RZ/RD 350 & Misc. 2-Stroke Tech BBS

RuZty wrote:

Darrell wrote:....... Did you have to do any shimming or bushing with the 10 mm bolt to mate properly with the frame?

Sounds like you already know the answer. Once again, all of these pics are in my build thread, toward the end. Hate to keep double posting.

Nice work! I don't have the tools (or skills) to fabricate parts like that, but perhaps some 12 mm OD x 10 mm ID bushing material can be made to work.

Boring the existing bushings of the R1 shock isn't going to work. I measured the total thickness of the bushings at the o-ring groove at 11.5 mm. So boring to 12 mm will remove the material inboard of the o-ring grooves. That might work, leaving a gap inside the shock's bearing, but I'll leave that to someone else to try first. And here I thought this was a "bolt on" alteration. Hah!

Thanks to Smoker for showing the way on the top of the shock. I've ordered some 14 mm bronze bushing material with a 10 mm bore. I'll turn that down to 12 mm through the frame and over the 10 mm bolt. I'll do it slightly differently than Smoker did, one flanged bushing on each side of the shock.
I also threaded the bolt portion of the lower eye up just a bit further, and cut away a little bit of alloy to allow the eyelet to screw in a few millimeters deeper. I tried to cut just enough so that the eyelet would jamb against the lower shock body in alignment with the top eyelet, but failed to get that right. So I'm thinking one or two copper crush washers between the shock body and the eyelet should bring it into pretty close alignment and still provide for jam.
I don't want to take the old shock out until Toomey sends my new pipes (waiting about five weeks so far) and I'll turn the new bushings at that time.

tacky1 wrote:

RuZty wrote:What does this entire page have to do with a 2015 R1 shock install?

Nothing...

Just a little bit of fun...

On a side note, Is it not a lot easier to just pop in an R6 shock, It practically fits with just a few mods, No welding etc etc etc.

Doesn't the R6 shock require mods to the frame?

I have a lathe and mill in m garage so mods to small parts are no problem for me.

The frame mods are minor, and a little bit of filing on the shock body might even negate the need. Worth checking before cutting.

The R6 shock is a skosh bit longer than stock. I guess a lot of guys are happy with the taller rear end and the resulting shorter trail, but I think the ol' RZ already turns pretty well. My R1 shock is ready to install, but I'm waiting until a set of Toomey pipes arrive, assuming that they will someday. I'm getting the old two-week-out runaround. I'm a patient guy, and would have been cool with them telling me that the wait was going to be two months, but I hate to be lied to. The R1 shock will be a few millimeters taller, and not being Rossi or Marquez, I probably won't notice that difference. It's also valved for a heavier bike, but I try to make up for that by eating a lot. I have an R6 shock on the shelf next to the R1 shock, so I can always go that route if the R1 shock doesn't work out as I want.
Prime riding weather here in NW Washington is going to be gone in three weeks or so, and I'd really like to get the pipes and shock installed. I plan to take the bike to a dyno and have it checked with the stock pipes, the Toomey's, and a set of Spec II's, not that that has anything to do with this string.
Hooligan, I have a small lathe / mill, too, but mostly I make scrap metal with it.

Hooligan wrote:

tacky1 wrote:

RuZty wrote:What does this entire page have to do with a 2015 R1 shock install?

Nothing...

Just a little bit of fun...

On a side note, Is it not a lot easier to just pop in an R6 shock, It practically fits with just a few mods, No welding etc etc etc.

Doesn't the R6 shock require mods to the frame?

I have a lathe and mill in m garage so mods to small parts are no problem for me.

I spent more time cutting the chain guard then the frame, also the rear fender.

