Lowering...

So, everyone wants to lower their XJ, me included. Some quick questions...


Here are my goals:

I have an '83 750 Maxim. I'd like to lower it a couple of inches in the rear (as low as possible, but still keep my stock fender setup where it is). I understand there are basically three common options: Hardtail, sportster shocks, and cutting your springs. I'm weighing the three options.

Hardtail is out... my seat is made out of an old skateboard. That's rough enough... I ride this bike a couple hundred miles at a time sometimes, and that wouldn't be too appealing.

Sportster shocks -- ...have me interested because everyone on here that has used them seems to love them. What length should I look for though? I assume the short 10.5" ones are going to be too short, right? Also, a quick e-Bay search came up with most of them for around 100 bucks... totally more than I'm willing/able to spend. I'm sure if I knew what size I could find some used ones locally for cheaper though.

Cutting the springs -- ...will this affect the ride or cause my bike to bottom out? Are there shock compressors available that will fit the springs on a motorcycle, or am I stuck fabricating something?



Also, my partner has an '82 550 Seca. The seat is cut down to about 1/2" of padding on the seat pan, and she still has a hard time touching the ground on it -- I'd like to lower it as much as possible as well. She doesn't ride too far though, so hardtail is totally an option -- are bolt-on struts to replace the shocks a decent option?

 

I lowered my shocks by cutting the springs and never bottom out. It rides smoother too.(I weigh 140) I have an '82 750 Seca that's been customized with parts from alot of other bikes. I lowered the rear but not the front, and it handles very well. I also made a new seat with springs (mostly for looks) I can put my feet flat on the ground now with my legs bent. It's so much nicer this way compared to stock. This bike rocks now!!

 

Suzuki Savage shocks are 10.5 eye to eye.

 

I put sportster shocks on my 650, they're 10.5 eyes to eye. I've been out looking for pot holes lately and I can't get it to bottom out (and I'm 220 lbs), they are just as soft as my old shocks and give a much better ride. As for price, if you keep looking, you'll find some cheap, I got mine for $30 on ebay

 

Shouldn't be too hard to find em for cheap (the harley shocks) for you AND your partner's bikes.. Go into a harley dealer and mention that you're looking for some take offs. Who knows, maybe the guy behind you is upgrading his suspension!

Or e-bay of course... $100 is insane for something that the PO would just toss in the trash.

Otherwise you can buy a spring compressor for motorcycles... I wish I had the link now, I seem to have lost it, but they are pretty cheap too.

Long and short, go to the harley dealer and ask... if they don't have em or don't know of anyone who just swapped theirs out then stop by your local PA (canada) or wherever you guys in the US get your generic tools and pick up a spring compressor for $10.

If you don't like the cut springs then hit up e-bay for your lucky $20 plus shipping deal.

 

BTW I'm one of the people that have dont the harley swap... and for the money it was a sweet swap... but you will have to change out the bushings.

For that you'll need either a press OR 2 different sized sockets and a vice... and I used some lube for good measure.

OH, and I also needed (well... not sure that i absolutely needed to) to grind down one end of the shocks at the eye to get them to line up correctly... just hit it on the side of my bench grinder for a couple of seconds each side. I believe the clutch side lower was the problem.

The bushings in my old shocks were shot anyway so it might be a good idea to change em out regardless.

 

Ace & Ease-

I've been searching Fleabay for sportster shocks and my question is, did you use actual HD OEM 10.5" sportster shocks or aftermarket shocks?

PainterD-

I just picked up a spare set of OEM shocks for my X for the sole purpose of cutting the springs like you did. Just wondering if you (or anyone else) know what the limit is in terms of how much I can cut the springs w/o bottoming/damaging the shock. I was looking to achieve an overall drop of 2". I weigh 140 also.

 

My local Harley shop had used shocks for $50 a set in all different lengths.
I got a set for my XS1100 there once and they work great.

 

I bought a set of OEM take offs, thats how you get them cheap, new aftermarket harley shocks will cost you an arm and a leg

 

Thanks for the advice -- I'll probably call cycle recycle tomorrow and see if they've got a used set off a Savage. They're right down the street from me, so that'd be a good deal if they do. If not, I'll start bugging some of the harley dealers in town.

