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new bushings for the rear shocks

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jedishon
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Charlie D
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Post  Charlie D Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:58 pm

Last Friday I was talking with the boss at work and showed him what my stock rubber bushings looked like after just a short time.

Well he said lets get on the ball and prototype a new design so I went to work on some and fitted them to my shocks, I only did the upper eye and left my lowers I had made out of some race bushings 2 years ago alone as they were just fine.

What I did was prototyped out of some aircraft Aluminum I made each side 2 pieces, I am maybe looking at some very good grade of nylon for the final product.

Ok here is what I have found with a few days of running around

I have always had to run my shocks on #4 setting to keep the rear from dancing in the turns over the weekend I was running them on 2 with a very nice ride
Wayne suggested I try setting #1 so last night when I delivered a set of them up to his house I put the shocks on 1 and the ride was even better.
Today on the way home from work 17 miles I decided to take the old back road, Wayne knows this road well (Buckhorn) well this road has many curves anywhere from 30 to 45 and it is a 55 speed limit I ran the bike up to around 60 and hit a few of the 40 curves and I would get 1,2,3, little compressions of the shock and then rock solid (all road surface) so I went up in speed and the same thing I was running close to 70 or so and just having a blast and I knew I wasn't even close to pushing the bike.

Now tonight I am going to hit the interstate and run up to around 80 (hope I don't get caught) and see if there is any high speed wobble.

Wayne has his set and said he would get installed in the next few days and I hope he has the same good results as I have so I can get the ball rolling on making this ready for marketing.

Charlie D

Number of posts : 32
Location : Roseburg, Oregon
Registration date : 2009-05-05

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Post  Doc Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:23 pm

McMaster-Carr item # 6389K344
Nylon Bearing Sleeve, for 5/8" Shaft Dia, 7/8" OD, 3/4" Length
$4.05 per Pack of 5
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Post  Charlie D Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:28 pm

00 Doc wrote:McMaster-Carr item # 6389K344
Nylon Bearing Sleeve, for 5/8" Shaft Dia, 7/8" OD, 3/4" Length
$4.05 per Pack of 5

Just a bunch of crap in my opinion, and I know a few that can't even get them in the shock eye.

The ones I made fit the shock eye perfect

Charlie D

Number of posts : 32
Location : Roseburg, Oregon
Registration date : 2009-05-05

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Post  jedishon Tue Aug 04, 2009 9:59 pm

Charlie D wrote:
00 Doc wrote:McMaster-Carr item # 6389K344
Nylon Bearing Sleeve, for 5/8" Shaft Dia, 7/8" OD, 3/4" Length
$4.05 per Pack of 5

Just a bunch of crap in my opinion, and I know a few that can't even get them in the shock eye.

The ones I made fit the shock eye perfect

McMaster will sell their basic nylon bushing like Wes mentioned or they will sell higher grades, depending on what you want. I'm glad you aluminum prototypes work great for you, and you might have more buyers with aluminum than plastic that you call a bunch of crap......

Jerry
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Post  horseman8m Tue Aug 04, 2009 10:20 pm

this is the post , when i installed my bushings , it shows the crush pressure of the different materials used to make bushings .
https://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/vtx-1300-tech-f11/no-wobble-just-bushings-t1978.htm#17945

Aluminum is not a bushing it wont absorb anything, so that makes it a spacer .
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Post  Charlie D Tue Aug 04, 2009 10:35 pm

well then it is a spacer the way I have it now and there won't be another post about my findings or materials I decide to use

Charlie D

Number of posts : 32
Location : Roseburg, Oregon
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Post  horseman8m Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:21 am

Most people want to go with something that will save them money even if they have to modify them a little,
even to the point of grinding the middle of a cheap nylon bushing so it matches the contour of the shock eyelet
and pressing them in with a "C" clamp or vise.
A little discretion goes a long way, when you say that nylon bushings that some of us have been using for years are crap then
you say that you are going to make your bushings out of nylon as well.
I am all for making new things , trying new things and I'll be the first one to tell you if I tryed something and it didn't work.
To me it sounds like you want to go into production on a nylon two piece replacement bushing for the rubber ones ,
I wish you luck , the productions cost and advertising will bring the price up to the point of others custom made bushings.
A set of 8 bushings would cost around $15. to $18. retail , is that about right?
Good luck
Horse
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Post  wayne Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:19 pm

Well so far, I have about $70 invested in my bushings, and 65k on the bike, if I could find something for $100 and not have to jack with it again, I would.
Also, these are a 2 part part and you dont have to press them in or use a hammer on it.
The shock is going to take most of the impact.
This is something that he is trying to do to make it a better ride for the X.

