Shock swap

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Big_AL · #1 Post by **Big_AL** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:11 pm

Why is it the simply jobs always turn into a nightmare?

Today I finally got round to the task of fitting the yellow spring sachs mille shock and linkage i purchased on e bay. All was going well until i thought I'll re grease the bearings in the new dogbones only to find one was complety seized

rusted solid. managed to get it apart to find it unservicable

so I thought bugger it and fitted the mille shock with the mille linkage but using the Falco dogbone instead which is a bit shorter than the mille one. Anyways, it all fitted together okay although the ride height is now raised at the rear and has made the bike lean at a scarey angle when on the side stand.

Took the bike for a very quick test ride to make sure everything was okay and although I've not had a chance to set the bike up (there's virtually no static sag and i've no idea how the previous owner has set the damping) but I found it rode ok, a lot more sporty feeling and the turn in is so much better thanks to the increased ride height. I reckon after a bit of tweeking it's going to be a substantial improvement over the stock blue falco shock. No more squatting on acceleration etc. I'll have to find a mille manual and find out the factory settings for the shock as i think it's a bit over damped at the mo.

Next job is to sort out the side stand issue then i'll be laughing.......

Falco9 · #2 Post by **Falco9** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:15 am

Hi Al,

I think the reason you now have little or no sag is that you have now dramatically altered the geometry of the suspension unit as a whole.

By switching to the Falco dog bone the shock is now using a different stroke ratio to the one it was designed for.

This may be a good thing or a bad thing depending upon whether you can actually get enough preload adjustment on the shock to set your static sag (this is also probably why the shock feels overdamped as it isn't able to use all of it's stroke)

Also check that the dogbone isn't going to get caught by the base of the shock, which I know sounds unlikley given that you have little or no sag

If you cannot get any static sag then the this set up will never work I'm afraid. (IMHO) However if you get a std Mille dogbone you can get the extra ride height by lenghtening the Mille shock with the built in ride height adjuster

F9

Big_AL · #3 Post by **Big_AL** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:05 pm

Anyone know where I can get a new dogbone from? Or maybe I could somehow remove the bearings from the falco bone to the mille one? The preload is set about halfway at the mo so I might be able to slacken it off to get enough sag? What a pain in the bum....

Fausto · #4 Post by **Fausto** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 3:34 pm

It'd be a nightmare trying to remove the bearings from the good dogbone in one piece. Why not just replace the damaged ones in the linkage you want to use (Mille ?)

Or ring round for prices for a new one - the Yorkshire Aprilia site seems to imply you get all the bearings included with a new one so it may not be so expensive.

Falco9 · #5 Post by **Falco9** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:04 pm

Big_AL wrote:Anyone know where I can get a new dogbone from? Or maybe I could somehow remove the bearings from the falco bone to the mille one? The preload is set about halfway at the mo so I might be able to slacken it off to get enough sag? What a pain in the bum....

I'd try a few breakers, and there is always a number of people on ebay who are breaking complete bikes. Just makes sure the dogbone is from the same year as your yellow shock, they changed the mille in 2004 but the yellow shock is still constant in appearance and probably will be right up to the end of production of the current Mille & Tuono (early 2009) although they could actually be the same part. Worth checking the Yorkshire Aprilia site to get the part No

I'd be tempted to stick the entire end of the seized dogbone in a jam jar half full of light machine oil for a few days (or any light oil, even cooking oil has worked for me), you'd be amazed at how a little time can help free up parts like these,also if you can heat the oil a little (airing cuboard maybe) this will penetrate a bit deeper and make the job easier.

F9

Big_AL · #6 Post by **Big_AL** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:02 pm

I might try the jam jar trick, but i've already soaked it in wd40 and nothing. It's very badly rusted, can't even see the individual rollers inside

Is there any reason I can just use the Falco triangles with the falco dogbone and the new shock?

Aladinsaneuk · #7 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:28 pm

different size of triangles iirc

they work with the mille white shock only, not the yellow ones