Now for a total rear suspension reconfiguration. I am ditching
the lowered shocks, scraping
the stock air intake system, welding an A-frame into the swing-arm, a new cross
member
under the seat just behind the tank, and mounting a mono-shock off of a Yamaha
FZR-600.
Lets get started!
Checking Ebay for parts I find a great supply of mono-shocks
available. I have my buddy
Yoda come by on his R1 so I can check out his shock mounting, compression,
travel, etc.
to help in my design. The shock seems rigid enough to support the load I am
going to be
putting on it. That was my main concern. Here is the current idea for
design:
To make room for this under the seat, the stock air box needs to go.
Weld the A-frame onto the swing are as shown in pink below.
Add a cross member under the
seat after stripping the stock box out. Punching a hole in the chrome shroud to
run a breather
extension.
This is the air breather I plan on using. The rear opening is
2 1/8"... if this is not enough air I can
add one to the other side of the bike as well. I will have to custom fab a
bracket to mount this to the
faux head fin bolts....unless I find some place better, later.
More to come as my parts start arriving...
3/29/2005
update...been receiving lots of parts this week. Got the mono
shock last week and it was 14
inches so I had to change up my plans a bit. Instead of the A-arm idea I
am mounting the
shock more upright. Take a look...
First thing to do was remove the stock air box. That thing is
huge and requires the battery and
tray on the left side to be removed first.
Here's a look inside the frame without the air box. I wonder
where I am going to
put these wire connectors when I am done? We'll see...
In order to buy some more room I bent the lower shock mount
out flat. Saves me about 3/4"
which is needed. There is a 1.5" pocket under the seat right where the
shock is going to
mount at the top of the frame and I need to plan wisely.
Here's where we start cutting, the cross brace on the swing
arm. I Am thinking I will mount
the lower end at the lip in the back. There is about .5" between the tire
and this lip.
No...lets go to the bottom of the brace and weld a 1/4"
plate underneath as the support.
The swing arm brace is thinner than I thought. The cut.
I plazma cut a piece of plate to use for the mounting platform
and reinforcement.
I plan on putting the curved end towards the tire.
Here's where she goes. Note the ground off paint on the swing
arm. Night before this
I was grinding without my gloves and nick'd my left pointer finger to the bone
right on top.
Enough for that night and no I didn't stop to take pictures...!
Here's the plate welded in place....
and underneath....
Now for the shock mounting plate. This piece of plate was
drilled through to insert the
sleeves which will protrude through the other plate welded on the swing arm.
Cut holes in new support plate for sleeves to pass through at
an angle. I am trying
to keep an angle close to the original shocks and make the mono shock lean just
to the
right to miss the battery tray.
You can barely make out the mounting holes in the bottom plate
in this picture. Added
are supports on each side and a plate cross the middle. Notice the slight angle
to the right.
I also left a drain hole on the left side inside the well, and plated in the
well.
Bottom is done and painted over.
Closer look...
Shock positioning..
I have a problem now and will be working to resolve it tonight
with a torch. I expected
the swing arm tubing to be thicker steel. It wasn't. I overheated the tubes
while welding on
the plate and now the alignment for the axle is off. I will attempt to heat the
other side of
the arms to pull it back into place. Seems steel shrinks when it cools if you
didn't know that.
Just incase I have another swing arm on the way. I should have left the axle
shaft in place and
stitch welded the project, allowing it to cool in spurts. I can no longer fit
the spacer onto the
axle and the tire is leaning. If I cannot get this one straightened out, I will
cut out the
center that I made and stitch weld it to the new one with the tire and spacer
and axle in place!
Next page will bring news of the success or failure of
realigning the swing arm, and
then the upper shock mount installation using DOM tubing welded between the
frame
tubes with a couple of laser cut mounting tabs. Easy... huh?
Trying to pick up one more air breather for the second side of
the bike...here is what
I am envisioning for a final project paint scheme...but the seat isn't going to
make this project I am afraid.... :-(
More to come!!
Gonzo
02' Shadow Spirit "Vicious Cycle"