New rear shock help needed!!

[remus2272]

Hi,

I live in england and have a CBX550 F2 which gives me lots of fun.



The rear shock is original and having been made in 1983 is well past its sell by date. I considered a rebuild but found a new one on a web site at a good price and bought it.



The problem is that the original measures in at 270mm from bush to bush and the new one at 352mm.



Is that right? and if it is how do I get it to fit in because its far longer than the suspension mount its supposed to connect to and I cant compress it with all my weight on it.



A case of "so near, so far" and "should have left it alone"



website is



http://www.speednspares.co.uk/acatalog/ ... rbers.html



pic is at



album_pic.php?pic_id=222



any help would be sooo appriciated,

Best regards,

Mark

[broook]

I am no expert at this but what I have done in the past is to cut the top bracket off and cut a couple of inches off the stem and reweld the bracket back on again. That is if for sure you can`t find one a bit closer. When welding it back together take your time and keep the shock cool with water soaked rags so as not to ruin the seals and expand the gas.

Be prepared for the bike to handle differently.

[remus2272]

ok, thats an idea. I hadn't thought of that.

I think I would send it back and get a refund though and then try and sort out my original or buy another.

I'll post what the company I brought it from say.

I read about the technique to refill the old shock with oil and it was a bit tricky as I dont have a hydraulic press to hand!

I think I would attempt to leak the oil out of the removed air valve and then refill it with atf oil.

A bit lame but probably better for the shock than it was.

thanks for your thoughts though.