[92K1500]

Okay, I've been sitting here blankly staring at a picture of my XX because I'm bored out of my mind at work and I've noticed the rear shocks are on a much flatter angle than the front shocks.

So it got me to thinking why would they angle them so differently?

Does it help with stability or turning or what?

Hopefully someone on here understands suspension better than I do. (Don't know squat)

 

[OHV Wildcat]

I've always wondered that, too. Hurry, someone pretend to be smart, and we'll see if you can convince us of whatever you make up!

 

[D Bergstrom]

Why did Honda do it? My guess would be for space reasons more then anything else. Place the shock more upright, and they upper mounts would be higher, thus raising the seat height. I know you actually want the shocks more upright as they work better. (I kind of understand why this is, but I can’t really explain it.)

I know when I first dropped my 700XX of to Ed Teixeira; he actually wanted to change the upper mount for his rear a-arms to make the shocks more upright, better suspension performance was the reason. (He would be the one you want to ask about this.) He ended up not doing it, I think the exhaust was in the way then you would also have to have customers redrill their frame for the new shock mounts, not something everyone would feel comfortable with. (Especially since they new holes would have to be drilled with precision.) I think after he started working with the stock upper mounts, he determined that everything would work out good anyway. Yes, it would be better to have them more upright, but when all is said and done, most people wouldn’t have noticed the difference, especially with a good shock setup.

Next time you talk to Ed, I am sure he can go into more detail. Above is just what I remember in my conversations with him, but that was a while ago. Ed has probably forgotten more about suspension then I will ever know!

Doug

 

[DL700]

the reason to run a shock in the upright position is to make the shock work thru its travel, the more laid back a shock is the less it will travel compared to wheel travel...

 

[EEHonda]

Okay, I've been sitting here blankly staring at a picture of my XX because I'm bored out of my mind at work and I've noticed the rear shocks are on a much flatter angle than the front shocks.

So it got me to thinking why would they angle them so differently?

Does it help with stability or turning or what?

Hopefully someone on here understands suspension better than I do. (Don't know squat)

More wheel travel for the shock length like he said and less stress on the A-arm at the shock connection point. Leverage is moved out toward the tire. You end up with more force at the frame, but that is a much stronger connection transferring the force to 4 joints.

 

[92K1500]

Ah.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[OHV Wildcat]

More wheel travel for the shock length like he said and less stress on the A-arm at the shock connection point. Leverage is moved out toward the tire. You end up with more force at the frame, but that is a much stronger connection transferring the force to 4 joints.

But still, you'd have far less stress on the shock connection point of the a-arm if you had the shocks mounted vertically as far out as you could get them. But then you have to add mounting points to the frame to support that, and use much longer (but more lightly sprung) shocks.

 

[EEHonda]

But still, you'd have far less stress on the shock connection point of the a-arm if you had the shocks mounted vertically as far out as you could get them. But then you have to add mounting points to the frame to support that, and use much longer (but more lightly sprung) shocks.

Yes, I agree. The farther out you get on the arm and the more perpindicular the shock gets with the a-arm the force that the bottom shock mount sees would be less. You would need a really wide frame on the XX, and it would have to be pretty beefy on the top mounts.

 

[Baxter]

Why did Honda do it? My guess would be for space reasons more then anything else. Place the shock more upright, and they upper mounts would be higher, thus raising the seat height. I know you actually want the shocks more upright as they work better. (I kind of understand why this is, but I can’t really explain it.)

I know when I first dropped my 700XX of to Ed Teixeira; he actually wanted to change the upper mount for his rear a-arms to make the shocks more upright, better suspension performance was the reason. (He would be the one you want to ask about this.) He ended up not doing it, I think the exhaust was in the way then you would also have to have customers redrill their frame for the new shock mounts, not something everyone would feel comfortable with. (Especially since they new holes would have to be drilled with precision.) I think after he started working with the stock upper mounts, he determined that everything would work out good anyway. Yes, it would be better to have them more upright, but when all is said and done, most people wouldn’t have noticed the difference, especially with a good shock setup.

Next time you talk to Ed, I am sure he can go into more detail. Above is just what I remember in my conversations with him, but that was a while ago. Ed has probably forgotten more about suspension then I will ever know!

Doug

This has got me curious and an idea.

 

[92K1500]

This has got me curious and an idea.

Uh oh. Should I even ask?

 

[Baxter]

Uh oh. Should I even ask?

Its something I thought about abit back with the TT-Rexx , just incase the speedracers were not suitiable and had to run 20" Klaws. I would have to run shorter rear shocks and was looking at the stock 450r rear shock. This alot shorter than the stock rear xx shock and was thinking about building a billet ali mount ,that would bolt into the xx frame and move the top shock mount underneath the exhaust. The problem I had is the lower mounting on the a-arms needs moving in to stop the spring hitting the upper a-arm.
Thats as far as I got !