2005 RIII - Rear shock Spring Dimensions

[spb2002]

Morning all. I'm looking at dropping the height of my rocket about 1-1.5". I bought a Maverick low profile seat, which offers perfect seat height, but hurts like hell after being in the saddle for an hour or so, so no good for me. The alternative is putting the standard seat back on (which for me, is perfectly comfortable for my fat backside!) and dropping the suspension. I have come into poseesion of a spare set of rear shocks, so a cheap option for me to try would be to either A) cut down the springs, or B) buy a set of shorter springs and swap them out. If this works out well, then i'll invest in a decent set of shorter Shocks down the line, but for now this should give me a good idea.

To that end, does anyone have the dimensions of the stock springs, so i can see about ordering shorter ones?

Many thanks!

 

[TURBO200R4]

what type rear tire do you run?

 

[spb2002]

At the moment i have the Metzeler Marathon Ultras .... 240/50

 

[atomsplitter]

The standard shock length is 12.5" for the 05 Standard so you can go up or down one inch without sacrificing rideability. Cutting down a spring to lower a shock's length has some drawbacks, so before you take to hacking the spring down consider the following. Shock travel limits are based on spring length, so if your shock has 4.5" travel you'll reduce that by one inch. Add in that the static sag cannpt be compensated for with preload because of the shorter spring and you'll find you've reduced the available travel to maybe 3" which means you'll bottom the shock early and often over small to medium road imperfections. If you enjoy riding what feels like a hardtail then by all means go for it, otherwise spend the coin to get a properly sized shock with enough stroke length to deal with road conditions and save your spine.

One other note. Putting on shorter shocks will change the trail measuement somewhat so handling, i.e. cornering turn in will be a little slower. Not a huge detriment but something you should be aware of. If you add an inch to the shock the turn in is faster and the bike corners faster for the same reason, trail gets shorter.