Topic: Things to note when installing shorty shocks on a 550 (maybe a 750 too)

[Jonesy]

I figured I'd pass along the learnings from installing 11' shocks on the wife's bike last night.

I bought a set of the short shocks form CycleReCycle. I decided to go with these as opposed to a lowering kit as folks on here have said the quality of the modern kits are not very good and I didn't want to change the shock geometry. They appear to be decent shocks (have yet to ride on them, though... Damn snow!) However, they are not a simple part-for-part swap. There are a few small mods to be done:

-Eye at top of shock: The CRC shocks have a rubber isolator and metal sleeve pressed into the eye. This will not fit over the stock shock mount. Drive the metal sleeve out and then push the rubber collar out with a screwdriver. Swap in the rubber collar from the stock shocks and they will fit nicely. A shot of silicone spray on the rubber piece will make reassembly a snap.

-Clevis at bottom of shock: The clevis is slightly wider than that of the stock shocks. To remedy this, sandwich two metric washers in the gap, one on each side of the swingarm shock mount. This take up the gap perfectly while keeping the shocks on-center with the lower mounting points.

-Of course, remember to lower the triple clamps on the fork tubes to keep the steering geometry the same.

Once I can ride the bike, I'll report on the ride quality.

[HondaMan]

Nice fix-up, Jonesy!   

[Rsnip988]

Rig it up my brother

Let us know when it gets toasty nough to ride again




RKS

[andy750]

Great advice here -should be in the FAQ! or Tips and Tricks.

cheers
Andy

[ProTeal55]

I have the 11'' short shocks on both of my bikes, and the ride quality is that to be expected of a shortened shock. On the softest setting, they are kinda mushy and the bottom out factor is much greater (especially with a fat/tall tire). On my CB750 I run them on the hardest setting, and have had miles and miles of lowered good looks, along with a decent ride (for how low the bike is). I am a big fan of these shocks (especially for the $$) , and have three buddies running them as well with no issues..

On the 450 project, I am going to HAVE TO run them at their stiffest setting because the bike sits so low, that I am afraid if I run them any softer I might have rear tire to cafe seat "love making" , which I don't need..

[angeldeville]

i have the same shocks on the back of my 78f.

 ride quality is comparable to 30 year old stock shocks, but shorter. I'm happy with the quality/price.

[Rsnip988]

I'd like to upgarade my rear shocks for higher load capacity on the 750k6...   any Ideas what and where to look?



not trying to hijack, just asking a similar question

RKS

[bgfootball67]

RKS,

Depending on how much you are looking at spending you might want to check out Works Performance.  I just got a set off them for $438 set up for my size (equal to yours) and riding style.  I also have a set on my Hellcat that they rebuild and lengthend for a much better ride.  While I do not think there phone skills are great when ordering, their product is top notch.

Ed

[dusterdude]

ride quality is real spongy(at least with my fat ass on the bike)

[Bob Wessner]

ride quality is real spongy(at least with my fat ass on the bike)

Better remove "super size" from your vocablulary. 

[winston]

I'm also looking at rear shock replacement and have read as much as I can find on the two more affordable brands, the Redwings and MDI's.

I gather the Redwings are softer-sprung but possibly of better quality than the MDI's...and the MDI's are stiffer.

However, both appear to be rated for 440 pounds in their 11 and 12 inch formats.

I'm a big guy, just over 6 feet and 240-250 ish...I rarely ride two-up.

My shocks are old stock-height black-top MDI's that were put on maybe ten or twelve years ago...so they probably need to be replaced anyway.

I'd like my CB 750K7 to have a lower appearance at the rear ...but not at the cost of compromised ride safety.

So...I'm thinking 12 inch MDI's....any thoughts?

[Jonesy]

The ride seems pretty good (now that I FINALLY had a chance to test them!). The lowest preload setting is way to squishy, causing it to wallow in slow turns. The highest preload setting enables you to feel every single bump and imperfection in the pavement. One click lower than the highest setting feels pretty good.

When my wife tried the bike out, she couldn't really tell a difference from before, so it sounds like the mods were a success.

[mrbreeze]

You didn't mention anything about the sidestand being too tall. I put my short shocks on back in 2004 and I had to cut a bit off of the sidestand so the bike could lean a bit. Maybe 550 is different than 750 in that area.

[ProTeal55]

You didn't mention anything about the sidestand being too tall. I put my short shocks on back in 2004 and I had to cut a bit off of the sidestand so the bike could lean a bit. Maybe 550 is different than 750 in that area.

This is also something that needs to be addressed when putting lower shocks on these bikes.
I just took a torch and heated up the stock stand and leaned on the bike to get it to bend (worked out real well).
Alittle spray of paint and I was done...

[Jonesy]

You guys are correct in that it does make the bike sit up taller on the side stand. On the later 550 it still has some lean, and the main thing to remember is to turn the handlebars to the left so the bike leans farthest towards the side stand (if you don't want to be bothered with any modifications. I don't want to as someone did this to my 750 and back in stock form it leans over so much that I fear it will fall over...)

[winston]

I got my 11" MDI's today and put them on my 750, as you can see in my new avatar picture.

They're very cool, and I like the hunkered-down look it gives the bike.

[HondaMan]

You guys are correct in that it does make the bike sit up taller on the side stand. On the later 550 it still has some lean, and the main thing to remember is to turn the handlebars to the left so the bike leans farthest towards the side stand (if you don't want to be bothered with any modifications. I don't want to as someone did this to my 750 and back in stock form it leans over so much that I fear it will fall over...)

Jonesy: on the 750, if you can't easily get a straight sidestand, try inserting a washer on the outboard side of the pivot, where the bolt goes thru, to push the sidestand down a bit. I had to do this to mine when I was running the oversized 130/90 rear tire, and it helped. Had to remove it last summer when I went back to 4.00x18 rear for the nostalgia of it all...

But, it sure made it easier to get up on the c'stand with that biggie tire! 

[hymodyne]

I've got a set of lowering shocks (12"  'aggressor') on my 500 cafe rebuild. I like the low stance and look, but am at odds with the handling and ride characteristics. I still have some front fork to rear shocks geometry issues to work out, for instance, I installed a set of air fork adjusters on the front forks; but I need to replace the springs on the rear shocks. by simply siting down, on the seat, the shocks almost fully compress. I've adjusted them to their stiffest setting and they still offer little dampening at all. I started looking at my factory shocks, and realized two things: one, that they really were OK shocks, since with them on I could ride two up no problem, and second, that the springs in the factory shocks might fit the shock bodies of my new lowered shocks. I had to leave MASS for a family emergency in Chicago, but when I return, I plan to try to install the stock springs on my replacement lowering shocks...

will let y'all know what happens.

hym

[dusterdude]

actually,before i installed the shocks and changed to the 16 inch tire,my bike sat up rather straight with the stock kickstand,leans over real nice now,centerstand is a #$%* tho.

[vorhese]

Bringing up an old topic...

How is 2-up riding? Weight would be about 350# with me and my wife. 

[Don R]

The guy that owned my 70 750 cut the stand and welded it back together. It was too short then so he welded half of a crescent wrench to the bottom of it.