Too late to take advantage of the Wilbers, I am still looking to update my rear shock on my 90. Has anyone successfully adapted a 929 shock to fit on our vintage?
I know that the spring rates are a bit off, 15.3 vs 16... but I don't know if the effective length of the 3rd gen shock is much more than the offset of 39mm that 4th and 5th gens have been dealing with. Where can I find specifics for the 3rd gen shock?
Nope, 929/954 shocks do not fit. The lower shock mount is completely wrong. I know. I have a 954 shock bought cheap on the off hand chance I could make it work. No way to do it without modifying the shock. Picked up a Fox Twin-clicker used off ebay instead. It will need to be rebuilt soon, but still much cheaper than Penske/Wilbers/etc.
For the record, the 90-91 and 92-93 stock shocks are only slightly different. Dimensions, mounts and rates are the same. The 92-93 has additional adjustments available - can't remember which adjustments at the moment.
solman244, Jan 1 2007, 06:51 PMFor the record, the 90-91 and 92-93 stock shocks are only slightly different. Dimensions, mounts and rates are the same. The 92-93 has additional adjustments available - can't remember which adjustments at the moment.
Compression adjustment. I upgraded the 90 shock to a used 93 shock about 5 years ago.
I looked into shock swaps before finally ordering a Wilbers. As stated above, the lower shock mount is completely different from the 4th-6th gen bikes. OEM shocks from other makes with similar-looking mounts (not necessarily the same!) had spring rates that were way off, so I gave up.
You can get the 3rd gen shock rebuilt, but I dont' know that it would last any longer than it did from the factory.
You can go aftermarket, you can get the stocker rebuilt by Lindemann, or you can adapt.
The OEM shock is 345 mm long with a bottom clevis mount. I adapted a used Ohlins shock from a 93 ZX9 (KA403 is a 43HRCS) by updating spring (Progressive) and getting it revalved as service. Same length. Mounted fine except the holes were 14mm and the Honda was 12mm. Sleeved the holes. Works great.
If I had it to do over, I would save up for a Penske. The correct Ohlins is unobtainable. Fox is scarce. Maxton available from UK.
JamieDaugherty, Jan 5 2007, 10:19 PMI'm pretty sure that I can modify the lower clevis of the 929 shock to make it work on the 90-93 VFR's. If you are interested please send me a PM.
This looks absolutely possible. I'm planning to prototype this with one of the spare 929 shocks I have. I'll post pictures if I do. Based on my current load I probably won't get to it until next weekend. Thanks!
JamieDaugherty, Jan 7 2007, 12:37 PMThis looks absolutely possible. I'm planning to prototype this with one of the spare 929 shocks I have. I'll post pictures if I do. Based on my current load I probably won't get to it until next weekend. Thanks!
Sweet! That'll help a lot of people out! Nothing like a cheap but very effective suspension update! (IMG:style_emoticons/oldemoticons/fing02.gif)
JamieDaugherty, Jan 7 2007, 11:37 AMThis looks absolutely possible. I'm planning to prototype this with one of the spare 929 shocks I have. I'll post pictures if I do. Based on my current load I probably won't get to it until next weekend. Thanks!
I can't wait to see what you can do here. I'm thinking that if the upper mount works, you can mod the lower for my era bike like you do to the stock 3rd gens? That would be super sweet.
Zack - I've already been doing that! The VFR800 shocks work the best, Some VFR750 shocks work too. The nice part about those is that the spring rate they already have will work fine. Even CBR shocks will work but make sure they either 1) do not have a remote reservoir or 2) have the reservoir attached with a hose. Those shocks require a stiffer spring. The one from your original VF shock can be installed on the CBR unit, which is really nice.
Check out my site for more details. Just click on "Rear Shock Solution" from the menu at the left.
JamieDaugherty, Jan 7 2007, 02:14 PMZack - I've already been doing that! The VFR800 shocks work the best, Some VFR750 shocks work too. The nice part about those is that the spring rate they already have will work fine. Even CBR shocks will work but make sure they either 1) do not have a remote reservoir or 2) have the reservoir attached with a hose. Those shocks require a stiffer spring. The one from your original VF shock can be installed on the CBR unit, which is really nice.
Check out my site for more details. Just click on "Rear Shock Solution" from the menu at the left.
For some reason, I thought the 929 had more adjustability..... my profesional reasearch shows that it is pretty much the same. I see. And it looks like the resivoir would hit on the 929 version. They are pretty reasonably priced on E-Bay, though. Well, back to where I started....... trying to justify a Wilbers, Penske, or Works, or trying to decide if I can get what I want from a VFR800 shock (I really want a rebuildable/revalvable shock if I modify a shock)
Ok, I've got some progress to report. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Luckily I was able to use my current fixtures with this shock, that was a big help. If anyone is interested in this swap please PM me and I can give you the details.
Here is a 929 shock (without spring) next to a 93 VFR750 stock unit:
![[image: DSC04578_sm.jpg]](http://www.daughertymotorsports.com/shockconversion/DSC04578_sm.jpg){kind=link}
![[image: DSC04579_sm.jpg]](http://www.daughertymotorsports.com/shockconversion/DSC04579_sm.jpg){kind=link}
