RFY Shock Rebuild

sav0r

Coast to Coast
I know that the RFY shocks have quite a following, whether it be good or bad, there’s a good chance they aren’t going anywhere. I have read several accounts of them here on this forum, as well as accounts on other forums. Truth be told, many never do a complete and proper rebuild and as a result get really crappy results. Will these shocks be equal to an Ohlins set? Probably not. That said, after a good rebuild they do actually work fairly well, especially for the price point.

In the last few weeks I’ve been through my set with a fine tooth comb top to bottom. That meant taking them down and inspecting every part down the shim stacks. I have a fair amount of shock experience, mostly on Penske’s for racecars, but they are pretty much the same.

I am offering RFY rebuilds. This includes complete disassembly, inspection for potential problems, assembly with Maxima shock oil, and exact nitrogen charging using a proper shock charging tool. Once the shock is properly purged of air and the reservoir is charged these shocks work beautifully. I hope to get them on a shock dyno soon as to have some proof of it.

The cost is $75. This includes materials, labor, and return shipping. All you are responsible for is sending me your RFY’s. You can contact me here, but you'll have the best results getting me by emailing, the address is available on my website.

I am offering all DTT members a discount of $10.00. This will Expire 2/10/2014

The code is “DoThe100”

The easiest way to purchase is from my website. It uses a paypal checkout system.

My site can be found here - http://chrislivengood.net

I've updated link, as the old one had expired. To get to the products page just navigate via the links at the top right of my page.
 
Hey guys, with around 15 days left on my $10 off coupon I figured I would update my post with some new information.

Throughout the past few weeks I have aggressively been analyzing the deficiencies of the RFY shock package. Through the feed back of forum members as well as customers I have pinpointed many of these problems. Using this information I have devised low cost solutions to many of the problems that are experienced.

This includes increasing total shock travel, improving damping, developing spring rate charts, reducing preload, as well a general improvement to general assembly.

You can find more information at my website. www.Sav0r.com. Browse to the Products section to view the specifics of the shock rebuilds.
 
Thanks xb33bsa! I've had lots of interest, and I think rightfully so.

The full shock rebuild that includes preload reduction, oil purge and replacement, top out spring replacement, nitrogen pressurization, proper reassembly, and return shipping comes to $102 after the $10 discount. That's the full works rebuild and it manages to increase the damper travel to a comparable length to that of many factory dampers.

That puts the RFY shock well under the price point of other damper and spring package on the market but offers a more modern look and fully rebuildable damper.

I have a rebound adjustable set that I am working on currently and hope to release information on soon. These shocks really blow the door off the market. At $135 a set, they are hundreds cheaper than other shaft adjustable shocks. After a full rebuild I anticipate they should provide the best value of any shock on the market.
 
Savor, is there an option to have you order the shocks and do your magic, then ship them to the customer? I'm wondering this as im in canada and its kind of a run around to have them shipped up here then to you then back to me again. maybe an option on the site to cover the total of a pair of shocks shipped to you, rebuilt and shipped to customer?
 
That's no problem. I'll just add the shocks to my product list. You'll need to give me a specification though. Spring size, clevis or eyelet, shock length, color, etc.

Also, any idea what it will cost to ship to Canada? I'll add a Canada shipping option.
 
i dont think a person has ever actually charged me exact shipping cost on anything other then R/C stuff.. my postal code is T5E0S1 if you'd like to have a guesstimate for the site. USPS is best for us canadian folk. UPS likes to do us on brokerage hahaha
 
I know this is not necessarily the right thread for this and should be under seller reviews but i'm going to do it anyway because there is not much chatter on this page. Over the past few weeks I have been working with Chris, as he rebuilt my rfy shocks. And although I am many weeks away from testing the shocks and his work out, I can not say enough positive things about him.He is super professional and has gone above and beyond. Open line of communication through the whole process. On arrival I opened the package and inside was a signed mission statement/build sheet as well as detailed instruction on getting them set up for maximum performance. I would absolutely do business with him again! thanks again chris
 
3rdgeneration said:
I know this is not necessarily the right thread for this and should be under seller reviews but i'm going to do it anyway because there is not much chatter on this page. Over the past few weeks I have been working with Chris, as he rebuilt my rfy shocks. And although I am many weeks away from testing the shocks and his work out, I can not say enough positive things about him.He is super professional and has gone above and beyond. Open line of communication through the whole process. On arrival I opened the package and inside was a signed mission statement/build sheet as well as detailed instruction on getting them set up for maximum performance. I would absolutely do business with him again! thanks again chris

Thanks so much for your kind words! It means a lot to me!
 
Hey guys, just a reminder. The sale over at my store that provides $10 off ends on the 10th! That's just 4 days from now!

I'll be taking a trip to Texas for the second half of this month which means I wont be doing any shock rebuilds between the 18th of this month and the first of March. Moral of the story, take advantage of the $10 off and send me your shocks now!
 
