New JD Rear Shock
05-20-2009 | 11:52 AM
#4
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,858
From: Fort Wayne, IN
By the way, you can throw away that old piston. I just tossed it in there in case you were curious what it looked like. I've got a box full of stock pistons, so it would have went in the trash can anyway.
I'm glad you like it!
I'm glad you like it!
05-20-2009 | 12:09 PM
#5
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,858
From: Fort Wayne, IN
The current prices for what Patrick had done are:
Conversion to fit VTR = $140
New spring = $85
Gold Valve = $190 (special spring pricing is over, sorry!)
You can get shocks on eBay for $25 or less including shipping all of the time. For less than $450 you can have a shock that performs as good (maybe better) than ones costing almost twice that much. It really is well worth the investment.
05-20-2009 | 01:47 PM
#6
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,082
From: Menifee, CA
Jamie
Just reading about this..is the F4i shock the only one that will work or the easiest to modify or what!? What exactly has to be modified? Seems like a great low cost alternative and I may well be interested.
Just reading about this..is the F4i shock the only one that will work or the easiest to modify or what!? What exactly has to be modified? Seems like a great low cost alternative and I may well be interested.
05-20-2009 | 05:12 PM
#7
Senior Member
MotoGP
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,138
From: Austin, Tx
Exactly and most importantly it's now. I don't have to follow countless forums or ebay sites scouring for a Wilbers or Penske for months waiting for one to come along. I can pull the trigger and hit the target. This is my kind of solution. Congrats and bravo - very well done!
05-21-2009 | 06:30 AM
#11
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,858
From: Fort Wayne, IN
05-24-2009 | 03:39 AM
#14
Administrator
MotoGP
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 4,402
From: Kempner, TX
I have a JD FI4 conversion on the way,,, of note,,,,, Make darn sure you know what shock your looking at if you do the ebay deal,, , I bid and bought what I was told was an Fi4 shock,, Jamie quickly noticed the pic was wrong, or the auction description was wrong.. turned out it was the auction. Dude did not know what he had,,, it looked close, to me, but Jamie quickly showed me what I was looking for and what was wrong with the one I bought.. He also set me up to rid myself of a shock bought but not usable for what I needed.
Stand up guy.. Look forward to putting the shock on my bike when I come home for leave.
Jamie, might I suggest you post a few picks the the correct shock with easy to identify markers that ID it as an Fi4 shock,, and if you have them, a few picks of commonly mis identified shocks and what shows them as so to the untrained eye.
Stand up guy.. Look forward to putting the shock on my bike when I come home for leave.
Jamie, might I suggest you post a few picks the the correct shock with easy to identify markers that ID it as an Fi4 shock,, and if you have them, a few picks of commonly mis identified shocks and what shows them as so to the untrained eye.
08-17-2010 | 10:09 AM
#15
WWTDD
Back Marker
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 245
From: Everett WA
Just shipped my Stock F4 shock to Jamie, cant wait to get it and install. NEVER have any doubts about working with Jamie. Always takes time to answer my NOOBY questions and has been very patient as you all have been. Thanks SUPERHAWK FORUM
08-17-2010 | 10:49 AM
#17
WWTDD
Back Marker
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 245
From: Everett WA
i have a shock that may work for you. GP suspension told me it was set up for race and not so much road......uchi PM me i can send pictures. You pay shipping and run it it while and decide if it works for you. it is sprung a hyper pro spring , agressive 270 lb rider...... http://www.hyperpro.com/ spring is from these guys...
08-17-2010 | 12:03 PM
#19
Senior Member
Back Marker
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 177
From: Roseburg, OR
08-17-2010 | 06:17 PM
#22
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,858
From: Fort Wayne, IN
Yes, I completed that about a year ago. The problem is that it's too expensive and (in my opinion) not worth it. If anyone is interested I'd be happy to send them a quote on this conversion.
08-17-2010 | 07:36 PM
#23
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,858
From: Fort Wayne, IN
Ok, you guys asked for it - here it is. I pulled out a couple of shocks to give you an idea of what to look for.
Here are the key points to observe:
F3 - The hose is long, that's probably the biggest giveaway. The orange arrow points to hose.
F4 - The hose is short as seen by the green arrow. Also note the type and orientation of the reservoir fitting (pink arrow).
