BMW shock is installed....

[Country Joe]

....but I'm not sure it's going to do the job. I didn't take time to check the sag before taking it out for a 10 minute ride this evening, but I can feel a lot of squat when I hammered it. I had the preload cranked all the way up and the damping almost all the way up. I made the dog bones 6" C to C and drilled a new hole in the bottom mount just about as high up as possible. I even considered cutting off the top mount from the old shock and welding it almost directly to the BMW shock body, getting it within 3/8" in length compared to the OEM shock. However, good sense and the need to build a jig of some sort to hold the top mount square to the center line of the shock shot down that idea. Any way, my test ride was on a recently repaved road that didn't really give me a good sense of what it will be like on bumpy, potholed roads. I have just the road that should give it a real test, that ride will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon. Update will follow.


   Joe

[stua1959]

Thanks Joe. This is what I wanted to know about this conversion. I did the CBR 600 shock mod and although it feels good and corners without any wallowing the initial sag is way too much and I am a little concerned about bottoming out on rough roads or with a passenger. I had considered the BMW mod but wasnt sure if it would be any better than what I have now. Any further feedback would be good. If only I could afford RPM's shock but I cant justify a $1000 shock on a $ 800 bike. Cheers

[movenon]

Thanks Joe. This is what I wanted to know about this conversion. I did the CBR 600 shock mod and although it feels good and corners without any wallowing the initial sag is way too much and I am a little concerned about bottoming out on rough roads or with a passenger. I had considered the BMW mod but wasnt sure if it would be any better than what I have now. Any further feedback would be good. If only I could afford RPM's shock but I cant justify a $1000 shock on a $ 800 bike. Cheers

I have an f4i rear shock also. It is a little soft but far, far better than the stock shock was. I have had it loaded and an on the scale at a total weight of 900 lbs (I was 212 of those lbs) touring with bags etc.. Hit some pretty good bumps at higher speeds and never felt it bottom out.  Front end took a few good hits, one of them I pulled over to check the rim.... No damage.

As I have mentioned in the past, in my opinion the f4i shock works pretty good,  but if you weight more than 210 - 220 lbs then you might (will ?)  have more sag than you should and with a stock front end have an out of balance condition ?  Takes some experimentation.. I am still working on that........ It's not a plug and play. But I have more time than money 

Let us know what you find out with your shock Joe. More data is good.
George

[racerrad8]

If only I could afford RPM's shock but I cant justify a $1000 shock on a $ 800 bike.

Stuart,
     Is it a matter of affordability or that you bought bike cheap and cannot justify the expense? You stated you have a fairly substantial budget to invest in the bike when you bought it;

I started stripping it with the aim of getting it back on the road for about $2000 but the revised estimate is $3000. Just dont tell the wife.

I have a local customer that recently bought an 86, he then brought it over and had me do all of the work to bring it back to life. He spent $3289.52 in parts on that bike which included all of the RPM suspension upgrades front & rear, fork brace, carb parts, oil filter conversion, engine bars, Vibrantors, starter, clutch upgrade, brake pads and everything else the bike needed.

He now go out to his garage, gets on the bike, turns the key, hits the button and enjoys the ride.

When he is riding he doesn't worry about the front suspension hitting bumps and having to pull over to check for a bent rim. He also doesn't have to worry about the rear suspension being to soft, having too much sag or having to "adjust" the settings because it was something modified & adapted to fit. Plus, he gets to keep his center stand so he can keep the rear wheel clean.

The suspension performs flawlessly and it doesn't matter if the road is glass smooth or one of those infamous "goat trails".

If you have/had a $3000.00 budget as stated above, I can supply you with everything you need that is a plug & play application without spending money that is ultimately wasted on "experimental" shocks that will not perform the way you need them to, when you need them to.

I am glad some people have more time that money, but when you look at all of the time invested to achieve an end result that still might not be as good as you expect. Not only have you wasted the money to buy the parts to "play" with, you have also spent and/or wasted a lot of your time; and everyone's time has a value.

So, ultimately you need to have a serious look at the "value" of the RPM rear shock compared to all other "offerings" out there. Sure, you can modify anything to fit on your FJ that is in the general range of length. But when you get all done "modifying" do you have something that works as you want, or are you questioning the validity of the shock you have just spent "time & money" on to be as good as you want or "hoped" it to be.

The price of the RPM is the best value for the money as it provides you with the best suspension component over anything else you can buy, modify or make "work".

Randy - RPM

[Country Joe]

Randy,
I could not agree with you more. I have no doubt that anything less than the RPM shock is just that, less. It only a matter of how much less the "hot rod solution" gets you. But to be entirely honest,  if I had the extra cash, beyond the purchase of what I have in the bike, I could easily buy a low mile 1st Gen FZ1 or a Kawasaki Z1000 rather easily. I guess that is probably where I am now  with a 23 year old bike.

Joe

[Country Joe]

Well, after a couple of hours riding on several different twisty& bumpy roads, I have concluded that I'm not any worse off with the BMW shock than I am with the worn out OEM shock. At least the Bimmer shock still shows some damping ability. But I would hardly call it much of an improvement. But at least the battery decided to call it quits today. I'm glad I was at the top of a hill when I discovered it.