The bike is getting less and less bone stock.

While I could stand the air shocks (and did for 6,300 miles), I knew there was a better ride out there. I've run through Progressive, Ricor, JRI, and Ohlins, and I know what's worked and what hasn't. It's no secret I think Ohlins makes the best suspension bits for these bikes, and trying other products on my bikes and others has reinforced that belief.

Howard at Motorcycle Metal has removed the remote reservoir from his #6 shock and added a sweep valve for compression/rebound. The end result is an emulsified shock with 93mm of stroke, which compares awfully well with the #3 shocks which are separated but only have 77mm of stroke. And the bonus is that should you ever want to, you can have the reservoirs added to the #2.5As (and I probably will when I have them rebuilt).

I ordered a True-Track and the Ohlins shocks concurrently, as I wanted to address the lateral motion of the rear end as well as the vertical. As fate would have it, I only had the True-Track installed prior to a 900~ish mile road trip. That was a Good Thing, as it proved the worth of the True-Track.

The #2.5As went on this morning with little fuss. With the added stroke, you have to shim the mufflers down with spacers (which are provided, though I have a bunch laying around in my toolbox from prior purchases). It's also crucial that prior to installation you run a straight-edge between the upper and lower mounting points to insure that the swingarm is in line with the frame. Mine was dead-on, but Howard's said he's seen new bikes that have been out. If yours is, shim accordingly.

After setting sag and putting a zip-tie on the right shock's shaft to measure how much of the stroke was being used, I set out to get them adjusted. A little more preload here, a little more damping there, and the bike's riding like a dream. Well, the back of it is....The front just feels that much worse now.

So no surprise, these things are great, Howard was a pleasure to deal with, and I have to start saving up for the FKC-102 fork cartridges.

 

Nice write up on your new shocks....I enjoyed reading it and learned a few things. Good idea with the zip ties .

 

I take no credit for the zip-tie method....That's all Howard.

 

I have his 3-3's, I'm never quite sure how to set things with the zip ties. I mean, there's always something that will bottom the shock, but doesn't seem like I should set them to accommodate 1% of the things I'll encounter. But setting the zip tie then purposely avoiding things doesn't make sense either.



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The way I do it is to make sure the zip-tie doesn't bottom out on "normal" riding. And then there's the "feel". You'll know when it's right, regardless of what the perfect sag is or what the zip-tie is doing.

 

Zip tie is a good tool to better understand what your suspension is doing, or not doing. And, bottoming out, zip tie will be pushed down on top of rubber bumper, from time to time is actually good as full travel is being utilized.

Interested in hearing more about tru-track. On occasion riding sweepers 15-20+ over, the bike feels like its hinged, flexing side to side, a bit. Thought about going cheap with alloy art stabilizer. But, it looks a little light duty to me.

I realize this is the Rushmore forum but the back end is the same on pre-rushmores.

 

I've written about the True-Track elsewhere, but to summarize....

It should have been the first thing I did to the bike. It does for the back end what the larger fork tubes and upper triple tree do for the front end. I still get a loose feeling going over a mid-corner bump (like an expansion joint or frost heave), but it doesn't transition into wobble. All I feel now is the suspension doing it's job; the swingarm doesn't move laterally any more. The "hinge-under-the-seat" feeling is gone.

Lay the bike over in a 90mph sweeper and you have absolute faith in the thing holding its line and slingshotting you through with no drama.

I looked at other brands like the Alloy Art. I didn't like the way they connected (you can't use the midframe heat deflectors with the Alloy Art), and I was concerned about how they were transmitting the forces to what they were attached to. The True-Track is a quality piece that doesn't look or mount like an afterthought.

 

Good write up. I'll look into the true track

 

Thanks!! What you describe is spot on in terms of bike flex and what Im hoping to achieve. Will look for your full review.

 

I'm so pleased with it that I'm going to add their front stabilizer as well once funds permit.