The new tires are on

You will only feel that "trailing" at low speed turns. It's more of an odd sensation than anything else. I do know that it's nothing to worry about.

Kudo's for taking it out in a parking lot to test it out. Be sure to test out the rear braking. Take it out to a parking lot and do some fast starts and stops. Build some confidence in your tire.

Welcome to the dark side!

Welcome to the Darkside.
the easiest one so far is Photobucket
http://photobucket.com/
ok , I'm going to ask anyway, if you didn't have a MC jack how did you change the tire.
I have a front end loader on my tractor,,,
or loading it in the bed of a pickup truck, blocking up the rear of the frame to rise the rear wheel off the tailgate, then removing the tailgate to get access,,,,

Thanks Steve. I will be doing alot of the "learning curve" stuff before Joy & I really let it out 2 up. I have no clue how to do pictures here, but here is a link over to the VTX Cafe where I was able to post some pictures.
http://www.vtxcafe.com/showthread.php?p=374946#post374946
Jeff

4 x 4's across the bike, under it. Lean left, put a 1 x 6 in, lean right, put another 1 x 6 in until the bike is almost high enough to remove the tire. They were all 18 inches long, and rock solid, still not a recommnded method. Then loosened the fender to tilt for clearance. I have to get a M/C lift. This was way too dangerous a method. Something like 8 1 x 6's on each side, front end strapped to stay straight.

Looks good!

well it worked didn't it, good job.
and that is a great looking bike:
http://www.vtxcafe.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9187&d=1250650028
http://www.vtxcafe.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9188&d=1250650041

Well Jeff,we wondered what happened to you I started to call but figgured you had gotten tied up on your house project. I am glad to hear you are there. There is a lot to be said when you are able to accomplish your dreams on your own even though it is sometimes harder work.now just enjoy enjoy enjoy.

5/8" Shaft Dia, 7/8" OD, 3/4" Length; These are for 1300 shock, are 1800 the same?

1300 and 1800 shocks are interchangeable... just make sure you know if the upper shock mount is 'sposed to be the bearing type like in the 05+ models or the bushings type in the one prior to that...

05 Retro has old style junk rubber bushings on both ends, 05 up 1800C & F only, have new style shocks w/upgraded bushings.
Bronze bushings will be quite rigid, the new improved bushings, Honda part no. 52489-HN0-671 are cheap enough and will work great on your stock shocks.

true, and like Dan was saying, the new version of the bushings (the ones that I know are used for the lowers with the bearing uppers) are poly instead of rubber too!

Dan, Nodak and all,
Thanks for the replies. I guess my line of thinking is like this. If the poly, or nylon, is soft enough to wear out quickly, then why not consider the Oilite or ANB?

I see two issues in this type rigid of installation, and I have had a third pointed out to me.

The first would be fretting, a wear, or type of corrosion. In the current type of installation that is caused by movement of one material against the other. Having seen a few pictures out there by folks who have posted pictures of their shot rubber bushings, I would not be surprised if they don't have some fretting on the shock rod ends if the attach bolt touched.

The second issue is alignment of the shocks in a perfect vertical travel. The poly or rubber bushings are forgiving in that they allow the shocks to settle in, or, maintain a kind of dynamic alignment. Thinking about it, they would actually cushion against an ever changing misalignment of the shocks in an imperfect linear travel through the movement of the swingarm on the road. Performing a perfectly shimmed vertical alignment would be quite difficult using shims on tapered bushings. The use of a straightedge comes to mind first, but I would only have the shock bolt surface on the frame to use as an alignment point. Sounds like a pretty small surface diameter to true everything off of very effectively. And if they are equally out of alignment, then equal shimming of the upper or lower bushings to have both shocks in alignment with each other gets difficult.

So, I am sure we all understand the fretting issue. Whether it is metal or bushing material wearing, it is fretting. What about the importance of using softer poly or whatever material bushings versus ABR bushings which are extremely rigid?

Let’s throw out for now the difficulty of obtaining a perfect alignment, and presume for the sake of discussion a perfect alignment can be accomplished.

So, for the sake of this discussion, I have made ABR (Aluminum Nickel Bronze) bushings, and aligned them perfectly. I now have a very rigid and nearly non-fretting shock installation. I cannot compensate for imperfect alignment within the shock itself.

What have I presumably accomplished in this type of installation?


1. I have an almost wear free rod end

2. I managed to install the shocks in a perfect alignment and maintain that alignment of the shocks relative to each other through their travel of the frame relative to the swingarm points.

The third issue:
At Honda, the service manager was concerned I would lose the ability of the shocks to flex a bit independent of each other, and I suppose allow for some slight independent travel on the swingarm? He didn’t say it exactly like that, but it was kind of what I got out of the conversation.

Okay, so each side needs a bit of independent flex for road conditions and turns?

That is interesting, and I hadn’t considered that movement, only having thought of up and down movement of the swingarm. It sounds like a bit of “sway” has to be built in, possibly for comfort and ease of handling. However, the swingarm is not jointed in the center where it through bolts to the frame. The swingarm is a rigid one piece U shape structure as we know once the shaft and final drive are bolted on to complete the swingarm.

So other than actually flex of the arm material itself, how then is a softer bushing going to contribute to some kind of independent travel of one side of the swingarm as compared to the other?

To me, the answer is, only through the flexibility of the bushing material itself. Is that important? Must the swingarm have some amount of “give” one side relative to the other for safe handling, or a comfortable ride? Whether or not some flexiability is important to handling, I do not know. Flexiability at the attach points would seem to be a factor that would degrade handling. Thsi may all be "race track" type thinking and not really worthwhile on this type of bike.

I do not know the answer to that one. It seems to me that using the softer material is more of a protection for the shock ends and frame attach points. You mentioned in later models they went to a bearing type rod end on the lower mount? This then allows for a constant alignment of the shock through its travel. It would seem the upper rubber/poly bushing being left in place takes the beating.

Well, it is all very interesting to discuss, I suppose for now I will have to go to Honda and check their upgrade for my existing bushings. I am interested in continuing to investigate an ABR bushing, or even a upper and lower bearing type installation.

It is the third “issue” that nags at me. I will be watching Wayne and Charlies reports to see what they are saying about their bushing installation performance.

Off to the Honda fiche to look up the new bushings and their price.

All for now
Jeff

As an aside, I just looked at my bushngs, uppers worn, lowers looked good.

Be aware, the new bushings are not listed as an upgrade for your old style shocks, I posted the part no. you need above.
If you want to look it up, their actual appl. is 05 up VTX1800C and F only. They'll fit your shocks perfectly, upper and lower, have not shown any premature wear problems, and are plenty firm enough for precise tight handling.
If you really want to improve handling, and ride quality, get some Progressive 440's for a noticeable difference.

the new bushings are poly and don't wear out near as quick as the old rubber style. I beleive they went to the bearings up top and the poly bushings on the bottom of the shock because the uppers were wearing out quicker than the lowers.... interested to see what you come up with...