best chasis for mono shock rear?

R

ryencool

New Member
I really want to build a cafe racer with a mono shock rear. It will be my first build but I have been working on cars for a long long time. What would be the best/cheapest chasis to use/modify for use with say a gsxr rear swing arm with a mono shock? I dont mind modification. I'm just wondering if anyone has done this and has a write up or something? I was thinking about a cb450 chasis, hacking off the rear end and putting the gsxr rear on there, then custom mounting the mono shock. I'm not an engineer so I don't know suspension wise if this will work. I figured if its mounted down the center and the shock is built for a bike with similar weight then it should be ok?

Anyone wanna help?
 
The first one that comes to mind is "Gretta" built by Kanticoy - definitely a must read thread. There are a few mono-shock conversions around. Hang out for a while and I'm sure you'll be pointed some other directions.
 
ive seen a bunch of guys do mono shock rears with the old suzuki gs bikes.. mostly 1000's and 1100's, they normally use either gsxr of gsxf parts. from what i understand it doesnt take too much work to put a mid 90's rear end into a 77-81 gs1000/1100, and from my experience in the garage tonight a 2003 katana front end will bolt up directly to the same bike.
check out www.gsresources.com
 
Ah the katana is good for something after all, haha. I have done a TON of research today and found quiet a few builds on other forums. I know its still not that common but I didn't know its been done so many times before. Maybe ill have to go more unique and do a single sided swingarm with a mono shock haha. I know its not traditional but I want it to be more modern so. any other ideas? and thanks for the help provided.
 
slinds9 said:
ive seen a bunch of guys do mono shock rears with the old suzuki gs bikes.. mostly 1000's and 1100's, they normally use either gsxr of gsxf parts. from what i understand it doesnt take too much work to put a mid 90's rear end into a 77-81 gs1000/1100, and from my experience in the garage tonight a 2003 katana front end will bolt up directly to the same bike.
check out www.gsresources.com
Click to expand...

www.gsresources.com is some squatter site, did you miss spell it?
 
It's not a bad job to do if you've got some basic fab skills and access to a welder. I've got a VFR single sided arm on my CBX. I like the single sided look cause it cleans up the ass end so nicely. Look on Ebay for a complete arm with all the attaching hardware. You can always contact the seller too and they'll usually throw the added bits in with the deal.

As far as the geometry of the suspension goes, you will have to experiment a bit with the link mounts, the links themselves, and the rear shock. I could not use the VFR shock on my build. It was all wrong and the VFR shock is junk anyway. After some experimentation I wound up using an early 2000's R1 rear shock. The effort was worth it and made the bike ride and handle like a dream!

In short.......there will be more effort involved in setting up the arm after the install than doing the actual install. I say GO FOR IT!!!

BTW, I just missed out on a complete Ducati Monster arm on Ebay. Beautiful tubular arm! Errg!!! I'm still looking though. There will be more!
 
The easiest way is to start with a mono shock rear. Thats the route I went. I am building mine out of an 85 kawi gpz 750. Slipped a gsxr swinger and r6 shock in the rear. and zx7 forks up front. I cut the subframe off and started over. Its all hard work. There are several different mono shock designs. So one can be made to fit bike/swingarm combination. http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=11738.0 My thread
 
Mono conversions tend to end up with an extended wheel base. Some dig it. I hate it.

I would think that what you would gain in handling with the modern shock and swinger would be canceled out by the new wheeeeeel base.

I've yet to ride a mono conversion bike. And everyone that I know that has one, tells me that it handles and trails better than before/stock.

But I don't believe them.

It's a lot of work to prospectively go progressively backwards for the sake of "different".

I would start with a newer bike. And then "traditional" it up. Rather than modernizing something old. That way you'd know it'll handle. And not look 1/2 cb, half Dachshund...

Louie
 
Swapmeet Louie said:
Mono conversions tend to end up with an extended wheel base. Some dig it. I hate it.

I would think that what you would gain in handling with the modern shock and swinger would be canceled out by the new wheeeeeel base.
Click to expand...

My cbr unit is the same length as my cb's original. Not that I planned it mind you. ::)

I've yet to ride a mono conversion bike.
Click to expand...

me too :( It's taking a while to pull it all together.

The upside is I will have a stockie running concurrently, so should be able to gauge the differences. Not that I'll admit to stuffing up a perfectly good bike :D

cheers
ian
 
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