Details & pics of my replacement shocks

[Allrover]

Hi all,

I just finished replacing the rear shocks of my '92 CB400 Super Four and thought I would share my experience in case it benefits anyone in future.

Without further ado, here are a couple of pictures of the bike with the new suspension on:




When I bought the bike a couple of months ago, the rear suspension was rock hard, making the bike uncomfortable, fidgety & generally reducing confidence in most situations. I'm only light (10.5 stone) so the spring may have been too stiff, and even on the lowest preload setting I was only seeing 20mm of rider sag, when it should be more like 30-40mm.

Rather than try and refurb the shocks then, I wanted to replace them. I'm aiming for a more modern japanese streetfighter look, rather than more traditional so wanted to fit something like those fitted to later models with a piggy back nitrogen canister.

I didn't have much money to spend, as the bike only cost a grand in the first place, so a set of Ohlins was out! (quoted £1100).

Saw these on eBay - direct from China, no brand name, but had the bling looks I was aiming for.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131421823760? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Most importantly, really cheap. However they might not fit, and then returning them to China would be a massive hassle. They just might also be rubbish, or worse unsafe.

I gambled, and two weeks later they arrived. I got hit for 30 odd quid customs charges of course, so probably cost about £180/185 in total.

They come preinstalled with new rubber bushes, so they just mount right onto the metal spindle on the bike. Fitting was straightforward on one side, but they touched the exhaust on the other so some fettling was required. Judicious bending of my exhaust bracket and a few extra washers on the mounting points bought me the extra couple of mm I was looking for. This bit was a pain in the ass though.

The good news is once on, they have transformed the bike. It soaks up pot holes 3000% better than ever before, and the tyres feel sucked down onto the road when cornering. Under acceleration, the bike seems to hunker down a little, which is the right behaviour I believe as you want more weight on that back tyre for grip. I haven't adjusted the preload yet, but I might not bother as they feel good as they are.

So on balance, I can recommend these. I like how they look and they work well. I mean you can see they are not top quality items - the finish is painted metal rather than polished, and the moulding on the canister arm isn't exactly sharp, but for the ridiculously low price they are good, and they do provide a direct replacement for the old shocks. (assuming you are happy to accept some 'customising' around the exhaust if they do touch).

[royster81]

Months on and hopefully many miles on the shocks, how are they doing?

[Allrover]

Well I haven't used my bike as much as I would have liked, as my daily commute got a bit longer so I had to buy a tourer to handle it.

The Honda has been tucked up in the garage keeping warm until my next contract allows me to get it out again.

Of the miles I did on them, they were perfectly acceptable. The originals where rock hard, so anything was better than those. I did a classic bike track day on the new ones, and the bike handled like a dream. Obviously that's on perfect flat track, but certainly no issues at speed, cornering or under hard braking.

I don't have a bad word to say about them for the price they were, but obviously I can't comment on their longevity.

[JamieCB400]

Nice Bike! Gold Calipers, Gold Wheels with Red Frame and you've got my CB1300.

Had the exact same issue when I got my CB400, the rear suspension was so stiff it was skipping on the bumpy corners.

Found out that the chrome shocks on it were £45 a pair from Ebay. I was lucky if I was getting 10mm sag.

Anyway, I also seen those shocks, was ready to order the Black set with Gold Cannister. Pretty sure it was on here that someone bought a set that started to leak relatively quickly. I ended up going with the YSS Ecoline shocks for £110. Have to say, fitting the new shocks and changing the grey water from my front forks worked wonders. Just like yours I guess, the bike now feels planted.

Don't know if you're interested but here goes. The bike 'hunkering down' during acceleration is a common misconception. When accelerating without any lean, both the front and rear suspension rises. The geometry of the front sprocket, rear axle and pivot point on the swing arm creates a triangle. Since the rear axle sits lower than the swingarm pivot, under acceleration the chain at the front sprocket is basically trying to pull the rear wheel down and underneath the bike. Obviously it cannot do this as the swingarm is attached to the shocks, so the rear shocks therfore stretch instead of compressing. You do however have to account for weight transfer, this is why the front forks lift under acceleration. Although the weight transfer to rear wants to compress the rear shocks, it tends not to overcome the forces generated by the front sprocket. That also depends on other factors such as the Centre of Gravity height etc. It's different when cornering though as the suspension is already compressed and has different geometry from when the bike is upright. Sorry, rant over!

Did you keep a note of the mileage when you fitted them, in the off chance that the seals do fail.

[lutha23]

I too own a cb400sf 92 model.

I wanted to know if i could fit the rear shocks with canister on my bike since mine has the shocks without the canister.

Please let me know i really need to change my suspension.

Thanks


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