RE: Castellated shock collar preload adjustment

My KX250 had the dual castelated aluminum collars for shock adjustment
preload. A word to the wise: banging on such collars with a hammer and
punch while there is spring tension on them really messes them up
quickly.

A better approach is to take a pair of spring compressors and compress
the spring first. Then the collars can be adjusted by hand. I'm not
sure if there's enough room to get at a shock on a VFR with spring
compressors, but if possible it's a much better tactic (if you can't use
a spanner).


HTH,
Jake


-----Original Message-----

Have to disagree with Chris here. I have a Penske with the Traxxion
adjustment collar on my 3rd Gen.

Here's how it works:

Unlike some others, the Penske shock has a preload adjustment collar
that
is actuated by inserting a steel rod which comes with the shock (about
3/16"
dia. x 6" L) into holes located around the collar's periphery. Some
others
have a castlelated collar that is actuated by a hook spanner. Worse
yet,
some others (Fox?) have two castlelated collars that are intended to
jam
to lock the collars in place (never understood the need for this).

On the VFR, there are two ways to adjust the castlelated style collar.
The first is to remove the battery box with all that implies. Not very
appealing when you consider that initially setting the sag might take a
few
turning sessions. The second, and hamfisted option, is to use a large
punch
or screw driver and bang away though the small side port in the frame
where
the old Showa worm screw adjuster used to reside. Also not particulary
appealing when you consider that the collar is aluminum alloy on a shock
that you just paid $800 for (actually a little less for an 8981).

The Traxxion collar functions just like the original Penske item but has
twice as many holes around the periphery. Having the additional holes
allows adjustment in smaller increments. One can insert the rod into
the
collar through the side port in the frame and get enough swing to bring
the
next adjustment hole into reach of the rod. With the original collar
you
couldn't bring the collar around far enough to get the rod into the next
hole.

Yes, it's somewhat tedious but not nearly as much as removing the
battery
box. And once you have your sag set it only takes a few holes worth of
adjustment if you want to compensate for a pillion or other heavy load.

In the interest of full disclosure, this description applies to the 3rd
gen.
Also, I trimed about 1/4 inch off the end of the adjustment rod so that
it
would actually clear the inside edge of the access port to allow for a
little more swing. Not necessary but made things even easier.
On the 4th gen YMMV. But I think the access port is a similar size.

I've enjoyed the Penske so much that I was motivated to do an F3 fork
internals transplant and install new tapered roller steering head
bearings.
Sweet.

Traxxion are great to deal with. No affiliation, etc.

HTH.

Richard Ronay



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On Tuesday 5Dec, 2006, at 9:18 AM, Jake Harsha wrote:

> My KX250 had the dual castelated aluminum collars for shock adjustment
> preload. A word to the wise: banging on such collars with a hammer
> and
> punch while there is spring tension on them really messes them up
> quickly.
>
Traxxion sells a torrington bearing kit for this. It's a steel washer
and a roller bearing (rollers arrayed radially). The bearing goes
under their shim, with the spring on top of it. It's supposed to make
things easier to spin. Whether that's a good thing, in the absence of
a lock-nut, I really don't know.
> A better approach is to take a pair of spring compressors and compress
> the spring first. Then the collars can be adjusted by hand. I'm not
> sure if there's enough room to get at a shock on a VFR with spring
> compressors, but if possible it's a much better tactic (if you
> can't use
> a spanner).

I don't see spring compressors being an option unless you pull
everything out of the way (battery, batt. box, rear wheel, etc.). At
that point, I just wouldn't be adjusting the spring.

later,
johnj


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John Johnson wrote:

> Traxxion sells a torrington bearing kit for this. It's a steel washer
> and a roller bearing (rollers arrayed radially). The bearing goes
> under their shim, with the spring on top of it. It's supposed to make
> things easier to spin. Whether that's a good thing, in the absence of
> a lock-nut, I really don't know.


________________________

Mine came with the bearing set-up. No special order required. It's
actually the needle bearing sandwiched between two flat races (shims). The
whole thing then rests between the collar and top of the spring. It still
needs some force to turn once the load starts rising. Doesn't seem to be
any danger of unwinding on its own.


Richard Ronay


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