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[Lord-Toady]

I picked up a pair of shocks for my 1993 Bullet 500 pretty cheap £43 second hand on a bid as they look pretty good condition and are 320mm eye to eye in length so similar to the hagon longer trials style shocks our hosts sell. Turns out they are Kayaba KYC and marked made in Japan. My current ones are creaking and the covers rub although the creaking could be the swingarm needing lubrication which I am going to be looking at while swapping them. Anyway I prefer the look of these chrome spring ones and they should clean up well. Has anyone had any experience with this brand of shock, a bit of googling show them to be a pretty good make.

[papasmurf]

I assume you realise the bolt holes may be the wrong size? (Easy to rectify.)

[Lord-Toady]

Well I think I will take a look and find out they are supposed to be for a Bullet 500 but if not I guess the bushings will need changing.

Hopefully the shocks being a bit longer will give me a bit of extra seat height being pretty tall and big.

[Valsp]

If they are a little longer they may cause the main stand to be a little short, a common problem on the interceptor with replacement shocks

[Alan R]

Hi Guys----------- If you have access to a lathe it's only a few moments work to turn-up 4 steel bushes...These people sell various kits......... ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shock-Bush-Ki ... 9170439651 )...Type into E-Bay}--- "Motorcycle shock absorber bush" and have a scroll around..

[ChrisD]

Hi, Lord Toady.
I fitted a pair of 320mm Endurance air shocks on my 1996 500 when one of the originals failed. They are about 2cm longer than the OEM non-cartridge shocks. But, because of ensuing clearance issues I had to:


1. weld a 1” galvanised water pipe to each stand foot to raise the rear wheel.

2. set the chain slack (when on the stand) to 55-60mm so it doesn’t tighten during riding (that’s because the swinging arm pivot point is not on a straight line between the rear axle and the gearbox sprocket).

3. remove the rear footpegs because the rear brake pushrod rubbed on the left hand one.


But still, the air shocks are an improvement over the OEM indian shocks.

Cheers, ChrisD

PS can anyone suggest how I cpressurise the air in the cartridge?

[Lord-Toady]

Hi chris I just bought a new rear brake rod as the rear drum lever was set at an almost horizontal angle with the brake rod bent upwards at the end the rear brake was also like an on off switch. I changed it to more of a right angle but found the rod started to foul slightly on the rear peg bracket this is with standard shocks. I am fitting a single seat so can do away with the rear pegs. Thanks for the tip regarding the centre stand and chain.

[papasmurf]

Drive chain tension should always be checked with someone sat on the bike and the stands up.
Very few motorcycles have the pivot point of the swinging arm and the centre point of the gearbox sprocket inline.
(One of the first things I had to do after I purchased my Electra X (ish) was to slacken the chain off because obviously the previous owner had not carried out the correct procedure.)

[Lord-Toady]

I finally got these springs fitted as had a day off Monday and it was sunny. The creaking from the rear has gone completely so the old shocks must have been done with. I did notice that the left hand side bottom bush had siezed to the stud causing the rubber to be damaged so had to use wd40 a hammer and molegrips to get it loose. I cleaned up the studs and used some grease when putting the new shocks inside the metal of the bushes. The bike feels quite a bit higher now and that helps because I am tall. I also changed the rear brake rod and nut while I was at it as when I got the bike the lever on the drum was set an quite an extreme almost horizontal angle and the rod was bent. One minor problem I have found is that the axel now fouls ever so slightly on the top of the exhaust when I am not sat on the bike so I may need to adjust the exhaust fitment but I am planning on fitting the short exhaust at some point so may address that properly then.

I just need to wait for some nice weather so I can road test the new shocks and the new seat. My next purchase in the new year will probably be the short exhaust and a new rear wheel as the rear wheel spokes are in a bad way and sound pretty hollow when hit with a spanner.