Hi all, wilbers shock arrived at last and fitted it today with no problems but could do with some suggestions for location of remote reservoir that won’t make my eyes water!! Bike is a VF1000RE , most likely place looks like the sub frame below tail piece on the right side but looks like it could be mounted on frame rail below right hand side cover though heat from engine will not do it any good. Any pictures of where you have mounted yours would be great especially if it can still be adjusted.
decided to mount on right hand passenger foot peg bracket so i can adjust it though i’ve just been out for a ride and its fantastic, i don’t think it will be improved by tinkering. i needed to raise seat height so followed biffs advice and went for a boldor shock instead of the vf1000r one this was about 10mm longer than standard and then extended the ride height adjustment about half way out and the result is the seat height is now about 10cm higher.
On my heavily modified FF, it is on the RH subframe rail just by the exhaust mount, with the remote preload adjuster sitting just forward of the battery under neath the side panel.
Thanks ascalon going to leave it where it is for now and give it a good test on the may Scottish trip, if all is well which I think it will be as wilbers seem to have set it up better than I could! I will make a bracket to fit it onto the seat sub frame even if it will never be adjusted it does look lovely!
Hi Gary,
Have you got a photo of the wilbers shock…specifically the area that passes through the swing arm? What was the damage for that?
Same subject…but different…i have a 78 CBX1000z which I fitted with Maxton fully adjustable shocks bespoke made for me. Result was an unbelievable difference, 1k well spent, no regrets. Also have a Morini Granpasso which comes with FA Ohlins shock, the ride and adjustability is beyond reproach!
The upshot of my ramblings is that money spent on top quality suspension is the No1 way of improving your bike, no question.
Happy riding!!
The shock set me back about £550 which is not bad at all. Will take a pic of shock as requested but having problems posting pics, tried to put some of the new paint job in the gallery section today but dont think they worked. Whilst seat unit was being sprayed managed to put the remote reservoir where I originally wanted it, under seat unit on right side by attaching length of chrome pipe to frame and then attaching reservoir to the pipe this drops it lower than seat unit.
its a straight forward fit, made to measure by wilbers. the best place to get one is off German eBay, they set it up for your weight and riding style and deliver in about 2 weeks. i got the one made for a bol as it’s a bit longer giving extra seat height which i need being 6 foot 5. feels like a totally different bike now and highlights the poor front suspension. i will be attempting the front fork mod as described by bif in the next couple of months.
hi faxe, not sure of the spring force but it feels a lot stiffer than the standard shock ever felt though the original was way too soft and wallowed around a lot. it now feels really solid and stable mid corner, going to go for a blast round the country roads in wales tomorrow to get used to the new way she handles.
They should have printed the figures in the data sheet. In most cases they have some Laser printing on the spring itself. I put a new YSS in mine and adjusting the preload makes it feel stiffer, altough it isn’t, cause I didn’t change the spring ;).
