Need info on pvc spacer for rear shocks

I"m trying to firm up my rear suspension as it bottoms out a fair bit with my wife and I riding the bike. Another forum member pointed me to a thread on the yahoo group about adding a pvc spacer to the rear shock to firm it up some. From the photos I couldn't really see where the spacer was on the shock and there wasn't much info on the thread. I'm hoping someone here can explain the procedure to me or add some photos.

It looks like it is at the very bottom and then secured with a black cable tie. The yahoo site is the only site I have ever read about this. But I think he did this some time ago and he has never come back to say he had problems with it. You may want to go to the yahoo site and post a question to him. But it looks like it is at the bottom of the shock if you look close.

I PMd him directly but havent heard back yet. Hopefully he checks his email.

Here is his post from the Yahoo site:

The shocks provide almost exactly 1/8" of adjustment (spring
preload)
> per setting. The simple solution was a 1/4" thick shim under the
> spring cut from PVC pipe. On the center stand, shock on setting
one,
> these units have almost zero preload. With two hands you can lift
> the spring off the seat. Take a 1/4" long cut from a piece of 1
1/2"
> pvc pipe, slot one side so it can be snapped around under the
spring,
> and then while lifting the spring with 2 hands, find a third hand
to
> snap the shim between the metal and the plastic bushing. I then
took
> electrical tape and wrapped a couple times around (primarily to
hide
> the white color of the shim), used a black wire tie around the shim
> to keep it from opening up and it works.
>
> Given that between SWMBO, myself, the load under the seat and an
E52
> on the back with at least her purse, the bike is carrying around
> 425#, this works very well. The dampening is still adequate, and
we
> rarely bottom out with our new "setting 7". I may experiment with
a
> 3/8" shim and see if that makes further improvement. When it is
just
> me, I now set it back to 3 and it works GREAT!
>
> Let me know if anyone wants a pic. I'll let you know what I find
> when I dig into the forks next.
>
> Mike
> 2002 Silverwing


My thoughts on what Mike did:


It seems you need to get a:

1) 1 1/2" (round) piece of pvc and cut about a 1/4" section so if you place it on a flat surface it will be 1/4" tall. And cut the pvc so it can open up, just a bit so you can put it around the bottom of the shock.

2) Then you put the bike up on it's center stand and put the shock on the lowest level, #1.

3) You will need another person to do this with you it seems. 1 person to use 2 hands to lift the spring up from the very bottom, and 1 person to put the piece of pvc at the very bottom of where the shock sits. So the pvc will sit where the bottom of the shock sits, and the bottom of the shock will sit on the pvc.

4) Once the pvc is sitting in the slot where the bottom of the shock is sitting, and the shock is sitting on the section of pvc, then use electrical tape to help keep it secure and also hide the white pvc section. Make sure you use a 'BLACK" cable tie. I was a tech for the phone company and it is very important to use a black cable tie and not another color. The black is much stronger and will not weaken when exposed to the sun. Get the thickest one you can get.

It seems that is how he did this so you should experiment with this. If you aren't strong enough to push the shock up, from the bottom, enough to get the pvc section around then you may need to rig something up or go get some really strong young kid to push it up for you. Mike, from the yahoo site, seemed to say it didn't take too much effort, if the shock is on #1. Tell us if you do this and maybe take a few pictures that are a bit more close up so we will all know how it worked out. Hope this helps.

Thanks for breaking that down for me. I'm going to try that this week. I really enjoy my silvering wing other than the suspension..not the bikes fault. My wife and I are over the weight limit and the seat pad. With it installed I'm pushed up too far, with it out I'm sitting on metal. That's the next thing to figure out after I mess with the suspension.

I got all the parts and pieces. Hopefully I'll have time to put it together after work tomorrow.

So I did the install last night. The left side was easy but the right side was a real pain as I couldn't get a good grip on the shock so as to raise it up. After a lot of sweat and curses we finally got a 3ft pry bar. An covered the end with a cloth and inserted in between the coils using the exhaust for leverage. This made the job so easy.

This afternoon I got a chance to test it out on a ride to the beach. It was a night and day difference. Like a whole different bike. The rear end is much more solid, more planted, no more bottoming out and no more pogoing. I highly recommend this mod to anyone having issues with the rear suspension.

Moosedaisy,

Thanks for coming back and telling us that you did it, and it made an improvement. Is it possible to take a couple of close up pics and post them here? I would like to see this with a better pic than the one on the yahoo site. I may just do this mod myself. Thanks.

JeffR_ wrote:

Moosedaisy,

Thanks for coming back and telling us that you did it, and it made an improvement. Is it possible to take a couple of close up pics and post them here? I would like to see this with a better pic than the one on the yahoo site. I may just do this mod myself. Thanks.

I'll try to get some decent pics.

Any other materials can be used besides PVC?

You could probably use a piece of cut steel pipe but I imagine you'd have to take the shock apart. For ease of of install it has to be something that can flex to fit around the shock.

moosedaisy wrote:

You could probably use a piece of cut steel pipe but I imagine you'd have to take the shock apart. For ease of of install it has to be something that can flex to fit around the shock.

The height of PVC (pre-tension) can quickly be adjusted to best suit the rider. Each rider may decide a different height of the PVC (pre-tension) and can shorten or replace with a higher PVC.

I thought 5 was the firmer setting. Do I have it backwards? i.e. 1 is firmest and 5 is softest?

Ishkatan wrote:

I thought 5 was the firmer setting. Do I have it backwards? i.e. 1 is firmest and 5 is softest?

Set it to #1 during the installation, then reset it to #5 after.
turning from #1 to #5 increases the spring pre load.

Harry