 

Yup. I just popped a pair if Savage shocks on my "rolling chassis" and the only mod requires is a sleeve to go in the bottom brake-side bushing. Probably the one from the original shock will work but I didn't get around to checking...

They're nice though. Look good. And they seem to be quite a bit stiffer than the Maxim shocks, which surprised me.

 

Hey John, were those Savage shocks 10.5" on ctr? How many inches did they lower the bike? Pics would be great is you have any. Thanks!

 

Hi, Aldo.

I'd have to check to make sure, but 10.5" sounds about right. They dropped the back end just about 2".

I can snap a pic if you want, but it's kinda hard to see the difference as the bike's just a frame with wheels right now. Also, this is a '83 750, not my X. I was toying with the idea of making some mods on the X but I'm gonna start with this bike and see how confident I am before I go messing with my Baby. ;-)

 

Hey redneck, do you ride the southside at all? Down 31, and madison?

 

If you need new bushings, go to your local auto parts store and get a 'sway bar link kit' for a late 90's chev cavalier - about $5-$10, it'll give you four urethane bushings which can be easily trimer and pressed into the eye of your new shocks. Easy and cheap, what more can you ask for??

 

Just a note on your partner touching the ground had a mate who was vertically challenged and combined with removing the foam from the seat he put build ups on the bottom of his boots.
Lucky man,wish my partner rode.

 

<-- Sees a request for a part and instinctively fires up computer, plugs in provided information, and waits for a return...

Moog Chassis Part Number K6600:



Fits:

• Chevrolet Blazer 04-95
• Cavalier 04-95
• Malibu 04-97
• S10 Pickup 04-95
• GMC Jimmy 01-95
• SONOMA 04-95
• Oldsmobile Alero 04-99
• Bravada 01-96
• Cutlass 99-97
• Cutlass Supreme 97
• Plymouth Neon 99
• Pontiac Grand Am 05-99
• Sunfire 04-95

(Yah, it's a sickness. But, I'm taking pills for it and the doc says I'll get better with time. :lol: )

 

thats it Gamaru, If You go earlier in the Cavaliers, say 90-94 you get the K5252, same part basically(the bolt is longer) and its cheaper. My mistake in the first post

 

maximuschop: I'm on the south side quite a bit. I live/work on the East side, but I'm out that way pretty often -- good to see other Indianapolis people on here!

 

We'll have to meet up somewhere this summer and go for a cruise! I should have my bike back on the road in a few weeks, (waiting on carbs).
You ever go to the shell on 31 and frye road?

 

Sounds good. I'm usually riding all over Indy... My bike is my main transportation, especially when it's nice out.

I know where 31 and frye is, but I don't recall ever going to that particular shell -- is there something special about it I'm missing out?

 

A lot of bikers meet there on nice days. Friday and saturday evening is usually packed, and there are a lot of custom bikes there. It's a great place to find new people to cruise with.

 

I got my CDL at the c-1 driver school on the south end. Theres a little rib shack right there that's excellent. We stayed at a hotel with a Damons attached and proceeded to get real drunk everyday after class. Happyhour everything was 1/2 off.

 

Hey, Aldo. Here's a pic of the Savage shocks. The stock ones (12.5") are in the middle, Savage ones (10.5) are on the right and on the left are some nice Konis (11-ish") I picked up on eBay.



And here's the rolling chassis with the Savage shockes installed. They give it a really nice stance.

 

I found a set of used Savage shocks on e-bay last week for 9 bucks buy-it-now. Couldn't pass. Worked great. They had some surface rust, but I was repainting them anyway so I didn't care. I did have to press the bushings out and replace a couple of them though because they were different sizes. No big deal though.

 

what about lowering the fornt end?
how is this possible?

 

I've seen Progressive lowering springs, but the easiest and cheapest way is to just slide the forks up in the clamps a bit.

 

is that hard?
takes two people?

 

Alright...without having to buy a separate pair of shocks....how can I lower my existing shocks? How do you cut the springs? Is that what I would have to do? I want to lower it 2 inches. Thanks guys!

 

It sure is a lot harder to find short shocks than I expected. Went to two junk yards measured every one they had; all over 11". Called six Harley dealers and asked for take-offs and they told me that none are 11" or shorter. Called three Suzuki parts department and asked for Savage shocks and they said all were longer than 11.5". When to a Yamaha dealer and asked about short shocks; no luck. The shocks that I have are held together by the spring load. If I were to cut the spring the shock may come apart on a bump.

