Shock upgrade. Bergman 650 shocks

[socalsurfrat]

So we were cleaning the garage up and my roommate has alot of old scooter parts. In one if the drawers we found a part of stock Bergman shocks that seem to fit on the p250.
So this weekend I'm going to replace my bouncey, squeaky rear shocks.
Also I'm going to replace the corroded chrome mirrors with some black plastic ones.

[TLRam1]

Keep us updated how that works.

[socalsurfrat]

update on the mirrors.  So turns out the mirrors has a 10mm threaded head instead of a 9mm threaded head like the stock mirrors, no worries.  I took the stay off which has a 10mm thread into the brake reservoirs.  Only problem with that is that both mirrors don't have the threaded nut to lock it the right position.  the left worked fine but the right didn't, so I'm going to get a 10mm nut after work. 

Shocks I'll do this weekend and take some pictures for anyone looking to replace them in the future. 

[zombie]

You can also buy a 3 dollar tap, and cut new threads in the existing mounts.

[socalsurfrat]

So with the mirror I ended up buying an m10x1.25 nylon nut which worked great.

Update on the shocks. So getting to them takes a good amount of disassembly. You almost have to take the exhaust off. After getting the old shocks off I found out the Bergman shocks bottom mounts are barely too narrow to fit around the bearing. So tonight or in the morning I'm going to grind down the inside of the mount so it will fit. It's so close. Otherwise they fit great and are alot easier to adjust than the stock kymco. I took some photos and I'll post all of them with a walk through once I'm done. Since it's all pulled apart I'm going to degreaser and clean all engine and mount points. Put my battery tender attachment on. Replace the air filter with a new uni or kn material. I was thinking about cutting out the stock material and gluing the new material, any thoughts on this plan?

[zombie]

Are the shocks the same length? That amazes me that a 250, and a 650 would be the same rear travel.
Perhaps it is made up for in stiffness.
 It should feel like a whole different bike

If you find the front too soft now they make heavier fork oils that will stiffen that up, and slow rebound/ compression cycles.

[socalsurfrat]

So sadly I ran into a problem with fit that stopped me dead in my tracks this morning. 
There were 2 problems with fit. 
1. The forked end at the bottom was about 1/8 narrowing on the bergman shocks than the People.  The bearing that the bolt goes through sticks out either side about 1/16-1/8. so I was grinding down the inside of the forks on the shocks to make them fit.  Solve this problem.
2. This is the show stopper.  On the right side the swing arm is a V shape and the forked mount was touching the swing on way before it would get in line both mount points.  I could grind down the swing arm a bit, but thats a bit overkill and not worth it. 
I took some photos of the bike torn apart the shocks and the modifications I did to them. 

Stock shocks



Here you can see how the bergman shock fit with the bike on the center stand.  Once its off the center stand the frame falls a good 4-5 inches and it would mount no problem it seemed.


Here you can see what you need to take off to get to the shocks.  So the seat and all the fairs around it.  License plate and the bolts under neath that hold the seat and fairings to the bike.  3 bolts off the exhaust so you can get to the bottom bolt on the right shock.  Floor board bolts and screws to pop the tabs off the seat fairs.



Here you can see what stopped me.  That silver mark is where the shock is hitting.



Here you can see how much I had to grind down to get the shock over the mount point on the bottom.



nice shiny bergman shock that is going back into storage

[zombie]

Sucks... Sorry to hear it failed.

[socalsurfrat]

Yeah me too, but I cleaned up the stock shocks and lubed them up.  Hopefully the squeak is gone.  Won't know till tomorrow when its back together and not raining. 

[de dee]

  do you have room to take 1 " off of the skirt of the shock, so it would not hit the bracket,  and re stamp the # on the shock, 

[zombie]

Good Call Dee Dee!

A dremel would do it.

[socalsurfrat]

  do you have room to take 1 " off of the skirt of the shock, so it would not hit the bracket,  and re stamp the # on the shock,

Here is the part that is hitting the swing arm. 

[zombie]

Either make a spacer to raise it (aluminium stock) or file out the swing arm.

No fear brotherI built a spacer for the ZX. It took all of 1/2 hour.

[socalsurfrat]

Spacer sounds interesting. Can you send me a picture that's a little easier to see how the Spacer will work?

[zombie]

I don't have a working digital camera ATM.

I'll make a quick CAD...
It's just a rectangular bar of aluminium, cut to length, and then drilled out, and hollowed where needed For ease of working I just turned the bottom shock mount 90*. This keeps it locked in place so it does not "Pivot".

Onlinemetals,com   http://www.onlinemetals.com/  is a great source or any junkyard will have something you can cut out of a bigger piece.
I used a 6" x 3" x 1/2" piece from an aluminium "I" beam, It took a  battery jig saw to cut it out, and an orbital sander to clean it up. 1/2 hr from start to riding.

Ps... Your computer should have a magnifier... All windows after XP has it. It's just buried in the OS. Use search or Google it http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-xp/help/turn-on-magnifier

If you find the feature you will be able to see the one in my picture.