Rear Shock Lowering on 955 '05

[metalguru]

Being an engineer by trade I am always looking to improve my rides and can usually find a way to achieve a conclusion. However, since aquiring my 955 tigger, (the 855 met its end with an errant horse last year) the ride height is still a problem. Ah just change the shock you might say but I do actually like the ride quality given by the standard shock. Having ridden aftermarket equipped bikes i found the ride a tad harsh. Being of 32" leg and not too heavy, stops can be an adventure espacially in cross winds. The 885 was easy as just turned the chain adjusters. The 885 shock looks like it might be shorter but unsure of this, or are there any other ideas out there? In the old days it was common practice on lowering cars to carefully shorten the spring but think this could be an adverse and very last resort mod.

[Mustang]

if the shock has dogbones to the linkage like a steamer change the length of the two dogbones to the linkage to raise or lower to your liking

 without actually looking at my bike  I think longer dogbones lowers the suspension,but I could be wrong about that

[Timbox2]

no Dogbones on girlies Im afraid, only thing I can think of is lowering the front of the bike, Ive got mine lowered by 15mm, but that is quite extreme, Ive done it for handling rather than lowering the bike though.

You just drop the yokes down the stanchions, one side at a time, I would probably suggest you try with a maximum of 10mm first, then go try it, it does alter the steering somewhat, you have been warned :lol:

[walker]

if you cut the spring, it might not sit in the spring perch correctly... I've never tried it though.

The 885 shock from the 1999-2000 is shorter than the one from the 2004-2006 (I don't have one to compare for the spoke wheel girlies). It's shorter by about an inch .... I think 30mm, but I forget exactly.

another difference is that the lower eyelet to the damping adjuster distance is longer on the 2004-2006 unit... which means, if you have that newer swing arm (I'm guessing it's a 2005 or 2006), then the adjuster will be lower - possibly hard to get to (more of the lower unit is hidden in those years, the earlier swingarm you could see most of the shock from the back).

The damping is not as good, and the spring rate is much lower (which according to your post, shouldn't be a problem.... not like you are carrying full gear and a passenger).

You can find them on ebay occasionally - I found one with low miles, still attached to a perfectly good swing arm for under $150.

Something to consider - if the problem is getting a foot on the ground, you might have the seat modified.... cutting away foam from the sides of the seat near the tank will let you get your feet down closer to the bike.

I don't know how much a 1" drop on the rear suspension will affect seat height.

[metalguru]

Thanks for the info guys and yes it is a 05 with mag wheels. I think a good way would be to see how much drop there would be at the wheel by dropping the shock lower pivot by about an inch. If I remember my physics it will probably drop at the wheel by about 3" but will try it out and post a reply. It's not a big problem as I can tip-toe but it's just one of those not quite right things. Actually when loaded+passenger and set up the ride height is just right!!

[Chris Canning]

Heaven only knows what after market shocks you've ridden on,ones presumes you took the time to set them up to your own taste,the gap between what passes as a Triumph shock and any aftermarket is so large,I rate your comparison as bizaar,but the simple solution is to talk to Hagon,they'll make you a short shock.

Alternately,when I pull up,put my leg forward of the peg and bring my leg back and it folds the peg up and out of the way for better access to getting your feet on the ground.

[Bixxer Bob]

....You just drop the yokes down the stanchions, one side at a time, ..... it does alter the steering somewhat....:

I'll bet! Steers to one side as well no doubt??? :)

[Timbox2]

....You just drop the yokes down the stanchions, one side at a time, ..... it does alter the steering somewhat....:

I'll bet! Steers to one side as well no doubt??? :)

Come on, you know what I mean :lol:

[walker]

the 885 shock (1999-2000) is 14.5" eye to eye. The spring is a lower rate, and the damping rate is different. Everything else on the shock is the same as the later unit.

Here is a side by side comparison. Coils are slightly different, and the length is different. I imagine the spring from the new unit would fit the old unit. A few companies sell just a spring.







The damping rates are different, and when they are adjusted so they "feel" about the same, the older one will be one half turn from the stop on H, while the other is just over half way (maybe 2/3 towards H).

Having a shorter aftermarket might be one way to go. Swapping springs around on a stock unit might be good, but then there is a question of how much longer that stock unit would last.

[jonathan jaecks]

There's also to option of raising the upper mount...a little cutting, a little welding, and presto your problem is now...ok not actually solved but moved somewhere else.  Your rear ride height will be fixed as it would had you modified a shock but either way your geometry has been adjusted,  You now get to similarly lower the front which creates a additional handling change of reducing wheelbase.  Don't forget to chop a bit off your side stand.

...all kidding aside I think the suggestion to alter your seat is the more elegant solution.

[metalguru]

Many thanks walker for the pics it clears up one option for good. Think the tigger would be a low-rider lol. Just to clear another point, yes i have ridden many bikes with after market shocks for many years in all modes of riding and although perhaps I am wrong it is quite fun bouncing around like a pogo...lol, but I do like my comfort now and having ridden since the early 70's the tigger handles fine and sports bike riders have a suprise sometimes! I am thinking of trying the fabrication idea and will post some pics when I figure out how!
Incidently I did have a T'bird 900 and found a Honda VFR 750 shock was a good replacement, now that should spark up the grey matter as jap shocks 10 a penny. Now where is that gas axe?

[LTB]

This raises the question:
How much higher will my -01 Tiger be with a -05 shock  :D

Are we talking of a contender to the KTM 990 Adventure S here ?

OK, next up is then to get a longer front fork and to fit a 21" front wheel.

[metalguru]

Got there in the end with the height problem.
Managed to get hold of another standard 955 shock unit and removed one complete coil. The remaining spring was reprofiled and ground flat as per standard shock but shorter. This had the effect of lowering the rear of the bike by 11/2 to 2" adjustable by the hydraulic preload adjuster which has now become a ride height adjuster. (not by design, just luck). The problem then arose that at test time there would be a lot of up and down slack in the rear unit and would fail test so I made a collar to go around the top of the adjuster to take out the slack at test times. Now I still have the comfort  and the low ride height. Still havn't figured out how to get pics on here so can't show mod. Only addition could be a check strap on the shock to keep it from getting too long and misplacing the spring but on road tests on very bumpy roads it has stayed put. Took me about 2 hours in all and only special tools were oxy-acetylene to reprofile spring, spring compessors, and a grinder, and used stove spray to repaint spring, hardened off with a hot air gun.

[Timbox2]

Fair play, Im not an engineer,and I dont have reach issues but i personally dont like the idea of removing coils from shocks, especially a shock which in its standard form is woefully inadequate, saying that if you are fairly light and dont carry much stuff or pillions it might just do.

But I have just spotted your original comments about finding that aftermarket shocks were a tad harsh??  Whose aftermarket shock? And what bike was it on? Im guessing not yours?

All Im saying is that I finally bit the bullet and had a Wilbers built for me, and Harsh isnt a word I would use, composed and massively comfortable are more like it.
Spose its what we get used to, but i reckon if I was to jump back on a OE equipped Tiger I would probably think, "How the f... did I manage".

[ChazzyB]

Remember that when you shorten a spring, it gets stiffer.