CitizenOfDreams

If you are talking about the spanner that you use to adjust chain tension, then no. You need to buy (or otherwise procure) the CBR pin wrench (part number 89202-KY1-700, $11.28 at Honda Direct Line.) It's a fairly straight shot on my 4th gen, don't know about 5th.

:biggrin: You could make several brackets of different length in 5mm steps! As for me, my aluminum spacer seems to work fine. But somebody else may be interested in those brackets. The only issue that I see is liability. Should something go wrong, not necessarily because of a bracket failure... it could turn ugly on the road and even uglier in the court. One thing is posting your designs and ideas, entirely different thing is manufacturing safety-critical parts for someone else.

Let me rephrase: I will be happy to have a shock that does not make the rear wheel bounce like a basketball. :cool:

Baseline? Sag? Preload? Rebound? Spring rate? Don't talk that advanced jargon to me, I will be happy just to have a shock that works. :goofy:

+1 on lifting the swingarm. Here is an easy way to do it without a helper - a small $10 bottle jack from Harbor Freight. Absolutely essential tool when it's time to install your new shock and align the bolt holes.

The 4th gen shock WILL NOT go out from the bottom, even if you take the triangle and the dog bone off (which you should do anyway to clean and lubricate the bearings inside it). The hole in the swingarm is not big enough. You need to remove the ignition coils (easy), the starter relay (easy), the battery (easy) and the battery box (not so easy). Then the shock will happily slide up and out.

Yep, I have a 100% 929 shock. It does not interfere with the battery box, but _reinstalling_ the box (getting the metal heat shield between the shock and the fender) was a pain. Had to bend the shield, put it in place, then un-bend it.

Another progress report... The new shock is in place. The battery box was a pain to reinstall. The ignition coils did not fit (the oil reservoir occupies a part of their private space) and had to be relocated. I was going to take pictures, but I lost my camera somewhere. Oh well...

Thanks for the advice, I will make a taller adapter if I'm not happy with this one. Or maybe I should make them for sale in various sizes.

My actual measurements were 324mm and 288mm... and it's too late now, the spacer is already made (yes, I've decided to go the easy route and make a spacer instead of a bracket). We shall see what it did to the riding height when I put it back together.

Progress report... I bought a replacement bolt (100mm, which is 30mm longer than stock) and made the aluminum spacer (see the drawing below; unfortunately, it does not look as good in flesh - made with a hacksaw and a file instead of a milling machine). The 929 shock seems to fit, I will probably try to put it all together tomorrow.

I just thought of something... The rear shock does not sit vertical. So if you measure the VFR shock, then measure the CBR shock, then add the difference to the _bracket_ rather than the _shock_ itself... your suspension geometry (namely, riding height) will be quite different from original. Anybody got measurements and/or AutoCAD drawings of 4th gen rear suspension? Or do you just "add shims till it feels right"?