bigmalcy Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 HI guys - I was planning to do the old 5mm spacer on top of the rear shock trick on my 3rd gen bike, and then I noticed somebody, somewhere, saying that this is not possible on the 3rd gen bikes. Can you either confirm or deny this? Is it possible to put a spacer on top of a 3rd gen shock to increase ride height at the back? Thanks as always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmalcy Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 Ok - I've answered my own question: looking at the workshop manual I can see the different mounting at the top of the 3rd gen shock compared to 4th gen and can see why the spacer trick won't work on the 3rd gen. I think I might try getting some shorter dog bones made up instead: if anyone has any useful info on this approach (things to avoid / look out for) then that'd be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 I recall having seen figures of what the ratio is of dogbone length adjustment and rear ride height but can't find them. I have also seen adjutable dog bones but I am not sure if these were for a 3rd gen VFR. I have raised the rear by flipping the eccentric. I think it was JZH who wrote a howto on what needs to be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keny Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Intresting, as I would also like to rise the rear a bit of mine, have the fork legs some lower already. The rear is nice when preload is at max, but you feel the shock top out at times on bumpy roads (sadly many so here) so one off and the suspension feels betetr but the steering is some slower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmalcy Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 I'd read about flipping the eccentric as a way to gain some height... I think it only gives you an inch or so, yes? Does doing just the eccentric flip make much of a difference to the steering? I've seen adjustable dog bones, too, but only for a dirt bike. I imagine you'd only need a very small reduction in dogbone length to get a noticeable increase in ride height. Having never been into the rear hub assembly, I must admit it sounds a little 'involved', but I think that about many things and they generally end up being the proverbial piece of cake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Yes, an inch is about right. It does make the bike steer quicker and I like the increased ride height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmalcy Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 Thanks Rosso - I found JZH's article on bikers oracle... tried to past the link here for Keny but can't paste for some reason... will try to PM it to him. So I tried pasting into a PM, but can't do that either... how do you paste hyperlinks in here?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Ah, found that topic: http://www.bikersoracle.com/vfr/forum/showthread.php?t=11102 In that topic I also found a quote from JZH where he mentions the dimensions of the Thurn dogbones: I found the Thurn info: For the '90-'93 VFR750, the Thurn linkage (called "cushion arm" in Honda-speak) is 108.5mm from centre to centre. In contrast, the OEM cushion arm is 110mm. (Not 10mm shorter, as I had thought, but only 1.5mm shorter.) I am told that this results in a 30mm increase in ride height, which would be about right. Clearly, the 3:1 ratio I had been thinking of is far off--it's actually 20:1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keny Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmalcy Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 Thanks Rosso: got to decide now between the dogbone route and the eccentric flip. Going down the d/b route would need some fairly accurate drilling of holes! Thanks again for the help. PS - still don't know how to insert hyperlinks into these posts?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Just copy and paste the link in the address bar or right click on the post nr (top right corner of every message) and select "copy link location" and paste it in your message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmalcy Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 Thanks Rosso - I think there's something on my machine that is stopping me pasting into my posts... not to worry... first world problem :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keny Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Thanks Rosso - I think there's something on my machine that is stopping me pasting into my posts... not to worry... first world problem :) I have this same problem on my work computors, but if you switch to other mode, the gray icon in left upper corner, you can hyperlink in old way. I usually push the Quote bottom first (before going to old mode) and change the quote text inside the [ ] to img of you hyperling a pic and url for a link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friis Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Don´t know if this helps? its for the 1997 rc36-II. The triangle at the top is the original triangle. https://www.dropbox.com/s/vvm5jvaefqupz71/Lowring_Raiseing_VFR%20_RC36%20_II.pdf?dl=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JZH Posted November 8, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted November 8, 2015 Reading my own "words of wisdom" from the past, I have to say that my first reaction was: that doesn't seem right! I However, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have written it if I hadn't actually found out the dimensions of the Thurn linkage. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I got the information... Good luck, if you decide to use it. Ciao, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmalcy Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Hi JZH If you're talking about the 20:1 ratio of ride height to dog bone length, I know what you mean! There's a topic on here about a ZX14 shock conversion in which the fella says he had previously modded the dog bones to raise the rear... his 'new' dog bone was at least 25mm shorter than the original, which would clearly give a ridiculous ride height increase if the ratio was 20:1 I think I'll un-hook the bones this weekend, remove the rear wheel and play around to see if I can work out an approximate ratio... depending on what I find out I may just try a new hole in the bones while I'm at it. What's the worst that could happen, hey? Hi Friis - I tried looking at your drop-box link but it doesn't connect for some reason... I will try again sometime, but the RC36-I shock linkage is different to the RC36-II... the earlier bikes use dogbones at the bottom and bolt directly to the frame at the top, which is why the 929 / 954 shock conversion is generally only for the later bikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 The ZX14 schock is shorter than the 3rd gen shock, thtat's why he modded the dogbone. But yeah, the 20:1 ratio is a figure I would not have expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friis Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Ok, new link. https://www.dropbox.com/s/vvm5jvaefqupz71/Lowring_Raiseing_VFR%20_RC36%20_II.pdf?dl=0 Maybe you will need it sometime if you ugrade to a 36-2 ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmalcy Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share Posted November 10, 2015 LOL "upgrade to a 36-2" ?... over my dead body Rosso - I think he modded the dog bone while he was still on the OEM shock (to counteract the excessive sag in the old shock)... just so happened that he also needed the shorter bone to maintain stock ride height with the shorter ZX14 shock. I'll let you know if I ever manage to calculate a dog bone to ride height ratio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifty7Fifty Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Hey guys, just now reading this post. A general "rule of thumb" that will get you in the ballpark: 10mm = 1 inch. These are my notes and the numbers I got from doing the mod. The new holes on my link are exactly 20mm from the original hole, center to center. This gave me a minimum of 50mm rear lift with the original 1990 VFR750 factory shock set to medium preload. When I increased the preload to "high" setting, I believe it raised me up an additional 10mm, although I did not measure it at full preload, but I'm guessing around 10mm extra based on how much higher I was in the saddle. So you're looking at 50 - 60mm of total rear lift with a 20mm shorter link. For those wanting to do this, I would suggest drilling your new hole 17mm C2C. I believe that will give you the best possible performance characteristics and the best angle for future suspension options. Use a drill press and take your time, it's easy to drill matching holes. Don't use a hand drill, Do this on a drill press. Also, Do not go more than 20mm. 20mm is the max that you can shorten the bone while still retaining the factory triangle, any shorter will require a custom triangle link. I'll try to post a video or some pics for those who want to see a step-by-step as I'll be doing another modded dogbone soon. I'm also gonna be testing some custom triangle setups and additional dogbone mods, if you're interested. Nifty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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