Eric's Gen II Suspension notebook w/ Penske & USD Forks DIY manual!

Just remember to cover the swingarm with a towel or something to protect it durning removal and installation. The paint is really soft and you will scratch it. I was very careful with mine in the end my wedding band put some fine lines in my swingarm.
 
Thanks Aaron. I'd forgotten about the zip tie trick. ;)

Johnny, great advice! I noticed that the Traxxion instructions mentioned the same thing at least three times, either painters tape or towels and a lot of careful movements. :tup:

So, the Traxxion fork tool kit arrived today as well as the Evotech FE kits. I only need the brake fluid now to complete the project. :D
 
FZ1inNH said:
There will be soon! Actually it is quite easy. What did you order? If you ordered the Penske from Traxxion, they give VERY detailed instructions with the shock and it is specific to the bike you ordered it for complete with pictures.
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I ordered the Nitron NTR Sport from UK. Their webshop was broken so I did a mail order with international bank transfer, so now I'm waiting for them to receive my payment and send confirmation. I hope Nitron also has good instructions ..
 
javahaxxor said:
I ordered the Nitron NTR Sport from UK. Their webshop was broken so I did a mail order with international bank transfer, so now I'm waiting for them to receive my payment and send confirmation. I hope Nitron also has good instructions ..
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I'll do my best to document it here. I can take their step-by-step and list them here and use my own photos. Do you have a center stand or, if not, a motorcycle lift?
 
Interesting thread, I just bought and am waiting for my penske to show up. My experience from working with Lee at Traxxion is that he gets suspension components setup at the shop to be pretty close to the average best setting and from there you should only be beeding to make changes for the specific track/surface and temp conditions.
 
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I'm going to, instead of towels, use some wide painter's tape as a base layer then cover that with Duct Tape as the protective layer. Shouldn't take more than 3 or four strips.

It is interesting that you install the shock and everything *must* remain loose until you have the bike off the center stand and on the side stand under its own weight. You ONLY tighten the upper and lower shock bolts to spec when the full weight of the bike is on the shock.

I'll try and document the steps tonight in a Word Doc then note in them when and where to take a picture. I think it is easier to build a DIY manual when you already know when to stop and take pictures.

I'll do the same with the Racetech Spring install but that will have to wait for another weekend.
 
Kevin Daly said:
interesting thread, I just bought and am waiting for my pensketo show up. My experience from working with Lee at Traxxion is that he gets suspension components setup at the shop to be pretty close to the average best setting and from there you should only be beeding to make changes for the specific track/surface and temp conditions.
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Cool, that makes it easier to tune my suspension after fitment :D
 
Kevin Daly said:
Interesting thread, I just bought and am waiting for my penske to show up. My experience from working with Lee at Traxxion is that he gets suspension components setup at the shop to be pretty close to the average best setting and from there you should only be beeding to make changes for the specific track/surface and temp conditions.
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I'm hearing the same... if Lee got accurate information from the buyer about weight and riding style, the shock is pretty much road-ready after install. I've only hear of people making adjustments when going between weekend warrior riding and on the track. :yes: So I will likely only need to dial in the forks once the new springs are in.

The spring install looks to be easy too. It's only a matter of getting the spacer/shims correct. Essentially I will compare the stock spring to the new spring outside of the fork and either cut down the stock spacer if the new one is too long or add their supplied washers if the new one is shorter. Once the length is the same, it is just assemble the whole stack and insure the proper oil level. I now have the spring compressor and retaining clip plus I have the Motion Pro fork oil level tool. Easy? Let's hope so! ;)
 
Penske 8983 Install - Step one

Make sure you have to proper tools on-hand! I would have posted this last night but it was late, it was a LONG day and I was beat. (More to follow but it will be a long write up and lots of photos)

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Ok... really... First steps - OEM Shock removal

Put the bike on the center stand or a lift if you do not have the center stand. A swing-arm stand will not work for this install. Remove the seats. Nice trunk space, eh? (And yes, I KNOW my bike is dirty!!)
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Remove the two triangular side panels. One screw per panel and they pop out of two grommits in the front.
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Cover the swing-arm with a soft cloth. I chose a leather chamois piece.

Remove the screw for the rear brake reservoir and tip it to the outside of the sub-frame.
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Place a 2x4 under the rear wheel.
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Loosen and remove the nuts but DON'T remove the bolts for the top shock mount, bottom shock mount and the rear dogbone link where it bolts to the triangles.
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TO BE CONTINUED.....
 
Remove the lower dogbone bolt first and swing the dogbone out of the way. Remove the lower shock mount bolt and swing the triangles out of the way. The shock is now hanging by the top bolt. Remove the 2x4 and lower the wheel to the ground.
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Wrap the shock with a cloth and while holding it, remove the top bolt. Now you can remove the shock being careful not to hit anything. I found is easier to pull the old shock out through the bottom at this point.
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Here I put the three bolts with their mating nuts from top to bottom. The top bolt is longer than the two bottom bolts which are the same size.
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Installing the new Penske

Wrap a cloth around the shock and another cloth, if you have the remote, around the reservoir. Clip the zip-tie holding the top bushings on the new shock. Tip the shock into the swing-arm making sure the remote reservoir is on the left (clutch-side) of the bike and position to place the top bolt into the mount. Secure this bolt with the nut but do not tighten.
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Clip the bottom zip-tie holding those bushings and position the triangles to place the bottom shock mount bolt. Secure with the nut but do not tighten.
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Lift the swing-arm and place the 2x4 under the tire. Swing the dogbone into the triangle and line up for placement of the remaining bolt. At this point you may need to slowly move the 2x4 until the bolt slides in. It's easy and one person can do this.... trust me. Secure with the nut but do not tighten. You now have all three bolts in place but not tight. We will tighten them later.
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Mount the Z-bracket so that it points forward and angles away from the swingarm. You would be sandwiching this bracket between the sub-frame and the pillion peg bracket. I do not have those mounted so I took my original bolts and simply mounted the bracket to the sub-frame.
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Determine if you will be using the supplied clamps or HEAVY DUTY zip-ties. If using the clamps, place them over the reservoir. I chose to put the clamp screws in the back and facing down for easy access. Move the reservoir into position outside of the Z-bracket and place one of the rubber mounts between the bracket and reservoir. Slide a clamp over and tighten enough to hold. Work the next mount into place and clamp. Tighten both clamps when you are satisfied with their placement. As you can see, there's a lot left over. I opted to cut these off rather than leave them hanging. These clamps are cheap to buy should they have to be removed.
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Now that the reservoir is secured, you can put the bike on the side stand. I sat on the bike and gave a couple bounces to settle all the parts into place. Now tighten to spec all three bolts for the shock and dogbone. Put the rear brake reservoir back in place and secure with the screw. Replace the two side panels(I have not at this point because I was putting on the HEL Brake Lines next). Last, verify sag settings and don't forget to place the Penske adjustment tool into your OEM toolkit bag!!!
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Eric, now that you know how much extra hose clamp you have cut it off to a reasonable length. Then loosen the clamps just enough to remove the reservoir.
Now take some electrical tape and line the inside diameter of the clamps then cover the outside diameter with it. It looks much better and wont scratch the reservoir.

Did you give it a quick spin.
 
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