Hi all,

I received my new Works shocks and installed them yesterday on a 2014 Street Bob. While the install seemed straightforward the instructions did confuse me a little bit when it came to alignment for channel swingarms, side mount swingarms, etc.

I did not measure the shock eyes but they seemed to be practically the same as the stock ones. The original shocks had no extra spacers but did have two thin washers up top. When I installed the new ones the top acorn nut still left some play so I put the thin washers in.

I'm hoping that some of you could look at the pics attached and let me know if my alignment seems ok or anything I need to know since this is my first time installing shocks.

Lastly, the cone shaped spacer up top seems to be attached to the strut, any ideas for painting this black to match? Just get paint from the dealer and do it by hand?

thanks as always,

 

whoops one last one

 

Everything looks good as far as I can see in the photos. The thin washers you are talking about are really for the shock cover that comes from the factory up on top. If I'm not mistaken that part is a stud that is kind of a pain in the butt to remove, or at least for the sake of painting it. I would just find whatever color paint you want it to be, tape off the area around it and spray it. If you want gloss black just buy gloss black spray paint at your local hardware store. Hard for that to be different.

 

As long as you've added the same thickness either side of each mounting eye, top and bottom of the shock, and left and right of the bike (looks like you did) then alignment is back to stock, yes. That doesn't mean it's 100% accurate, but for the sake of argument it's ok. Mine is the same, I have similar spacers at the same places or else the acorn bottoms out on the mounting stud.

As far as paint goes, mask off the stud & just rattlecan it (or plasti dip if you have some lying around). It's a very rough surface on that metal, and it's never gonna be pretty. Enjoy the ride!

 

ITS the inside measurement that matters,inside of shock mount to bike,, measure them and see that you are the same left to right and that should be it....nice bike

 

Gotcha will do. So no worries that the shocks seem to jut out farther at the top and then taper inwards to bottom mount (which presumable is how the last ones works as well but I just didn't notice it I guess).

thanks for the compliment and thanks to everyone for the advice!

 

I agree with you that the tops look further out than the bottoms.
Lift the bike wheels off the ground, take the shocks off & run a straight edge between the upper and lower edges where the shock will bolt up against the mounting bolts - then shim as needed to have a straight line, which should be 90* to the mounting bolts - if they are not then the shock might bind.
You might have to remove the upper mounting bolts & bring them to a machine shop to have them turn more threads on the bolts so you can bring the shock further in on the top.
The other option is more washers and longer bolts on the bottom to bring it out so that it is straight.

 

It looks like the top of the shock is further out than the bottom. Shocks should to be in as straight a line as possible. Don't want unnecessary side loading of the rod into the body or to have the bushings cocked in any way if you can help it. I'd try moving/adding or deleting those spacers as needed to get em as in line as possible. My Works shocks I had on my FXDX were the same way. I wound up making a trip to the hardware store and getting the spacers I needed that way.

 

The factory top mounts are studs and if I remember right are just indexed to keep them from turning. Pull your seat off and you'll see the back side nuts. They're very easy to remove. To me this is way to easy to go masking off your bike and spraying around it. Just take them off.

 

Did you end up adding spacers to push the bottoms out or removing spacers to bring the tops in?

Funny that the stock shocks were probably the same but I never noticed (there were no spacers on them at all)