i suppose this is going to end up being a bit of a moan, 2 weeks ago i contacted Firefox racing regaurding a vf1000f2 YSS rear shock they had listed on ebay, I was asked how long the susspension was, to which i replied 410mm, after about ten minutes the guy returned to the phone saying that they had it in stock
and that they would do it a little cheaper as there was some marks on the lower mounting where they had “test fitted it” to a vf.
As i live about 30 miles from there shop i decided to call and collect it, so off i goes, an hour and half later i arrived at the shop eager to get things sorted and be on my way, they guy comes out from the back and puts the shock on the counter, i took one look at it and said “sorry mate, theres a problem with
that shock… it wont fit”, it was only one of those shocks with the spring wound all the way down to the bottom, as featured in another recent posting.
The guy replied, “oh, you must have one of the other models”… “no” i replied "i have 4 vf1000’s and that shock wont fit any of them, nor will it fit any of the other models i dont have.
After a brief discussion in which i told him all the models, years of manufacture and shock lengths i think he sort of realised that i did know a little of what i was talking about… It did slip out in conversation that a customer had had problems fitting the shock and returned it, but they assumed his bike wasn’t standard… at this point i wasnt at all p’sd off, anyone can make a mistake.
Anyway, the guy assured me that he had the correct shock in his store (which wasn’t on the premises) and that he would mail me it out on the monday and i would have it by thursday, if there were any problems he would ring me… thursday came and went, no phone call, no shock.
So on the saturday i rang them, to be informed that my shock had been posted friday and it would be with me on monday… well monday, tuesday and wednesday have been and gone, still no shock, or phone call.
In the past i have held Firefox racing in high regaurd, but they have gone down a few notches in my estimations,
Whats realy p’sing me off now is they have lied to me, if they hadn’t got it in stock they should say so, so i could choose to have a refund or wait,
they have the “R” shock listed on ebay, buy it now, recieve it in a couple of days… im assuming this is what they will end up sending me, with a modified top mount.
I hope tomorrow i can come on here and say, my shock has arrived, all is well in the world.
Sorry to say Pete,your tale of woe is fast becoming the rule rather than the exception.
My experience with Shocktech was no better and I’m still waiting for Mr Joy to make contact re my modified cams.
The top mount on the R is the same as the FF/F2F so as long as the length is adjustable the shock will go straight in.
The Germans on the other hand were very efficient,my Wilburs buying experience was most satisfactory,pity that the pound crashing has pushed the price up so far.
Hang in there mate,regards Bif
Pete, is there an opportunity anywhere to write a review on them on-line ?
Hi martin/bif.
Yeah your right about the wilbers experience, I fitted one on the ff/fe project bike last year,think it took ten days to have a custom shock made up and delivered all the way from Germany… I just really fancied trying a yss shock this time and I wanted to keep the cost down…
However, I had a more helpful conversation with firefox on Friday, the guy seem genuinly concerned that I hadn’t received my shock, took all the details and said he would ring me back… sure enough after about 30 minutes he rang back, saying my shock is at the couriers depot, apparantly the courier firm couldn’t deliver as they couldn’t read the house number on the parcel… So you never know, I may have a nice suprize waiting for me on Monday evening…
On another point, when I looked at the “wrong shock” on my visit to fire fox I could see there was a lock nut on the bottom clevis so I would assume there is some adjustment in the length…I did stress that it needed to be 410mm long…
The top mount on there R shocks are listed as 44mm which is fe size and not the 40mm size needed for the ff/f2f.
Think I will just have to see what arrives…
In that case I would need to clarify exact dimensions before shelling out any cash.
All R models use a top fitting 40mm wide,the F2 shock was a common swap as it’s extra length helped give quicker steering.
It will be good that you will be able to get a direct comparison with a Wilbers unit Pete,the YSS is considerably cheaper but seems to have jumped up about £20 in the last few weeks.
Regards Bif
must be Brexit for the price increase 8) 
The later model R uses a different width top mount to the 84 model.
The later F’s also use a different width top mount to the 84 model
I will measure tonight to check what width each model is.
The sun is shining, the sky is blue, everything is good in pete’s vf world… The vf1000r shock arrived yesterday… It has a 40mm top mount and is 410mm long. It has been extended out,looks like the original length was about 400mm. .
There was a redilivery label on the parcel, when I peeled it off there was the original one minus the house number, so maybe they did post it out on time…