For all the tightwads, cheapskates and poorboys...

[Country Joe]

.....another junkyard rear shock choice for the 1989-1990 FJ 1200.  I'm just throwing this out as a teaser. I just got back from a short test ride and so far I find it way superior to the BMW shock. I need to get all my notes and photos for a full write up, giving the pros and cons, but here are some hints about the donor bike. It weighs a lot more than the FJ, it is still being made and they are very common. I hope to post the write up t

   

[craigo]

.....another junkyard rear shock choice for the 1989-1990 FJ 1200.  I'm just throwing this out as a teaser. I just got back from a short test ride and so far I find it way superior to the BMW shock. I need to get all my notes and photos for a full write up, giving the pros and cons, but here are some hints about the donor bike. It weighs a lot more than the FJ, it is still being made and they are very common. I hope to post the write up t

   

Where is the salivate emoticon? 

CraigO

[aviationfred]

Honda ST1300 maybe.....

Fred

[Country Joe]

Very close, Fred. Very good guess.

[FJscott]

Concourse?

[Pat Conlon]

Is it a air shock?

Come on Joe, throw us a bone....

[Country Joe]

I don't know if anybody here remembers that I bought a Honda GL 1800 a while back and sold it late last spring.......pics and write up to come.

Joe

[Joe Sull]

I'm in!

[Country Joe]

Ok, all.....Let me lay out the pros and cons of this shock swap the best that I can.
1.Availability. Remember all those Goldwing trikes parked out in front of the Dairy Queen that we love to point at and laugh at? Everyone of them has had the rear shock removed in the conversion process. Many of them were converted before they ever got 12 miles put on them. All those shocks are laying on a shelf at a trike shop or are on sale on Ebay. I found mine at the local trike shop, brand new for $100.00. You often find them for half that price.
2.Aftermarket spring availability. Progressive Suspension, HyperPro and Race Tech all have heavier springs readily available. I picked up a 1000/1200 lb. Progressive spring from Amazon for $78.00. The shock I have is from a 2010 GL 1800. The best info I can find puts the stock spring rate at 900 lbs. Supposedly the 2012-2013 bikes have a stiffer spring rate and valving, but I can't verify that at this time.
3.Overall length. the FJ shock is 11.445" center to center, the BMW R1200RS shock I have cut down as short as possible is 13.046" C to C (as close as I could measure) and I cut the bottom yoke on the Goldwing shock and re-drilled it to a C to C length of 12.203". I also had to drill out the top bushing from 10mm to 12mm.


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4.Hydraulically adjustable preload. The Goldwing has a rear preload adjuster that is operated by a rocker switch and it has a position indicator that displays from 0 to 25. I was pretty excited by the idea of using a DPDT switch to operate the motor on the adjuster, but after consulting some of the tech gurus over on GL1800riders.com, it became pretty clear that the actuator doesn't tolerate being run all the way to the end of its travel. So, I dropped that idea and swapped over the BMW remote preload adjuster to the Honda shock. The BMW adjuster bolts on to the frame bracket where the original preload and damping adjuster went.
5. The inside width of the lower clevis is the same width as the FJ shock clevis, no washers needed.

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Too bad the pictures are not showing up...I have pics of the dogbones and relay arm, showing the geometry being closer to stock than the other shock I have tried.  The dogbones I made for the BMW shock were 6" C to C and I drilled new holes for the Honda shock at just a little less than 5".

Now the cons.....
1. It is still longer than the stock shock.
2.The damping is not adjustable. I have never heard anyone complain that the stock Honda shock is overwhelmed by the stiffer spring, but I figure as the shock wears that might become an issue. I think Race Tech will still rebuild the Honda shock and install their Gold Valve in it, but that is still not going to equal the RPM shock. I will work of getting the pics to show up, if anyone has any need to see them.