wayne

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Post  wayne Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:31 pm

After about 200 miles on the bushings, I have to say, WOW What a ride, shock setings are on 1 and no wollowing in high speed turns or twisties.
Charlie has about 500 miles on his and I have about 200, so which ever one of us hits 1000 miles or so, we are going to pull them and see how they are holding up. The bushings are in the top only right now and theres no give, just a little twisting. These are a 2 part bushing, and so far they work great.
Dont know how the Alum. material is going to work out yet, may have to use a differant material, but we are trying them out.
Let you know when we hit 1,000 miles.

wayne

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Post  Huzzunga_Din Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:14 am

Hmmm, I have acess to Al Ni Br (Alumimun Nickel Bronze) used for aircraft landing gear bushings as an example. If it will take a Boeing landing on it, we may check into this. Let the shock do the work it is supposed to do.

I see a wear issue on the end of the shock absorber that a rubber bushing is supposed to prevent, but I wonder how long that would take? 1000's or 10,000's of miles?

I will have to check eBay for the shocks off the swingarm I bought, use those to prototype.

Thanks for the inspirational start.
Huzz
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Post  wayne Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:47 am

There is no hammering on the bushings, its just a little twisting, the shoc does all the work. After almost 500 miles, there is no sign of wear. we will be checking them every 500 miles or so.
I think the Alum. bushing will wear before the shock eye. Also looking at a differant product to make them out of.
Charlie is the machinest.
I just know these thing work, Charlie and I have our shocks set on the #1 spot, and we dont have any wollowing at all and a much nicer ride, I have never been able to go that low on the shock setting.
Did some hard rideing in the twisties on Wed. I was by myself and had a ball, did about 200 miles and may do 100 today and 100 on Fri. and about 600 next week, so will know after that. If they are going to show any wear, they should show up by then.
We did use high temp. greese on them when we put them in, and tighting them down were there was no slack in them so there is no hammering on the bushing and they are taperd.
This is just a test, and we really dont know how they are going to work yet, but so far I LIKE IT. cheers

wayne

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Post  Huzzunga_Din Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:25 am

Wayne,
Would you mind sending me the exact dimensions of the shock rod ends for the 1800? That way I do not have to take mine off, or buy another set. I like your idea, but a machinist friend and I want to upgrade to Al Ni Br (ALuminum Nickel Bronze) bushings. That material is used on all kind of aircraft landing gear bushings. It is will support a 767, it will support a VTX.

I am going to pick up an extra pair of shocks, but we would like to start ASAP. We are going to do 2 hat type bushings, a slight interfernce fit.

Let me know the diameters and rod end width. Post, email, or PM.
Thanks
Jeff
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Post  wayne Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:28 pm

Got not idea, are the 18s the same as the 13s?
I have a 13 and I would have to take one off also.

Wasnt my idea it was Charlie D. he is the machinest. I dont have anyway of makeing them, as good as him anyway.

wayne

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Post  Huzzunga_Din Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:45 pm

Charlie just replied over on the VTX Cafe forums to my Darkside post. So I wll ask him.
Thanks Wayne
Jeff
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Post  wayne Thu Aug 27, 2009 8:11 pm

I just pulled the bushings, and there is absolutly, no wear on them at all, I have 1200 miles on them and they work great.
Going to put another 1,000 or 2 on them before I pull them again. I can still see the machine marks on them. So, so far they are looking good. I am running on the #1 setting on the shocks, but did crank them up to 2 when I loaded it down with about 60 lbs of camping gear and went for about a 800 mile trip.
Charlie Ds is also looking good, and no problems. Loveing every mile of it. Laughing

wayne

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Post  meta355 Sat Sep 05, 2009 4:48 pm

All i had to do to my McMasterCarr bushings was burr a little material from the inside to make them fit perfectly. No noticible change in shock position in 18,000 miles. Maybe yours go together easier, but the MC ones are crazy cheap! What about yours really make them better?

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Post  wayne Sat Sep 05, 2009 11:11 pm

No one said they were any better, we are still trying them out. They are better than anything I have ever used.

These are more solid, with no give, the bushing dont have to have any give in it, the shock absorbs the bumps, all they do is move or twist a little as you are rideing. There is one model of the 1800 that has needle bearings instead of bushing, which would be the best. I thought about getting my hands on some of those shocks and seeing if I could get them to fit a 1300. Im surprised no one has come up with this by now. Right now, work is slow, and the not much $ for R&D.

wayne

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Post  wayne Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:44 am

Just wanted to give a little report on the alum. bushing Charlie D made.

I now have over 40k on the and still going.

Hows that for a short report???

No, they wont work. ROFL

wayne

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