Guys,
I installed my aluminum swingarm & YSS shock this weekend. Fairly uneventful except for two issues:
The stock shock is 245mm, bolt CL to CL. The YSS is 250mm, in the closed position, it's adustable. I purchased one of the fully adjustable shocks, just like the other three sets of YSS shocks that I have on other bikes. On the other shocks, 250mm means, in the mid point of the adjustment. So it will go from 245mm to 255mm. These go from 250mm to 260mm, so it puts the swingarm on an extreme angle, hard to adjust the chain. I emails Targa & YSS, I'll see what the say. All the other YSS shock were purchased from the US distributor, not Thailand.
The second issue, is probably more interesting to the forum. Both the stock steel swingarm & the new aluminum arm use the same Honda rubber bushings. Unlike almost all motorcycles, that have bronze bushings or needle bearings, these are more like the rubber bonded bushing in your Ford or GM pick-up. But the truck bushings have a lot of rubber, so they can twist. These bushings have very little rubber between the steel tubes. I found out the "non movement" issue by accident. I didn't completely tighten the swingarm axle bolt. When I sat on the bike, I had normal sag, and a new YSS shock that worked like a real shock. When I torqued up the axle nut & bolt ,it all bound up. The bushing is acting like a rubber torsion spring. I backed off the nut, everything works fine. So the bottom line is, until I make bronze bushings & spacers, it makes no sense to change out the shock. It's a total waste of money. I'll try to take some photo's tomorrow to help explain what I mean here. It's this simple, if you disconnect the shock from the swingarm, it does not drop, or fall away. It's held in place by the bushings. Very odd, very cheap?
Brian S
I installed my aluminum swingarm & YSS shock this weekend. Fairly uneventful except for two issues:
The stock shock is 245mm, bolt CL to CL. The YSS is 250mm, in the closed position, it's adustable. I purchased one of the fully adjustable shocks, just like the other three sets of YSS shocks that I have on other bikes. On the other shocks, 250mm means, in the mid point of the adjustment. So it will go from 245mm to 255mm. These go from 250mm to 260mm, so it puts the swingarm on an extreme angle, hard to adjust the chain. I emails Targa & YSS, I'll see what the say. All the other YSS shock were purchased from the US distributor, not Thailand.
The second issue, is probably more interesting to the forum. Both the stock steel swingarm & the new aluminum arm use the same Honda rubber bushings. Unlike almost all motorcycles, that have bronze bushings or needle bearings, these are more like the rubber bonded bushing in your Ford or GM pick-up. But the truck bushings have a lot of rubber, so they can twist. These bushings have very little rubber between the steel tubes. I found out the "non movement" issue by accident. I didn't completely tighten the swingarm axle bolt. When I sat on the bike, I had normal sag, and a new YSS shock that worked like a real shock. When I torqued up the axle nut & bolt ,it all bound up. The bushing is acting like a rubber torsion spring. I backed off the nut, everything works fine. So the bottom line is, until I make bronze bushings & spacers, it makes no sense to change out the shock. It's a total waste of money. I'll try to take some photo's tomorrow to help explain what I mean here. It's this simple, if you disconnect the shock from the swingarm, it does not drop, or fall away. It's held in place by the bushings. Very odd, very cheap?
Brian S