Joe

[Pat Conlon]

For the effort you put out Joe, let me help you with inserting the Picts into your post....where do I find them? I checked the Gallery but did not see them.  Pat

[Country Joe]

For the effort you put out Joe, let me help you with inserting the Picts into your post....where do I find them? I checked the Gallery but did not see them.  Pat

Pat, thanks for the help. I have them in Photobucket. I need to more them over to the forum gallery.

[rktmanfj]

Ok, all.....Let me lay out the pros and cons of this shock swap the best that I can.
1.Availability. Remember all those Goldwing trikes parked out in front of the Dairy Queen that we love to point at and laugh at? Everyone of them has had the rear shock removed in the conversion process. Many of them were converted before they ever got 12 miles put on them. All those shocks are laying on a shelf at a trike shop or are on sale on Ebay. I found mine at the local trike shop, brand new for $100.00. You often find them for half that price.
2.Aftermarket spring availability. Progressive Suspension, HyperPro and Race Tech all have heavier springs readily available. I picked up a 1000/1200 lb. Progressive spring from Amazon for $78.00. The shock I have is from a 2010 GL 1800. The best info I can find puts the stock spring rate at 900 lbs. Supposedly the 2012-2013 bikes have a stiffer spring rate and valving, but I can't verify that at this time.
3.Overall length. the FJ shock is 11.445" center to center, the BMW R1200RS shock I have cut down as short as possible is 13.046" C to C (as close as I could measure) and I cut the bottom yoke on the Goldwing shock and re-drilled it to a C to C length of 12.203". I also had to drill out the top bushing from 10mm to 12mm.



4.Hydraulically adjustable preload. The Goldwing has a rear preload adjuster that is operated by a rocker switch and it has a position indicator that displays from 0 to 25. I was pretty excited by the idea of using a DPDT switch to operate the motor on the adjuster, but after consulting some of the tech gurus over on GL1800riders.com, it became pretty clear that the actuator doesn't tolerate being run all the way to the end of its travel. So, I dropped that idea and swapped over the BMW remote preload adjuster to the Honda shock. The BMW adjuster bolts on to the frame bracket where the original preload and damping adjuster went.
5. The inside width of the lower clevis is the same width as the FJ shock clevis, no washers needed.




Too bad the pictures are not showing up...I have pics of the dogbones and relay arm, showing the geometry being closer to stock than the other shock I have tried.  The dogbones I made for the BMW shock were 6" C to C and I drilled new holes for the Honda shock at just a little less than 5".

Now the cons.....
1. It is still longer than the stock shock.
2.The damping is not adjustable. I have never heard anyone complain that the stock Honda shock is overwhelmed by the stiffer spring, but I figure as the shock wears that might become an issue. I think Race Tech will still rebuild the Honda shock and install their Gold Valve in it, but that is still not going to equal the RPM shock. I will work of getting the pics to show up, if anyone has any need to see them.


Joe

[movenon]

Cool, I like the pre load adjuster. Here is some information on spring rates that I have. It might help someone in making a spring change.

Yamaha 1992 service guide pg 4, stock spring rate 13.5 kg/mm (a little over 750 lb/inch). 48 mm travel. (just saying whats in the 92 Yamaha manual)

FJ shock spring rate information from Penske. Data in lbs/inch.
Divide by 56 to convert to kg/mm

                          Spring     120-160#      160-190#            190-225#          225-260#
                          Length    with gear       with gear            with gear          with gear
FJ 1100   85-87....... 6..........850...............900.....................950..................1000
FJ 1200   88-89........6..........900...............950....................1000..................1050
FJ 1200   1990.........6..........850...............900......................950..................1000
FJ 1200   91-93........5..........900...............950....................1000..................1050

These are all straight rate springs. I don't know how they calculate or at what point they measure progressive rate springs. I just ordered a 950 Lb Eibach spring for my FJ.

George

[Pat Conlon]

Looks like Randy found them....thanks Randy!

[Country Joe]

Randy, George and Pat, thanks for your help, I know at one time I knew how to pist pics, but I've slept since then. later today I will try to get up the other photos that I have taken of the project.

   Joe