Sugestions for longer rear shocks on GS850...

[Seana23]

oh wise ones in the West.....
I'm just wondering if there would be any longer rear shocks that would fit onto my GS850... i wana jack the rear end up and thought there might be longer shocks off another bike that would fit... Maybe a big trial bike or something???
Wadyathink???
Thanx all.
Seana
XXX

[ChicagoBob]

Why not order a longer set of shocks and springs from Progressive or some other company?

[hampshirehog]

If you give the boys at Hagon a ring they will knock up some longer ones for you or tell you what other bikes have longer eye to eye shocks.

http://www.hagon-shocks.co.uk/common/pagedetail.aspx?PageCode=contact

If you went for trail bike shocks, say XL500 (which I think have 14"), you would almost certainly have to fit stronger springs. All the other stuff that I can think of that is longer has eye to fork.

[Seana23]

thanx all. i'll try the Hagon boys. not gona be cheap though eh?
xxx

[bwringer]

I've often contemplated installing 13.5" eye-to-eye shocks on my 850G (rather than the stock 13") simply because this would allow me to remove the axle without removing the top of the shocks.

Every time I pull the rear wheel, it's annoying as hell that they placed the muffler in the perfectly wrong place. A tad higher and the axle would clear easily.

[Steve]

... I'm just wondering if there would be any longer rear shocks that would fit onto my GS850... i wana jack the rear end up ...

Be careful how much you "jack it up".

Unlike those guys (and gals) with chain-driven bikes, we have to be careful to maintain a relatively straight line through the drive shaft joints.

Yeah, the u-joint allows it to flex, but it's not meant to run for long periods of time at extreme angles.

.

[Seana23]

Thanx Steve. i dont think longer shocks will alter the angle ov the shaft that much... only a bit i expect.
XXX

[lurch12_2000]

In my search for shaft angle info, I came upon this thread.
I'm looking at 13.5" shocks to replace my 12.75" stockers (that's what they measure center eyelet to eyelet, even though the replacement shocks list as 13" for an '80 1000G).
But the stop tang on the part of the frame that the right passenger peg and muffler is mounted to, stops the travel of the swingarm at a hair over 13" spread of shock mount bolts' distance.
I imagine I could grind the tang down some, maybe 1/4" which may translate to a 1/2" drop at the axle or where the lower shock mount position is.
Do you think adding a half inch drop at the axle point would adversely affect the u-joint in the front of the drive shaft?
I would like to add some cornering clearance to save on scraping stuff any time I'm leaning pretty good in the turns and also give me that clearance when removing rear wheel stuff for servicing too.
I can't remeber if there was a stop tang welded on the frame on my old 850G, 650G or 1100G either?

[Dogma]

I know the '80-81 850 and 1000G have the stop on the frame (and the center stand lock holes, and the holes to hold the swingarm up high when the shocks are off), but I don't think the later years have the stops. IIRC, TCK told me his '82 1100G could drop the wheel low enough to take the axle out below the mufflers. On '80-'81, I have to raise the wheel and take the axle out over the muffler. Even without the stop on the frame, I don't think the '80-'81 big G can drop the swingarm between the mufflers without first removing the shocks. Maybe not the later models, either. Something to check. Maybe you'll have to shim the mufflers away from the frame to allow for the longer shock travel.

I don't think the increased angle on the u-joint will be significant. They do have limits, but the impact on handling is probably a more significant concern. But that's my gut feel, not an engineering evaluation.

[lurch12_2000]

Update...the replacement shocks were actually closer to 13.25" eyelet to eyelet, compared to the 12.75" old stock ones. I wound up grinding about 1/8" off top of the frame's stop tang with my Dremmel, compressed the shocks a hair to slide on and mount without as many spacer washers on either side due to the new shocks being slightly wider at the eyelets. I did add an additional washer between the muffler and frame when securing the muffler back on to shim it an additional 1/16" out because of the lower shock nut clearance. It won't help my rear axle removal since the tang stops the downward travel and will still need to pull the top of the shock off to be able to lift the swingarm higher to clear the top of the mufflers when sliding the axle out for wheel changes.
I set the preload to #4 notch (#5 being the stiffest) and will wait for a good day to test ride. There is no dampening adjustment on the new shocks.

[tkent02]

I wound up grinding about 1/8" off top of the frame's stop tang with my Dremmel,

What's a tang? Even though I don't know what this means it scares me, why would you grind anything to do with the shocks?

[lurch12_2000]

What's a tang? Even though I don't know what this means it scares me, why would you grind anything to do with the shocks?

Not the orange drink we had as kids, but "a long and slender projecting strip" of metal welded on the right side of the frame which stops the swingarm from dropping beyond approx 13" when shocks removed. Apparently only on a few years of the big shafties and it has plenty of material to grind off an 1/8" on the top. This allowed about an extra 1/2" of travel to position and mount the longer shocks. I can easily put the original shocks back on without any ill effect.

[lurch12_2000]

Follow up...the new Showa 13.25" shocks(similiar to the Redwing shock) felt great on my test ride today. Certainly a new shock is going to feel much better and improve handling, but the extra 1/2" height was a plus. Corners felt more secure, but I'll wait til the sand patches clear before pushing them further.
I can even vouge for the Bridgestone Spitfires being a decent mud tire as the spot I stopped at was a sea of soft mud/sand and the tires sunk in about 4-5 inches of honeypot, but with my feet keeping balance in the quagmire I was able to navigate through the muck without tipping.
I'll be more careful to avoid some of winter's booby traps in the future.

[850GT_Rider]

Update...the replacement shocks were actually closer to 13.25" eyelet to eyelet, compared to the 12.75" old stock ones. I wound up grinding about 1/8" off top of the frame's stop tang with my Dremmel, compressed the shocks a hair to slide on and mount without as many spacer washers on either side due to the new shocks being slightly wider at the eyelets. I did add an additional washer between the muffler and frame when securing the muffler back on to shim it an additional 1/16" out because of the lower shock nut clearance. It won't help my rear axle removal since the tang stops the downward travel and will still need to pull the top of the shock off to be able to lift the swingarm higher to clear the top of the mufflers when sliding the axle out for wheel changes.
I set the preload to #4 notch (#5 being the stiffest) and will wait for a good day to test ride. There is no dampening adjustment on the new shocks.

Got any pictures of all these neat details?