MaximumX shows pictures of short shocks and everyone on this website talks about the ones they found.

For me is is 6 months and counting.

Is this a inside joke that I am too naive to catch on too :wink:

 

thats not good... thats on my 'to-do' list when i get my bike running... ;-(

 

It actually took more time to make the shock compressor than it did to cut the springs and put'm back together.
If you decide to cut the springs, just take off about 1". That will drop the bike down close to 2" when there's weight on it.

 

pics of your shock compressor?? ;-)

Anything special to consider when cutting? or just take out the ole air cutter and hack off 1"?

 

This is the shock compressor I made using a large threaded pipe fitting and a large washer on the other end and threaded rod to do the compressing. One end has to be big enough to fit over the clip on the top of the shock so it can removed after it's compressed.




You want to make sure you cut the same amount off each shock. Set the springs side by side when your done cutting and you may have to trim some off one to make sure they are the same. I used a 4" die-grinder with a steel cutting wheel on it to cut my springs.
>PD<
[

 

I have an 85 Maxim X. The rear springs on it are like coilover shocks, can I just cut these springs to lower the rear? Also, the Savage shocks people are using, is there any particular year to get? Thanks

 

Pretty much any year of Savage shock will do the trick. Just make sure they measure approx. 10.5", eye-to-eye.

There're pics of my X with the Savage shocks installed in this thread if you're interested:

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=11332.html

**EDIT** Just noticed an auction that lists the 11" (overall, I think) Savage shock as fitting '86-'87 and '95-'04 bikes. Auction link is in the following post... Unless those were the only years that the Savage was made?

 

Here's one, just so you know they do exist.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Motorcy ... .m14.l1318

One isn't gonna do you much good unless you happen to run across another single somewhere along the line.

 

After riding the Savage shocks for a few weeks, I've noticed they're not a very stiff shock. I'm not a huge guy, but not tiny either (about 175lb) and a good bump or a set of railroad tracks bottoms them out. I do have the pre-load as loose as it'll go though, so I'm going to bump that up some and see if that makes things a little nicer. With two people on the bike, it's essentially a hardtail right now.

 

Ok, once I get the shocks compressed, how do I remove them?!! Do I pry off the 'clip' at the top? Little help here???......Thanks!

 

You compress the shock (making sure the top keeper-ring clears the compressor) and pull the clip out. Then take the compressor off the shock and everything will come apart. Cut the spring off 1" and put'r back together. Easy, simple, but effective!!

 

THANKS!!! I cant wait to see how it makes my bike look! I will have to post a new pic....

 

Ok, so I took a little over an inch off....damn! Its gonna be a rough ridin' S.O.B!! Its raining now so I cant drive it but just sitting on it it bottoms out! Also, the retaining ring thingy just spins loosely and is not very tight...is this normal? I guess I will understand what they mean by hardtail... LOOKS BAD ASS THO!!!! 8)

 

Before and after pictures please

 

Before is up above, I will take an after and post asap!

 

That is another reason you can only remove an inch off the springs. The retainer ring will be lose. Mine is lose when it's on the center stand, but when I drop it down on the wheels, it's snug. My shocks haven't bottomed out yet, but I try to avoid pot holes also. Maybe you took too much off the springs?
You may be able to salvage the shocks by stacking large washers on th ebottom, before installing the springs. That should take up the slack and keep the spring tight when there is no weight on them. Good luck!

 

Ahhhh.....Good idea! Mine bottoms out when I just jump up and down on it! Like I said...looks good though!!

 

Here is the after....



I like it!

 

im going to bring this thread back to life.
does it matter which side you cut off the spring and how do you determine cutting one inch off the spring, as the spring is a spiral...?
im running struts on my bike right now, so the shocks are just sittin in my garage. i think i might give this a try.....

 

I cut the top of the spring off, because it sits inside the chrome cover and the cut-off end can't be seen that way. *Don't cut off more than an inch. I'd suggest cutting off 3/4" to start out with if your heavier (I only weigh 140 lbs.)

 

im made struts for my bike and rode it around the hood....not liking it, way to rough for me(bad back)...
im going to give cutting down my stock shocks down when i get a chance..
thanks for your help peeps....