my cat's shocks have always concerned me because the spring rubs on the shock body causing the paint to wear away and rust to develop. can i fashion another set of shocks onto the cat in place of the stock shocks. maybe something like what would fit on a jeep or a truck. that would change the handling characteristics but i'm a big dude and i don't think that would be all bad. or, perhaps, is there a way to repair the condition making the springs rub.

any help or destructive/constructive critcism would be greatly appreciated.

by the way it has been almost a week since i quit dipping tobacco and i am still tobacco free although my fuse has gotten shorter and easier to light.

texascat

 

TexasCat-
I wish you the best with eliminating your chewing habit-if you seriously want to quit that is. My good buddy up in Pullman had chewed since he was 10 years old or something, now 21, and decided to quit about a month or so before we got out of school up at WSU. He asked for my help, so I gave it as best I could. I tell you what though, man that kid sure turned into one cranky, grumpy, awrnary old cuss-like somebody threw a couple wildcats in his britches or something. Wasn't sure if I wanted to put up with his crap and tolerate it, or just knock him the hell out, as he was much nicer when asleep! heh heh heh. Anyway, Best of luck with that, and remember, go easy on your old lady, make sure you don't unknowingly take anything out on her by accident. Hell, maybe even take her out to dinner or get her some flowers just for the hell of it as a "just in case I do something bad" type thing ya know-she'll appreciate the gesture. After a week already, lord knows you're probably getting a little cranky yourself! heh heh heh just kidding man! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

As for the shocks, is it about midway up on the main tube? I had a little of that before adding my spacers. Near as I can figure, it was from the weight I carry all the time, compressing the springs, bending them in towards the shock itself. Adding the spacers has helped a lot, they don't do it anymore. One thing you might try though just in case, you know that little plastic "spacer" of sorts that goes between the shock and the spring-it sets on the bottom plate, keeps the spring at an equal distance away from the shock, keeps anything from moving around down there. It looks like just a piece of grey pvc pipe. Anyway, it is designed there to keep the spring and shock in the right position. I wonder if it might help to just remove that piece all together, and replace it with a longer section, like maybe a 6" long piece of the same stuff? That way, it would keep the spring away from the shock, and when compressed under weight, the spring would hit the plastic, instead of your shock, thus no wear on the metal, and no rust. It's just an idea, I don't know if it would work or not.

To date, I don't know of any aftermarket shocks or stiffer springs available for the 'Cats yet. They've got them for Polaris and I think Honda, but not AC to my knowledge, but hopefully they'll come out with them sometime. I think the new adjustable shocks on the '02 'Cats are definately a step in the right direction, and I wonder if they might not fit as "replacements" on the '00 or '01 models. Though, with the different suspension design, they may not.

Anyway, best of luck with that, and especially your other deal there, you'll pull through no problems at all, I have faith! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

Take it easy Man,

Mike

 

That's a pretty good idea about that plastic thingy to prevent rubbing the shocks. I was thinking more along the lines of some really large shrink tubing to cover the shock with.

For your other question, I'm wondering if the rear shocks off of a Suzuki 500 wouldn't fit an AC. they both have the same basic suspension. The Suzuki's shocks are adjustable also. You might lose a little shock travel is the only down side I can see. I have a friend who has a 500 quadmaster and I think I'll check out his rear shock lengths next time I'm over to his place.

 

cowboy,

yes the wear is about half way up the shock body. how do i go about changin' that plastic spacer??

thanks for your help.

texascat

 

I have the same problem Texascat. I just rotated the spring a bit by hand to gain some clearance. Just bring your tools this weekend and we'll fix it. Right now I've got 4 of us going camping/riding Saturday night. I'll post more tomorrow.

 

Cowboy,

You are starting to scare me with you thinking exactly what I was. I was fixing to post that before I read your post.

Anyway, To change the grey spacer you have to follow these steps:
1. Jack up the bike.
2. remove the shocks (17mm and 14 mm I think)
3. Compress the spring and remove the retainer at the top of the spring.
4. remove the greg spacer and replace it with a taller one (probaly 1.5" DWV PVC water/sewer pipe will work).
5. replace spring, compressing it so you can reinstall the retainer
6. bolt shocks back on
7. let the bike down off the jacks.

Tips:
While it's apart you might want to add Cowboy's "spring spacer lift" buy putting the greg spacer under the washer (instead of over it). This will REALY increase the spring rate-- so you might want to trim it down. Once you do this you can't compress the spring by hand so refer to my other tip.

IF you have a military style pintle hitch trailer you can place the shock inside of the round part that is on the trailer and let the tounge down. This will compress the spring and allow you to remove the retainer. It takes a little time, but alot easier than doign it by hand and with spring spacers you pretty much can't do it by hand.

 

Thanks Minehunter!

Boner-Just goes to show you Great Minds Think Alike!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]
-oh, it IS possible to compress the spring with the 1/2" spacer by hand-I had to do it myself the first time that way. A word of warning though-DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME! I about busted a... well, you fill in the blank! heh heh heh- something about a male organ??? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

Well, lets just say it was a real bear to get on. Boner's got a few really handy little ingenious tricks there for compressing springs-though if you don't have that stuff at your place, I'm sure you good ole Texans can come up with some pretty great ideas too!

Anyway, Best of Luck with a cure for that-hope it works out, and have a great camping trip!

Mike