Stiffening shocks, would this work?

[hunter58]

Here’s one for all of you GS Engineers/Mechanics out there.

This may sound like a stupid question but I’m asking anyway. Hopefully I’ll learn something by asking.

As a temporary fix to rear shocks bottoming out when riding two up I thought that this might work. (Keep in mind that I’m no engineer.)

If you were to take a piece of steel rod and weld it between one of the spaces in the shock spring so that it wouldn’t have as much spring action would the net effect be a stiffer spring lessoning the chances of the shock bottoming out?

I know, ideally I should spring (no pun intended) for some $300 Progressives but I thought this might buy me some time.

Steve

[bwringer]

You'd definitely increase the chances of breaking the spring by welding or adding spacers in between the coils, but it wouldn't help the ride much.

Progressive shocks are more like $175 - $180 a set, not $300.

http://www.mawonline.com/progress.htm

Some here have been adequately and temporarily happy with a set of $80 Emgo cheapies from CRC2. They ain't much, but they're better than the worn out, sagged stockers.

http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/

[Commodus]

Heh, I guess that's one way of adding preload!

It'll sort of accomplish what you want. Go here for more information and a much better explanation than I could provide of what preload does:

http://www.sonicsprings.com/catalog/preload_tech_article.php

[HiSPL]

you can't heat a spring like that unless you can heat treat it again. It'll become brittle and break.

[West]

I preloaded my fork springs with about 1" of 3/4" PVC pipe installed on top of the spring. Now when I stop at a light it does not dive practically to the bottom of travel. It was a little tough getting the fork caps on, but not impossible. I had originally tried 1/2" and 3/4", but the results with 1" were best on my 400.


I agree with the others here, welding springs is a no-no.

[hunter58]

Thanks to all for the responses.

I learned something. Don't want to heat those springs.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Looking for cheap shocks look for HD shocks they are 1/2-1" shorter But will work on a shafty if you change the eye bushings

[hunter58]

Looking for cheap shocks look for HD shocks they are 1/2-1" shorter But will work on a shafty if you change the eye bushings

Does anyone know if the eye bushings in my stock shocks would fit in the HD shocks?

[Doldrums]

Progressive shocks are more like $175 - $180 a set, not $300.
http://www.mawonline.com/progress.htm

How do I figure out the size / model needed for an 82 GS1100?

[nert]

look on ebay for a used set. See if you can find a set of air shocks for a GK model. Then you can carry even more weight.

[hunter58]

look on ebay for a used set. See if you can find a set of air shocks for a GK model. Then you can carry even more weight.

I'll try that.

Thanks,

[Nessism]

I preloaded my fork springs with about 1" of 3/4" PVC pipe installed on top of the spring. Now when I stop at a light it does not dive practically to the bottom of travel. It was a little tough getting the fork caps on, but not impossible. I had originally tried 1/2" and 3/4", but the results with 1" were best on my 400.


I agree with the others here, welding springs is a no-no.

.

I've also used PVC spacers in my fork before. I don't use it to add preload but rather I cut off a couple inches of spring and then make a new spacer with the PVC. End result is a higher spring rate because there are less coils. Much better solution than adding preload alone in my opinion.

Ed