SOHC.co.uk Forums > CB500/550

Might need to adjust the 500 rear dampers - not sure what to do?

<< < (2/3) > >>

taysidedragon:
Ted, the term "preload" on bike suspension is a bit of a misnomer. Increasing the preload doesn't "harden" the springs, it just lifts the bike up a set amount to put the suspension travel in a better position for the combined weight of bike and rider. That's why you increase preload when carrying a passenger.

The spring rate is set at manufacture. Different spring rates are available from specialists.

These old bikes have fairly simple suspension and damping systems, they're not as good as modern bikes at coping with bumps and potholes. A new pair of decent shocks is the only way to tell if your old ones are worn unless you got them tested by a specialist. That would probably cost as much as a new pair! 😲

Murf:
As said I would expect original dampers to be pretty basic even when new and the years won’t have helped them. You should have compression and rebound damping but I can’t imagine there was ever a lot of compression damping. If you want a good ride then some new aftermarket units are the way to go. If you want originality then it’s a case of a poorer ride, we have this problem on the CBX Z twin shocks. I haven’t got to this point on my 550 rebuild but maybe some Hagon shocks can be disguised quite well to look like the originals. I’m sure someone on the site knows the best way to go.

For the front forks you can mess around with oil weight, I imagine ATF was specified as standard which is appropriately 5 to 10 weight  I think. With fork oil you can mix the weights to give a custom weight eg add some 15 to 10  to give 12 etc.  10 weight is a good starting point for the road.  All that said, with the crap roads we have even my modern bike can feel rough at times. Sad to say the roads were a lot better when the 500/550 first turned their wheels on them.

McCabe-Thiele (Ted):
Presumably if I adjust the rear dampers that will lift the rear wheel a tad. Certainly worth a try as there was a fair bit of shock absorber damping mostly one way only as usual with older damper designs. Iirc there was little resistance when pulling upwards but a fair bit when pressing back down. (might have been the opposite) I assume like most old designs they were not two way - if they were two way mine are goosed.

Bryanj:
Wont lift the wheel Ted, just make the shokers harder to push down

McCabe-Thiele (Ted):

--- Quote from: Bryanj on September 19, 2024, 03:46:24 PM ---Wont lift the wheel Ted, just make the shokers harder to push down

--- End quote ---

So it's not like pre-loading at the front, I wondered if the spring tension would push the damper unit down so the swing arm was lower creating a slight increase in ride height. TBH the rear dampers seemed pretty good to me, I'll see if I get used to how it rides our local poor road surfaces.

At a glance it looks as if the exhaust will have to come off to get the bottom bolts out or is there a trick to make it simpler if I do replace them next year?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page