Does the replacement of the top out spring affect the total length of the shock as extended with main spring installed? How much wider are the clevis mounts than the honda needs? Suzuki clevis' are about 2mm wider I believe. Looks like a new clevis would be simple to machine up if a Suzuki width wasnt available.

Did I read correctly that there is a shaft adjustable dampening version of the RFY for $135 or so??? My wife's gs550 has some godawfully stiff mikesxs lowering shocks, & I may put all of my spare parts together to build a 2nd 77/78 GS750 in a budget racer themed build. These or the TEC shocks may be a great candidate for both.

Any spec on the outside diameter and length of the coils? It'd be nice to find a spring rate for the RFY that worked well for a 500 lb bike, something in between their 7mm& 8mm offerings.
 
Aha... Sorry Sav0r, I just saw the Model 2 RFY shocks on your website when I viewed it on a pc vs android. What a bummer that the adjustable shock seemed to have had the manufacturer forget to machine the passage to connect the reservoir to the main cylinder. Once the reservoir cannister is removed, how difficult would it be to machine those passages in there? I do have a machinist friend, and a drill press. Seems as if the spring is a slightly better rate on those as well.

With a machinist hookup, it might even be possible to machine a different lower spring perch that would accept longer length springs if one were to try and fit other model springs onto these. That's a stretch of time and money unless the work is performed for low cost hookups, but still a possibility.
 
Those Model 2 definitely are a lot more appealing. Could you not just not install hose to run between the two to allow the transfer of oil?

Wouldn't take too much and can't see it being that difficult
 
Hey Guys,

Sorry for the slow the reply here. I do not check this post often.

I have considered new perches top and bottom for these, as to allow for springs from other manufacturers. Sadly, I don't have as much free time (or $) to devote to further researching these things.

I am sure the canister can be remove, but how much trouble it might be to do so is the real question. I tinkered with removing mine, but it seemed like it could get messy. The hose solution sure would be cheap and simple. That's a pretty good idea all things considered.
 
Sav0r said:
Hey Guys,

Sorry for the slow the reply here. I do not check this post often.

I have considered new perches top and bottom for these, as to allow for springs from other manufacturers. Sadly, I don't have as much free time (or $) to devote to further researching these things.

I am sure the canister can be remove, but how much trouble it might be to do so is the real question. I tinkered with removing mine, but it seemed like it could get messy. The hose solution sure would be cheap and simple. That's a pretty good idea all things considered.

You being the smart one on these tho.. How would you know what to put into either the shock or canister if you put a hose between the two? Your gonna lose pressure if you start doing any drilling.

And I think if you removed the canister and used a hose instead you could do some pretty trick mounting ideas as well.
 
I'm not sure I follow you on the pressure front. I usually use 80psi in the reservoir. Thats sufficient enough to eliminate cavitation in the oil and it returns the shock rod at a nice rate. If you installed a hose you could either install the canister remotely. Or you could just run the hose out of sight on the back side of canister and leave it in place. The best part of the hose install though would be that you could install valving in that hose line to give compression damping adjustment. It would be pretty slick and could possible be done pretty cheap.
 
Sav0r said:
I'm not sure I follow you on the pressure front. I usually use 80psi in the reservoir. Thats sufficient enough to eliminate cavitation in the oil and it returns the shock rod at a nice rate. If you installed a hose you could either install the canister remotely. Or you could just run the hose out of sight on the back side of canister and leave it in place. The best part of the hose install though would be that you could install valving in that hose line to give compression damping adjustment. It would be pretty slick and could possible be done pretty cheap.

So the canister is supplying the air and the shock holds the oil?

If so then it becomes even easier and by that means you could technically change the properties of the shock by using more or less air. So instead of 80psi you could use 90psi thus making the shock stiffer? Of course this depends on if the internals could handle it.
 
The air pressure is more as a cushion for the shaft displacing some small amounts of shock oil. The air doesnt affect the spring rate much. More air will have a far greater affect on rebound dampening speed than it does on spring rate.
 
Yes and No.

The air (nitrogen gas ideally) is contained within a bladder. The oil contacts the exterior of the bladder. When the shock rod is compressed into the shock body shock oil must be displaced equal to the volume of rod that is now inside the shock body. That displacement is allowed via the compression of the bladder and the air that's contained within it. Without the bladder, a 100% full shock body would go into "hyrdolock" and the shock rod could not move.

Does changing the amount of pressure inside the canister/bladder change spring rate? Yes. Does it change it a meaningful amount. No. Adding 10, 15, or even 50 psi will mean almost nothing. The volume that's being displaced is just too small, meaning that there isn't enough mechanical advantage there to produce useful adjustment. Enough pressure to prevent cavitation and to return the rod to full extension (without the coil over spring) is sufficient.

The primary benefit of a canister type shock over those without this is that it prevents oil cavitation. Oil cavitation significantly reduces the damping properties of a shock. Applying pressure to the system means that static pressure of the oil stays above the vapor pressure. This eliminates cavitation almost completely.

Edit: Chuck, i started typing before your reply was there. You are correct.
 
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