Darrell,
Thank you for picking this up for me. I am stalled out on this project bike at the moment. I was waiting on Race Tech to come up with a GV kit for this shock so I could have the shock internally shortened at the same time they installed gold valves. Good engineering!
Since this post in 2016 I have been busy restoring my 1986 VFR700F2 and in 2017 I modernized it with Cbr600F2 wheels/Metzler M7's, Superhawk front forks, and CBR600f4 calipers, rear shock built for this bike. It went together like it was made to go together too. Now 3/30/18 a new 2016 Yamaha R1 rolled into the garage to match this bike. Gone riding!! Fast Eddie

If you shorten the eyelet at the bottom as far as it will go stock, is that enough to get close to stock shock height?

savethe2strokes wrote: ↑Sun Mar 08, 2020 1:27 pm If you shorten the eyelet at the bottom as far as it will go stock, is that enough to get close to stock shock height?

Smoker wrote: ↑Sat Nov 04, 2017 6:11 am Here's where I'm at with the R1 shock.

Cleaned up the shock and eye threads. Cut down the eye length to screw all the way to the end of the threads (with the lock nut on). Still too long.

Cut down the shock 4mm. Still plenty of threads. Got rid of the locknut and cut down the eye until it bottoms against the shock, close to the end of the threads (with the same orientation as the upper eye). Will locktite after fitting. Eye-to-eye measurement now 300mm.

Will see how it fits soon. Not sure whether to modify the shock eyes to fit the OEM hardware, or make new hardware. Whatever's easier for sure.

He modified the shock bottom. I was curious if you didn't shave off the 4 MM off the bottom would that be an issue? I don't have machine tools and would need to have someone do this for me.

savethe2strokes wrote: ↑Sun Mar 08, 2020 9:46 pm He modified the shock bottom. I was curious if you didn't shave off the 4 MM off the bottom would that be an issue? I don't have machine tools and would need to have someone do this for me.

He is me.

My guess is that the shock would be 4mm longer.

I also don't have machine tools. Will take some good work to shave down the eye bolt to the perfect length without machine tools (so that the top and bottom shock eyes line up when fully tight).

I don't remember what it cost to cut the shock bottom and the eye bolt, and cut the 2 spacers for the top, but it wasn't expensive. Would have been cheaper if I didn't use titanium for the spacers.

I re-read this entire thread. What bushings should be used for the top of the shock? I'm looking to do this swap on my RZ350 sooner than later. My RZ350 has FZR600 suspension , but the stock rear shock. I'm trying to get something that will improve the overall ride of the bike.

Replace the bushings, cut some amount off the eyelet, use copper washers for a tight fit on the eyelet, then install into the bike. Rear mudguard will need to be cut to accomdate the rear reservior.

Does this all sound correct?

For the top mount it isn't recommended bore out the bushing due to the material being too thin. Has anyone used the smaller bolt, but used bushing to shim it in the stock location?

I wanted to do the R1 shock conversion on my latest project without cutting or compromising the shock and losing it's adjustment capabilities. You can do this by fitting longer tie rods. A few years ago I built some 1 inch longer tie rods to lower the rear end of a modified land speed bike I ran at Bonneville. I found the tire hit the fender going over bumps so the bike was converted to rigid rear end and the tie rods went in the parts bin.

Initial mock up of the frame with the stock shock, end of the swing arm measures 18 1/2 inches to the bottom end of the rear seat tube. The top of the R1 shock needs about 3mm sanded off the end to clear the upper mount properly. With the R1 shock in place the seat height changes to 22 1/2 inches, so the seat gets jacked up 4 inches! Swapping out the tie rods for the 1 inch longer rods gets the length back down to 18 3/8" and I can adjust out the missing 1/8th inch with the unmodified shock adjuster. This will restore the bike to original ride height. Yay!

The bike is currently being built so no road trials yet, so I have no idea at the moment how the longer rods will affect the handling, spring rates etc. but I think this may prove to be a much better and safer option than cutting up the lower end of the shock and the heim joint and removing any adjustability.

To build the longer tie rods you need get an extra set of sacrificial rods. It's best to Arc weld these . Grind a nice Vee on the joint halves so you get good penetration. I built a short set with the left over pieces and gave them the 10 lb sledgehammer test to try and break them. Couldn't even bend them!

Hope this helps you guys considering this conversion.