Since I had the front end pulled apart and the new coil and battery were still in the mail, I decided I'd just do all the suspension components at once. I pulled off the rear shocks, which were pretty much locked with rust and dirt. At some point I'd like to replace them, but not right now. So I spent a few hours cleaning, wire brushing, re-oiling and finally re-painting. The result wasn't bad- they're not the smoothest or quietest shocks ever, but they get the job done and they look a hell of a lot better.
I also removed the 2.5" extension spring, which lowered the bike a bit. I've since gone back and forth between shock heights a couple of times, but I think I like the bike as low as possible in the rear- both because I'm not very tall and because it looks better than way.
I removed the fork arms and flat blacked the bottoms and tops, leaving the middle in it's chrome-and-rust condition. I ordered some black rubber dust boots to cover that part. I didn't bother changing the fork oil for now, since everything operates smoothly and the seals seem fine. I bought some used chrome headlight mounts off Ebay and I ordered an OEM headlight from Thailand, which ended up taking 2 months to arrive.
Once everything was painted and lubed, I put the front end back together- a task which ended up being fairly time-consuming. I also took apart the front brake and cleaned everything with heavy-duty degreaser. I re-oiled the springs, adjusted the arm and put the old cable back on while I waited on the new one I ordered. I also ordered a new clutch cable, OEM levers and a lever mount to replace the one I snapped a bolt and then 2 easy-outs trying to remove. Sometimes, rust just wins.
Since I had the front end pulled apart and the new coil and battery were still in the mail, I decided I'd just do all the suspension components at once. I pulled off the rear shocks, which were pretty much locked with rust and dirt. At some point I'd like to replace them, but not right now. So I spent a few hours cleaning, wire brushing, re-oiling and finally re-painting. The result wasn't bad- they're not the smoothest or quietest shocks ever, but they get the job done and they look a hell of a lot better.
I also removed the 2.5" extension spring, which lowered the bike a bit. I've since gone back and forth between shock heights a couple of times, but I think I like the bike as low as possible in the rear- both because I'm not very tall and because it looks better than way.
I removed the fork arms and flat blacked the bottoms and tops, leaving the middle in it's chrome-and-rust condition. I ordered some black rubber dust boots to cover that part. I didn't bother changing the fork oil for now, since everything operates smoothly and the seals seem fine. I bought some used chrome headlight mounts off Ebay and I ordered an OEM headlight from Thailand, which ended up taking 2 months to arrive.
Once everything was painted and lubed, I put the front end back together- a task which ended up being fairly time-consuming. I also took apart the front brake and cleaned everything with heavy-duty degreaser. I re-oiled the springs, adjusted the arm and put the old cable back on while I waited on the new one I ordered. I also ordered a new clutch cable, OEM levers and a lever mount to replace the one I snapped a bolt and then 2 easy-outs trying to remove. Sometimes, rust just wins.
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