Shock question

[isaac]

Heyo, and Merry Christmas!

I'm looking to lower my bike a bit since I'd prefer to be able to flat foot it at a stop as opposed to using my toes as I do now. My plan of action is to raise the front shocks up into the tree until the tops touch the clip-on style bars I've got. This will lower the front about an inch. That's the easy part. Then I'm going to drop the rear end about 2" if possible.

I've got some monroe shocks on the back of my 750. I'm not sure if they're stock or not, but they look it. I'm interested in cutting the springs on these, and was wondering about the best route to go about it. It doesn't look obvious to me how to disassemble the shock to get at the spring. Thanks a lot for the help!

 

[Anonymous]

Rather than cutting your springs and risking messing up your shocks big time,try shorter shocks.I've got Hagons (a British make) to fit a Yamaha XJ900,NOT the 900 Diversion,on my 550.They're about 1" to 2" shorter than standard but do an excellent job.
By the way if your bike has a monoshock ignore all of the above!

 

[Anonymous]

I'm interested in cutting the springs on these, and was wondering about the best route to go about it.

Simply cutting the spring will not work, as the shock will still be able to extend to its full length at full droop and the spring will be flopping loose. To shorten your shocks you must disassemble the shock and install a spacer under the top out stop to restrict the travel and stop the shock at a shorter overall length. Given that your shocks are probably old and tired (if they are more than a season or two old, they are worn out, trust me), your best choice would be to get a set of Progressive Suspension shocks that are shorter than stock. They are reasonably priced and will very radically improve the ride and handling while dropping the back end.

Don't forget to consider the potential ground clearance problems of lowering; you will likely have problems going over speed bumps and up steep driveways and cornering clearance will be noticeably reduced compared to stock, which is not that good in the first place.

Mark