Boy, I did it now!

Well, I Finally E-mailed Jamie D. Regarding a replacement rear shock for my Ole-Girl. Hoping it will Help give Her a better road feel, & help the handling a bit?
I want to Up-grade the suspension to CBR-F2 in the near future. But will have to see if I can do so, & work on one of my project vehicals this winter?

Wish Me Luck!

 

Nice.

Let us know how it works out.

Jose

 

Well I received an E-Mail from Jamie D. & the rear shock is 3 -4 weeks out. Not bad!
He also recommended rebuilding the front forks over the CBR-F2 swap.
So I spent some tyme on his website, & on E-bay to get a feel for how much it is going to cost me to rebuild the front forks, & replace the front & rear wheels & tyres.
I came up with an estimate of 1,500.00 to 1,800.00 OUCH! That will bring my cash investment in the Bike to 3,000.00 +. BUT, the bike will be brought up to Mid-Ninety's Handling. :thumb: Since I am not looking to flip the bike in a couple years, that really isn't a bad price even if She is a Gen-1.
Hell guys with newer bikes, spent as much, & more, on getting the bugs out of them.

Off to see what I can do for brakes! :biggrin:

 

Prices are over rated. Its your bike, its your cash. If that's what you want to do, go for it. Enjoy your upgrades!

 

Pliskin +1 :thumb:
Well, I would rather NOT spend money on up-grading the suspension. I have a Project Car that could use the tyme & money, But I don't like what I have right now suspension wise, But I like the Bike as a whole, & plan on riding her regularly, so Up-grading is what needs to happen!

I did some googling & found out the VF750 already has good Brake Calipers, so all I have to do is use the Stock F2 CBR rotors, EBC HH pads, & SS lines & I should end up with really decent brakes. :thumb:

 

Received my Rear Shock from Jamie D. Today! :whoo:
Monday, I am going to see how much of a pain it is to R&R.

 

What have you decided to do about your front suspension?

 

When the riding season is over for the year, I plan on dropping the fork assy, Box it up & ship it, or maybe drive on up to fort wayne & hand deliver it & see Jamie D's shop.

 

Pliskin +1 as well

It's not just about the cost, but also the love of doing it. Were it not for the people who can, there would be far fewer older bikes out there for the rest of us to enjoy and ride. A lot of people may ask Why do upgrades to an older bike, I say WHY NOT?? Good luck and have fun with the upgrades. Besides if no one did upgrades, would we all not still be wondering how the hell to get our bikes running. Most of us would still be sitting on the side of the road somewhere saying to our friends "Don't know, damn bike just died, one minute it was running, then the speedo started acting wierd, the lights flickered, and it died. Now the batteries dead. Just charged it up, damn thing. Hmmmmm, what to do now....."

Jamie rebuilt a 929 shock for my 2000 VFR and I still can't get over how much better the bike feels. Not that anyone would expect otherwise. Was thinking of sending Jamie the front forks on my bike this winter as well. Only wish I was close enough to ride down and see his shop in person. My son would just love the trip, but he is too young for that epic a journey.

 

Jamie is building my 929 shock now and i took my forks off yesterday so i can ship hem Tuesday . I absolutely cannot wait. The only ting keeping my 2000 from being perfect is the CRAPPY suspension, hehe. jamie is an awesome guy to work with. Knowledgable and patient. Hopefully get everything back soon, hehe

 

Took me 2 hours to R&R the rear shock. I am happy with that. I still need to replace the fuel filter & the fuel line from tank to filter. Then reinstall pump assembly, & button her up. So in total I should have no more the 3 hours in the swap.
I neglected to take pics till I already had the shock installed. Sorry guys!
Will post the two I did take later, as I am at work & useing android phone to post this.

 

I am planning on shipping him my rear shock and front forks this winter to get springs suited to my weight and the front forks rebuilt for preventative maintenance. I've rebuilt forks before and have to say I'm excited to take them out of the box and bolt them up.
A couple hundred bucks to have the suspension custom tailored to me will be well worth it.

 

Pic of replacement shock with Jamie D's Modifications, Including new coil spring for my wieght, Bolted into place.
No it isn't radical. I asked Jamie to pick out a shock that he felt would be the best for my application.


Pic of Old shock:
Looks like new, Just doesn't work for a Person my size!

 

I did this with my 5th gen. Had Jamie rebuild my fork and bought a modified 929 shock from him. The bike turns and stays where I point it. I am very pleased.

 

Out of curiosity, aside from the bike handling better, are you happy with the ride? Is it more compliant overall? One of the things I HATE on my 5th Gen and one reason I am getting my stuff done by Jamie is the overall harshness of the stock suspension.

 

I would not consider myself an overly aggressive rider but I like to hit a corner now and again. My complaint is definitely on the high speed side...on the highway, bumps are transmitted directly to me hands and or ass and I go off the seat on bumps that should be more or less soaked up. Preload is right in the middle as it is the best compromise I found. In either case, hoping the new suspension with the correct springs and valve job help out

 

Yep, I realize that high and low speed damping is related to shock shaft speed. I rode MX for quite a few years and really learned how to set up my suspensions....it is critical on a Dirt bike. I meant the suspension is at it's worst on sharp bumps which cause a rapid movement of the shocks/forks :smile:

 

when I rebuilt the front shocks on my '95 RR (darn thing just wouldn't stay on the ground...no matter what I tried) and the road conditions, I used almost all the stock stuff to keep cost down, just replaced the springs and fork oil. I think it cost me all of $400 - a long time ago. I even replaced with heavier duty springs because of the road and the way the bike would come up. I also found a guy at the track (Black Hawk Farms, near Chicago) that rebuilt the factory rear shock. Helped out a lot as the oil and shock were very, very dirty. He modified it so that it could be rebuilt again in the future.