K-Pipe 125 Rear Monotube Length?

[HappyTimes]

Hello everyone,

I apologize if this is the wrong section but I could not find a K-Pipe subcategory.

I recently found a great deal on an old, downed K-Pipe but I noticed that the rear monotube shock had been removed and replaced with a piece of conduit pipe. I made the purchase regardless as the price was too good to pass up especially for what I plan to do with the bike.

I'm looking to replace it with a monotube that may not necessarily be marketed for the K-Pipe. My question is, what is the length of the stock monotube eye to eye? I cannot seem to find this information anywhere, all I can find is the travel. I have the cyclepedia manual. The conduit "eye to eye" measures around 7.5 inches but I'm not sure if it was measured to match the shock.

Can somebody with a K-pipe please measure the length of their rear shock for me? Just a rough measure is fine no need to be precise. Thank you all in advance.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Hello HappyT,

Welcome to the forum!
Someone will be along to answer your question, soon we hope.
That has got to be the strangest modification I've ever seen - a "solid" shock!

Again welcome to the forum.

Stig

[HappyTimes]

Hello Stig,

Thank you for the warm welcome. It is quite the mod indeed and is great if you've ever felt your back was too healthy.

Based on the angles I've seen on many stock photos of the bike I can tell that the current ~7.5" is way too short and I'm thinking I'll go with a 250ish mm shock designed for a bit pike and see how that feels.

[HappyTimes]

Well it looks like I wasn't searching hard enough because I found the length, an OEM part at an online store measures "axle to axle" which I assume means eye to eye at 200mm.


Edit:

Ordered a 240mm Ohlins clone from ebay, will update thread once I get it installed in case anyone is interested in the future.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Well it looks like I wasn't searching hard enough because I found the length, an OEM part at an online store measures "axle to axle" which I assume means eye to eye at 200mm.


Edit:

Ordered a 240mm Ohlins clone from ebay, will update thread once I get it installed in case anyone is interested in the future.

Yes, please do.

Thanks,
Stig

[randyo]

following

I need a heavier shock spring and fork springs on my k-pipe, at 285 (over 300 geared up) I'm a bit overweight

[HappyTimes]

Quick update:

Got the shock installed. Took about 10 minutes as expected. Fit is almost perfect, only thing is part of the plastic that hangs off under the seat needed to be trimmed, maybe about a 1"x1" square of plastic so the adjustment knob will fit. I just used wire cutters as it was thin enough, not really a big deal IMO. Makes the ride so much more pleasant, so soft. People on some other mini bike forums said the shock is stiff out of the box but I didn't notice, then again I've gotten accustomed to the metal rod.

Only issue is it raised the seat up, a lot, much more than expected. The shock is only ~1.6 inches longer than stock but it feels like the seat is went up much higher. It's feels almost as tall as my DRZ400 believe it or not..

Not much of an issue for me but I like letting my non rider friends mess around on it and the height will likely be an problem for them.

Also another issue I completely failed to consider, the kick stand is no longer able to support the bike on its own due to its length. Currently resting on some old textbooks but I'll get that taken care of within the week likely, just need to figure out the best solution.

Conclusion: I'm thinking about either keeping the shock and getting another short shock for friends since it only takes a few to swap, or maybe returning and getting something closer to ~220mm.


Sorry about the picture quality, I'll take some better ones in the sun once I get the kickstand fixed.