8983 penske rear shock install help please

[JS_racer]

hey guys, any tips or advise here installing this shock?? concerns are how and where to mount the reservoir so it doesn't get pinched. any pictures or ideas here would be great.  My second concern is the ride height. some have mentioned that their bike was up to 1/2" taller ?? OK, they will build my shock 1/2" shorter and i can get the height back with the adjustment, just cant make it lower if not ordered that way. Soooo any tips or advise on how to measure the ride height to see where the new one gets me vs the stock one ?? Or just have them set it up say the 1/2" lower when they build it ??

i am purchasing the shock, and doing the install; that will save me $200+. my forks are coming off again, getting disassembled and inspected and the cartridges sent to traxxion to inspect the valving, and revalve like the ak-20. with springs, holders, top out springs,... If anything looks not good, i have no problems tossing the ak-20 in there. (sux cause i did the gold valves last fall, spring recommendation was miles off, seemed it was just lesser degrees of not bad, not greater gains on great)

thanks much for the time,
Joel

[VirginiaJim]

8983?  Nevermind.  It's a Penske...

[JS_racer]

8983?  Nevermind.  It's a Penske...

oops, all better now. 

[VirginiaJim]

Hopefully you'll get some answers.  I did a search and didn't come up with much.  Jeremy has installed one, though.  Maybe he'll chime in as he's started to post again.

[jsa]

hey guys, any tips or advise here installing this shock?? concerns are how and where to mount the reservoir so it doesn't get pinched. any pictures or ideas here would be great.  My second concern is the ride height. some have mentioned that their bike was up to 1/2" taller ?? OK, they will build my shock 1/2" shorter and i can get the height back with the adjustment, just cant make it lower if not ordered that way. Soooo any tips or advise on how to measure the ride height to see where the new one gets me vs the stock one ?? Or just have them set it up say the 1/2" lower when they build it ??

My Penske was exactly the same length as the OEM, there was a slight change in ride height that was either due to the difference in spring weight or a difference in spring preload.  I would not shorten the Penske by 1/2 inch because of the 2.5-2.8 multiplier effect of the linkage, 3-4mm should be sufficient.  The reservoir should be mounted behind the right passenger footpeg bracket, and the hose should be routed over the swingarm bar, the best way to do this is to rotate the 45 degree hose connecter to about the 11 o'clock position.

You are going to enjoy the Penske!

[JS_racer]

thanks much, was the ride height noticeable ?? i'm not a flat foot guy.
any pictures of the install, like the reservoir mounting or routing ??

Joel

[jsa]

thanks much, was the ride height noticeable ?? i'm not a flat foot guy.
any pictures of the install, like the reservoir mounting or routing ??

It was noticeable enough that I noticed it and raised the height of the forks to compensate.  That left me with a seat height that was higher than stock but I could still easily flat foot so it wasn't a problem.  I did have a bit of lowering ride height available on the Penske and later on I used it and lowered the forks accordingly which was pretty close to the OEM seat height.  After trying both settings, I went back to the higher seat height, it just felt more comfortable.

Another option to lower the seat height would be to reduce the built in preload.  The Penske comes with about 10mm of preload, you could reduce that as much as 5mm which would lower the seat by about 12-14mm....which is what I would do rather than having the shock shorter than stock.

If you want install pictures, send me an email address, my photo bucket account is being very stubborn.

[JS_racer]

JSA, sounds like yours was cranked up out of the box for the ride height. Dan at traxxion recommended the 1/2" lower shock for me, this way if the ride height is cranked up, its back to stock height. IF  it needs to be lower, i can crank it down some. if it was stock, than the only way to go is up. (adjustment is 1/2)  made sense to me, so 1/2" lower it is. order placed just now. Also he was going to check with penske about install tips and where and how to mount the reservoir.

hope this all works out this time, lol 

Joel