Now I shoulda been snappin up those shocks all you AF cats were parting with on the bay, but being dime wise and dollar stupid, never occurred to me I might need one someday. Well, someday is here.
Lots of 4 stroke shocks out there, and of course a google search for CRF shock on CR500 was fruitless. Cant get on the other board to see if it had been done, nothing on TT, so I said screw it and took a chance with a $75 special from ebay , off a 02 CRF450.
Was a couple few issues, the main being the CRF shock was a bit longer, and a couple other clearance issues. Took some measurements, checked some microfiche, consulted with the fine folks at Nadakuhn Intl., and after about 3 hours of messin around on Independence day, this was installed on the bike, ready to test
Quite the monster with that 50mm body, but it fits in there pretty good. Thought that because the resevior came out of the body a little bit to the rear might be a problem with the airbox, it just barely clears
I did get some seat time on the 4th, enough to tell me what I knew before I even tried it, I needed more than the 5.4 spring that came stock. Picked up a 5.8 from Tech Care on Friday and put it on this morning and took it back out for a good test session.
It works quite well, the valving, although pretty much from the factory is set up for supercross, is pretty good for my skill level(Trail Expert). The rebound was good at the factory 10 out, compression at 13. Havent had a chance to get to an area to really test the hi speed comp, but that's next on the list.
2 things to remember when doing a swap like this........Eye to eye length, and actual shock length of travel. Get em real close, and you're golden.
