Great feedback guys, that's exactly what I needed.

WERA910, How many miles did you put on after changing out the bolt? Did you have any more trouble with it?

Thanks everyone.

Probably another 3 or 4k miles... and then it was sold.

And yes, I miss it. :wub:

[Guest]

Not sure why the gallery wasn't letting me upload pics earlier, but on my 586th attempt, it finally worked. Hurray that was easy! So here's a couple pics of the mount.

java script:add_gallery("\r\nVFR shock mount 001 (Large).jpg \r\n\r\n")

VFR shock mount 001 (Large).jpg

java script:add_gallery("\r\nVFR shock mount 002 (Large).jpg \r\n\r\n")

VFR shock mount 002 (Large).jpg

Anticlimatic eh?

[magellan]

So if I understand correctly, that's a ground-down bolt head through the clevis, but you went ahead and welded it too. That should be strong enough

Looks great :rolleyes: . I think I'll do pretty much the same thing this winter, but I'll make extremely sure the top of the spacer block can't spin. I'm tired of my stupid shock twisting when I change preload... :blink:

[Guest]

So if I understand correctly, that's a ground-down bolt head through the clevis, but you went ahead and welded it too. That should be strong enough

Looks great . I think I'll do pretty much the same thing this winter, but I'll make extremely sure the top of the spacer block can't spin. I'm tired of my stupid shock twisting when I change preload... :fing02:

That is a ground down bolt head through the clevis and I did weld it on before I ground it down for clearance. Using a high heat, high strength thread sealer would almost certainly be enough to keep the bolt from spinning when adjusting preload, but I thought I'd be on the safe side.

Another thing you could do if you have access to machine tools, would be to toss the entire stock clevis and make a whole new one piece mount out of high grade aluminum or stainless. It wouldn't be very tough to do and ultimately would be the best solution.

Let us know how yours turns out. :biggrin:

[Guest]

New Question.

Has anyone with the 929 shock decided after a while that it is sprung too soft? Might be my imagination, and I know the 929 shock has the same spring rate as the stocker, but it feels just a bit softer. Then again I haven't played with comp and rebound yet, and I did up the spring rate in front to .85.

Racetech said that with my body weight (185lbs) and .85 springs in front that the 15.3 spring in back should be perfect.

Anyone else have any experience with this?

[Earthshake]

I'm 185 with 0.9 Racetech springs in the front and the 929 shock is too softly sprung for me. I can't get the rear sag set properly but I am just living with it right now. I will either respring it this winter or step up to a new shock.

New Question.

Has anyone with the 929 shock decided after a while that it is sprung too soft? Might be my imagination, and I know the 929 shock has the same spring rate as the stocker, but it feels just a bit softer. Then again I haven't played with comp and rebound yet, and I did up the spring rate in front to .85.

Racetech said that with my body weight (185lbs) and .85 springs in front that the 15.3 spring in back should be perfect.

Anyone else have any experience with this?

[y2kvfr]

PIrat:

Would you be willing to fab up another spacer? I'd be willing to pay as I have zero welding skillz.

Been hunting on fleabay and I'm sure I'll be pulling the trigger on this within the next couple of months...

[wera803]

Great feedback guys, that's exactly what I needed.

WERA910, How many miles did you put on after changing out the bolt? Did you have any more trouble with it?

Thanks everyone. :huh:

Probably another 3 or 4k miles... and then it was sold.

And yes, I miss it. :lurk:

You finally got someone to buy that PO.......I mean fine machine?? :beer: