Shock spacer

[thumperslaw]

Would you run the shock spacer mod if you had good aftermarket shock?

[AMCQ46]

yes i do.

my nitron is ride height adjustable so I set it a bit longer but it is easier to fine tune the ride height with 1mm washers under the top bolt, so I have both

[sirch345]

To be honest raising the rear is more about the front forks, as increasing the rear end ride height puts more weight onto the standard soft front end (the forks). If you've already upgraded the front end then that's different.

As for your question, a really expensive replacement shock will have ride height adjustment built into it, so no you wouldn't need a shock spacer. If your bike already has upgraded front forks as I've mentioned above, and you have your eye on a replacement shock without ride height adjustment built in, then yes I would use a shock spacer.

If you are intending to try a shock spacer (which will quicken up the turn-in) I would recommend trying say a 2mm spacer to start with and see how you get on with that. You can always add to that later if you wish, but no more than 6mm in total.

Chris.

[8541Hawk]

Well I do agree that you can run a spacer in the rear with a "good" shock and having the forks sorted first is a good idea.

As for what size spacer to run, you should work up slow to see what works with your riding style.

Personally I'm running a 9.5mm spacer with my SP2 front end with Ohlins internals and a Ohlins rear shock.

[popkat]

yes i do.

my nitron is ride height adjustable so I set it a bit longer but it is easier to fine tune the ride height with 1mm washers under the top bolt, so I have both

Same with my Penske, it's adjustable for length but still have a 3mm spacer.
Ohlins shock for the firestorm doesn't have ride height, but then it's not really needed when a spacer can be used.

As for forks, I've still got the std front on mine and it's ok but could be better (I've had racetec springs for ages, must get round to fitting them), my bike is an F2 and the forks are better to start with, I have them on max preload though.

[sirch345]

Personally I'm running a 9.5mm spacer with my SP2 front end with Ohlins internals and a Ohlins rear shock.

I had a feeling someone would be posting they run a thicker spacer than my suggestion of 6mm as maximum
I thought with the standard headers and shock any more will mean the shock linkage will touch the exhaust headers when the shock is fully extended. Now you're going to tell me you're running stock headers

Chris.

[gl_s_r]

I thought it was just a case of running whatever spacer gives you a total length of 348mm for the shock and then coupled with a 5mm drop on the front forks for the best geometry of the bike... personal preferences aside?

[thumperslaw]

Got my hands on a hogan shock set for my weight and running standard forks with springs at the moment. Soon to change to sp-1 or blade

[8541Hawk]

Personally I'm running a 9.5mm spacer with my SP2 front end with Ohlins internals and a Ohlins rear shock.

I had a feeling someone would be posting they run a thicker spacer than my suggestion of 6mm as maximum
I thought with the standard headers and shock any more will mean the shock linkage will touch the exhaust headers when the shock is fully extended. Now you're going to tell me you're running stock headers

Chris.

Well in my defense all I can say is fools go where angles fear to tread....lol

With that I really should have added a few things when I made that statement. First, yes I do have a stock....well on the outside.... header and I have not had any issues with hard parts making contact.

But I also would never recommend running the set up that aggressive unless you completely understand what you are doing with the chassis, including rake & trail and swingarm angle.
I also would say 6mm is the max you should go with a stock front end.

I ended up with my set up as I used to run a 6mm spacer in the rear and the forks pulled up 10mm in the triples (with the stock forks- though completely reworked) this worked good but gave issues with ground clearance as the header was or is the first thing to touch down in the right hand turns.... got a couple good scrapes on the header....

So when I did the front end swap I now run the forks in the stock location and slowly raised the rear to get the bike to turn like I wanted.

Which leads to can it be done.....yes Should you do it..... that depends on your riding style and how well you have the rest of the chassis dialed in.

[vtrjames]

i have standard front and put in a 6mm spacer in the rear. i loved it.nice and quick,but when in the wet i felt it too light on the rear(probably all in my head) so i shaved the spacer down to 4.5mm.has lost a little of the quickness about the steering but it felt more balanced for me.

[VTR_Stormer]

Can anyone that is running a spacer on the rear shock give me the measurements of the spacer. I am thinking about making up some shims to try different sizes. So any info you may have I would really appreciate it. Thanks

[MacV2]

Can anyone that is running a spacer on the rear shock give me the measurements of the spacer. I am thinking about making up some shims to try different sizes. So any info you may have I would really appreciate it. Thanks

http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic ... er#p160366

Somewhere on the site is a drawing giving dimensions. As there were 116 odd pages on the search I gave up when I found the above...

[sirch345]

(In Mac's posted link) If you make that a slot from the 10mm bolt hole out to the edge of the spacer, you won't need to remove the shock mounting bolt completely to fit it. You will only need to slacken off the top shock mounting bolt, then you will be able to slide the spacer in place and re-tighten the bolt,

Chris.

[AMCQ46]

get a stack of large daim washers that are about 1mm thick.......drill the ctr hole to 10mm [if it wasnt that size already]..........with hacksaw slot the washer like Sirch described so it is now a C shape with a 10mm slot to the ctr hole.

you can now add and subtract spacers till you get the steering the way you like it. Start with 3mm and work up to 6 [as long as you have fixed your fork springs]

[RayCVTR]

To get sharper turn in with standard forks, I lowered the yoke at the front end by 3mm and that was very significant.
I found that I did a Hill Climb and my confidence increased on the tight n twisties because I was using less conscious effort at "pushing" the bike into the corners. When you first do the mod (either way, front or rear) yur bike will feel less stable.
The main reason I want to use a shock spacer to improve turn-in is to increase the seat height to the foot peg to give me better room for my long legs (I'm going to pad up the seat as well!). If you've got short legs and don't want to increase height, lower the yoke ... try 2-3mm at the very most, at first.