Suspension Upgrades

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Good eye, Dave.
Looks like the one on a Zephyr that i see at the local hangout. They have decent piggyback shocks as well.

[barryadam]

Mike, is that the rubber chain guide on the far side? It looks like its a chain-on-the-RHS arm, no?

Barry

[Syscrush]

Mike, is that the rubber chain guide on the far side? It looks like its a chain-on-the-RHS arm, no?

Barry

I'll bet it's upside down and the wire piece is to hold the brake line on the right side.

[Towerguy]

Good eye, Dave.
Looks like the one on a Zephyr that i see at the local hangout. They have decent piggyback shocks as well.

It was really a huge coincidence, I have always that the Zephyrs had a cool look to them but really did not remember the details that closely. Literally a couple of days ago someone on CBXWorld posted a link to a UK Ebay auction of a CBX fitted with ZR1100 suspension and wheels front and rear. A very nicely done bike and I looked it over pretty good, especially the suspension, so the image was kinda stuck in my head.

[EMS]

Mike, is that the rubber chain guide on the far side? It looks like its a chain-on-the-RHS arm, no?

Barry

I'll bet it's upside down and the wire piece is to hold the brake line on the right side.

The image is reversed, i.e.: mirror image. The chain is on the left side.

[Syscrush]

My shiny new swinger has been sitting in a sealed box at my mechanic's and I'm dying to see it. I just haven't had a chance to get out to there to check it out while they're open.

It'll be a few weeks before it can go on the bike anyhow - the order for my shocks will be finalized late next week, and I want to do both swaps (plus a new chain & sprockets) at the same time. I will almost certainly go with YSS because the shock spec'd for the CBX offers more adjustability, plus the color is a better match for the current & planned color scheme. I can't wait to have this all sorted out.

[Syscrush]

I swung by the shop on Sat to look at my swingarm and I'm very pleased with it - provided it fits! We still need to work out a way to mount a chainguard to it (the ones made by Trac don't fit for some reason), but that shouldn't be a big deal. If we can't work out a way to mount the stock chainguard, I'll have a new one fabbed.

The mechanic was a bit surprised to see that the included axle is threaded at both ends (and supplied with nyloc nuts). I don't know how unusual that really is, but I thought I'd mention it in case that's a concern for others considering the Trac swingarm. He also thought that the part looks good overall and appears well-made. The real test will be to see if everything fits as it should.

I'm finalizing the order for my shocks this week, so hopefully everything on the rear will be sorted out soon.

[EMS]

The mechanic was a bit surprised to see that the included axle is threaded at both ends (and supplied with nyloc nuts). I don't know how unusual that really is, but I thought I'd mention it in case that's a concern for others considering the Trac swingarm. .

If my memory serves me well, that is one of the CBX mysteries. Some bikes came with a bolt head on one end, some came with two nuts. I think Jan Ringnalda had it narrowed down at one time, that the double nut was exclusive to the 1980 CBX and there to either the Japanese or U.S. built versions. Don't remember which. Getting old.

[Syscrush]

Thanks.

It's worth noting that the mechanic's surprise was not CBX-specific. And the part (swingarm and axle) are brand new custom items.

[EMS]

Took some time to wade through old posts and I think the bolt in question was not the swingarm pivot, but the lower engine mounting bolt...

[NobleHops]

The mechanic was a bit surprised to see that the included axle is threaded at both ends (and supplied with nyloc nuts). I don't know how unusual that really is, but I thought I'd mention it in case that's a concern for others considering the Trac swingarm. .

If my memory serves me well, that is one of the CBX mysteries. Some bikes came with a bolt head on one end, some came with two nuts. I think Jan Ringnalda had it narrowed down at one time, that the double nut was exclusive to the 1980 CBX and there to either the Japanese or U.S. built versions. Don't remember which. Getting old.

My Japanese '80 has the two nut version on that frame bolt.

N.

[daves79x]

The double-nut lower bolt was exclusive to all '79s and Japanese '80s. Marysville '80s and all '81-'82s had the conventional bolt and nut.

Dave

[barryadam]

Maybe Dave, but Nils just wanted to tell us about his nuts.

[NobleHops]

Maybe Dave, but Nils just wanted to tell us about his nuts.

I could write you volumes!

[Syscrush]

For the front, I am really leaning towards 39mm forks with modern cartridge internals and CB1100F triples.

That gives me 3 choices for the forks:

1. Pro-Link forks.
2. CB1100F forks.
3. Hybrid with CB1100F lowers on the longer Pro-Link sliders.

I like the CB1100F lowers with that integrated fork brace. It looks better than a Superbrace IMO. My concern about using them instead of the Pro-Link lowers is mainly about fitting my CBX front fender. The CB1100F fender is very stylish, and the ducktail feature might look good on the CBX, but I prefer the simpler CBX fender for my bike.

Does anyone know if the CBX fender fits the F fork lowers?

If I can use the F lowers, the next question is whether to go with straight F forks, or the hybrid setup. Given that the internals are being swapped regardless, the only difference between the F and hybrid fork setup would be fork length.

Since I'm swapping to handlebars, the F forks should give me the same front ride height as I have now with my X forks. The only reason to go with the hybrid setup would be to give myself the flexibility to raise the front - and there would be enough fork to go up a lot from where I am now. The YSS shocks have up to 10mm of additional ride height, so I would want to raise the front maybe 10-15mm. Not sure if that extra 10-15mm on the front would be worth the expense vs. just going with the F forks. I'm also concerned about interference between the fork tops and the handlebars if I go with the Pro-Link length since there would be about an inch of fork tube above the triple, plus a preload adjuster, etc.

Are the handlebar clamp tops for the CB1100F rare/specific, or can they be easily replaced? The triples I'm finding are missing these parts.

With Pro-Link or F forks in the F triple clamps, can I use my existing axle, or would it have to be replaced? Can I use an F axle in either case?

Thanks,