Give stock shocks the clean look.

[TwoJugs]

I took the softail road after building one rigid and riding others. I still think hardtails look great but I like to ride and my worn body parts need comfort. My cheap solution was to strecth the swingarm 4.5" and use the stock shocks and mount points. The swingarm work took some time but most was my free labor. I found a way to take the stock shocks apart and strip them down and give them that old school look.

A piece of galvanized pipe "T" that fit over the shock top and in my drill press once the table was slid out of the way. Using the chucks travel I compressed the shock then went into the T and pulled out the retainer lock with an o ring pick. After that you can relase the pressure and take the shock apart. Remove the chrome cover with reflector, clean everything up and put on some fresh paint. Reassembly is a bit tougher. Holding alignment while working the clip back is a bit testy and dangerous so attempt at your own risk. It is best to have a second helper holding the shock inline. A little off center and this might take out an eye or tooth. It did grab my hand once, ouch!. Gloves, goggles and maybe a piece of plywood with access holes to work through would be advised?

The one thing I found out is the springs on the shocks really move around at certain RPMs. Enough to hit the shock cylinder and scratch the paint! Maybe the hoods dampened the movement? Using these with the strectched swingarm gave me the drop I wanted. I have them on the stiffest setting and still had to bend the back hoop up and inch or so for clearance. The bike rides very smooth and my back appreciates it. I am planning on doing another without the stretch and using shorter shock in the fiuture for a different look.

 

[KeithB]

Using the chucks travel I compressed the shock then went into the T and pulled out the retainer

What a great idea! Thanks.
BTW...nice bike

 

[nj1639]

Nice!
Been contemplating a stretched soft tail and was wondering if there were any pics around. I've upgraded the front forks on my '83 to 36mm 750's along with the tapered bearings and I'll be changing out the swingarm bushings in time, maybe stretching too.
I've attempted to break down the stock forks using minimal hand tools and gave up...not enough hands to help.
Good post.

 

[pumps]

Looks good. On the safety thing , could it work if you used a piece of pvc pipe slightly larger that the shocks diameter to keep yourself protected? Besides the T I mean. Seems like it would also give you a flatter base and the shock bottom would be less likely to slide out? Trying to picture it in my mind. Would it work? I like your inventiveness though.

 

[TwoJugs]

I guess PVC would work? That size pipe has some pretty thick walls and the force needed was less then I expected. Are you thinking about cutting an access hole in the side to pop out the clip? You will need to make something flat on top to take the push load. With a little more time you could make a base to hold the shock better, maybe a hole to put the end in or a pin to go through the mount hole then into a larger hole in the base. Keeping everything in alignment with the push force is critical. When loaded up I would not want to have it kick out at me, or my freshly painted bike a few feet away from the press. There is lots of room for improvement. I started out as a quick test to see if it would work and continued on with only one bite.

 

[pumps]

Really just something, maybe a base kind of thing to hold the bottom and part way up the spring, keep the bottom from kicking out. . Your T thing seems pretty good.

 

[TwoJugs]

Like a flange base and pipe that the shock slips into? That would help free up a hand. If you could clamp it to the drills base too you would have a better mouse trap. I have a grinder motor with a very soft stainless steel fine wire brush on it and it really cleaned up the chrome. I use it on most of my chrome hardware. Fast job getting it shinning again.

 

[pumps]

Your ideas would work. Compressing spring or things like that can get you hurt real quick and anything to make it easier too.

 

[Capt_Zoom]

LA Choppers sells a tool that worked for removing the springs on a Yamaha raider (single shock set up). But Something similar would that fits the xs would make doing this a lot safer. Basically its two sort of triangular plates with a big center hole for your shock eye. then near each point of the plates there is a threading where a threaded rod goes to the other plate. You crank down the 3 rods to compress the plates and thus the shock. The rods also add some safety by keeping everything inside the device. LA Choppers one might work for these but if not it wouldn't be hard to make your own.