Shock Question

Hi, I've just got a pair of IKON dial a rides (7610-1653) to replace my shot stock shocks.

I've put them in place and I'm a bit concerned about the lack of play in the mountings, the manual describes at great length the requirement for side to side play at the mounting points (section F6). I've used the sleeves supplied to fit the shocks, the new IKONS seem to have a hard nylon bush with almost no projection on the ferule and, whilst they have some slight roatation at the base, they were a tight fit into the top bracket; the play is certainly not as great as the old Girlings.

I'm off to France in a few weeks (and on to the Rally) so I really don't want the shocks to fail as a result of swingarm stress;. I'm sure that I'm not the first to fit these, can anybody tell me if I am worrying unduly, or should I be looking to make some modifications to the mounting points?

Mike

MK III Commando

I've been though 3 sets of shocks and non of them had any side play or other play in their mounts at top or bottom just the compliance of the rubber eyes, which is undetectable by mere human tugging bumping testing. Any play would just add more twitch or slap to isolastics toward their Hinging Horrors. If the shock shafts would bind w/o the side play then likely not the right shock for the job.

The theory is , it pivots on the PIN.

If the ring the bush is in fouls , or more particularly , is CLAMPED , when the bolt is tightened - you can tear it of the shock .

SO , if a feeler guage , say 10 thou. slides in each side of the eye , it wont bind . Unless yr swing arm bush is r :shock: ted .

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Same at bottom , if theres a gutter washer outside the shock eye , and it all gets clamped up . your Doomed .

SO - with just top eye fitted , and bolt nipped up , the shock should be free to rotate , back & forward .
Bolt Tight , it should still have free movemet . ( bike on mainstand on a block of wood , so swing arm is clear-ish .)
Same trip on bottom mount .

A ace with a disc grinder & file could remove a gnats wotsit from the inner face of the eye , if it fouls , clamped up .
or longer steel bush to shock rubber . Measureing its length wouldnt be a bad idea , for check if same as top mount opening .

the shocks pivot on the sleeve the bolt goes through and any stiff rubber compression resistance to hand pivot is a total non issue on road going loads and just adds some deadening to the mounting as well as a tad of suspension dampening too. I've played with different shocks mounting and some I had to trim off some the rubber bush width to shove in the mounts.

Mike Sullivan said:

I've put them in place and I'm a bit concerned about the lack of play in the mountings, the manual describes at great length the requirement for side to side play at the mounting points (section F6). I've used the sleeves supplied to fit the shocks, the new IKONS seem to have a hard nylon bush with almost no projection on the ferule and, whilst they have some slight roatation at the base, they were a tight fit into the top bracket; the play is certainly not as great as the old Girlings.

Click to expand...

Have you also tried fixing the shocks to the upper mountings and then seeing how far sideways the lower ends of the shocks can be deflected without subjecting them to any undue stress? If that distance is greater than you can deflect the wheel/swinging arm assembly then they can probably cope with the lateral movement.

As you are aware, the lower sleeves on MkIII shocks are intended to be longer than the uppers to prevent the lower mounting eyes fouling during any sideways deflection. If upper and lower sleeves are the same length (as pre-MkIII shocks), then the lower ends can be pulled inwards slightly when the mountings are tightened which forces the shocks out of parallel but this can be corrected with packing washers as necessary (Fig.F17).

I do not think the 0.745"-0.755"sleeve dimension given at Fig.F14 for the lower sleeve is correct, it should be closer to 0.95" (24mm) and this is the dimension listed in my old Hagon shock catalogue.

Thanks to all for responding, the lower eyes sem to be clear, the upper ones I'm not so sure about, there seems to be a few mm of nylon bush on the left, not so sure on the right hard to see due to the lock (Mk III).

I will back off the nut fractionally on the upper eye to ensure that it is not binding (and add a locknut to make sure that it does not slip), I'll add a couple of small washers to the bottom eyes to ensure that they can also rotate. I will in parallel organise some new steel inserts that are 20 thou or so oversize.

Re: 'As you are aware, the lower sleeves... ', LAB I am flattered, I confess I had no idea

Regards

Mike
MK III