900RR - The hose on this shock is short like the F4, but the best way to tell that it's a 900RR is that the spring preload adjuster is above the spring and not below it like the 600's (blue arrow). This spring adjustment will be gold on the later 900RR shocks like what is shown or will be black and look like the others in the picture - but it will always be above the spring. Also note that the 900RR's have the hose going straight into the reservoir without a banjo bolt (pink arrow).
Something to keep in mind is that the 900RR shocks, especially the later years, are just as good as an F4 unit. When it comes to converting to fit the VTR, the 900RR actually makes just a good a candidate as the F4 units.
Enjoy!
Here are the key points to observe:
F3 - The hose is long, that's probably the biggest giveaway. The orange arrow points to hose.
F4 - The hose is short as seen by the green arrow. Also note the type and orientation of the reservoir fitting (pink arrow).
900RR - The hose on this shock is short like the F4, but the best way to tell that it's a 900RR is that the spring preload adjuster is above the spring and not below it like the 600's (blue arrow). This spring adjustment will be gold on the later 900RR shocks like what is shown or will be black and look like the others in the picture - but it will always be above the spring. Also note that the 900RR's have the hose going straight into the reservoir without a banjo bolt (pink arrow).
Something to keep in mind is that the 900RR shocks, especially the later years, are just as good as an F4 unit. When it comes to converting to fit the VTR, the 900RR actually makes just a good a candidate as the F4 units.
Enjoy!
08-25-2010 | 11:56 AM
#26
Member
Squid
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 83
You will need a non stock length shock or adjustable length shock plus custom linkage for the swap. Shock length will depend on the leverage ratio of the linkage you go with.
08-25-2010 | 01:37 PM
#27
Out of my mind, back in 5
MotoGP
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 6,109
From: Skurup, Sweden
As a side note, considering the fact that it's an act of self punishment to adjust the spring setting on the F4i shock down inside the RC/SP swing arm it might be a better bet to choose the 900RR shock with the adjuster up top instead... I didn't know that it was an option, otherwise it might have made my life easier...
09-06-2010 | 05:58 PM
#28
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,858
From: Fort Wayne, IN
Correct... My suggestion either get an F4i shock rebuilt by Jamie, skip the cnversion for the VTR, and keep it stock length... Then build an adjustable clevis (I have posted images in other threads) Or have Jamie make one that are length adjustable... Expensive, but worth it......
For most guys +6mm length over stock works very well. I try to work out these details with each rider to ensure that the shock is as close to ideal as possible. Sometimes I go +4mm on the lenth, this allows the uppper mount to be shimmed to suit. Shimming the upper mount is fairly easy and cheap, so usually this is a good way to get things dialed in without a lot of extra cost.
09-06-2010 | 06:52 PM
#29
Out of my mind, back in 5
MotoGP
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 6,109
From: Skurup, Sweden
For most guys +6mm length over stock works very well. I try to work out these details with each rider to ensure that the shock is as close to ideal as possible. Sometimes I go +4mm on the lenth, this allows the uppper mount to be shimmed to suit. Shimming the upper mount is fairly easy and cheap, so usually this is a good way to get things dialed in without a lot of extra cost.
The reason one of your fixed lenght conversions won't work very well is that my recommendation was in regards specificly to when you swap in an SP2 swingarm...
If your not doing that, your advice is sound... If you are doing a swingarm swap, you can either go with known numbers (I have posted working ones in other threads) or have the shock lenght fully adjustable...
09-06-2010 | 07:00 PM
#30
Senior Member
SuperBike
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,858
From: Fort Wayne, IN
Sorry Jamie,but you are dead wrong, please don't confuse the issue... You are coming in at the tail end of a discussion without reading the start of it...
The reason one of your fixed lenght conversions won't work very well is that my recommendation was in regards specificly to when you swap in an SP2 swingarm...
If your not doing that, your advice is sound... If you are doing a swingarm swap, you can either go with known numbers (I have posted working ones in other threads) or have the shock lenght fully adjustable...
The reason one of your fixed lenght conversions won't work very well is that my recommendation was in regards specificly to when you swap in an SP2 swingarm...
If your not doing that, your advice is sound... If you are doing a swingarm swap, you can either go with known numbers (I have posted working ones in other threads) or have the shock lenght fully adjustable...
Ouch! My comments were referring to an otherwise stock setup. My apologies for the confusion!
