Installed the Elka

[Nyparrothead]

Hi all

Well I checked the service manual and installed my new Elka rear shock with custom spring.... The manual is not correct and the bolts are of kind of a pain in the butt to get a ratchet and wrench on..

The stock shock really is a POS and cheaply made. The Elka is a beast in comparison. Anyway, the with a few pumps on the jack, the bolts were out and the OEM was on the floor. Installed the Elka and tightened everything down.

It took me about 40 min to complete but I am sporting a wrist brace, a broken bone in my foot, and a bad back. (Sucks getting old). Shouldn't take a healthy person more than 20 min....

Second job was relocating the battery tender pigtail that the dealer installed. They ran it up and behind the trunk which required it to lay across the lip / seal. This would allowed water to leak into the trunk when washing or in the rain. I pulled the trunk and drilled a small hole in it and passed the connector through. I am installing a gromet to tighten up the hole and will seal it with some black sealant

Next job is to install my Scorpio 2 way alarm..

mark

 

[Stingray69]

spring rate

Hi all

Well I checked the service manual and installed my new Elka rear shock with custom spring.... The manual is not correct and the bolts are of kind of a pain in the butt to get a ratchet and wrench on..

The stock shock really is a POS and cheaply made. The Elka is a beast in comparison. Anyway, the with a few pumps on the jack, the bolts were out and the OEM was on the floor. Installed the Elka and tightened everything down.

It took me about 40 min to complete but I am sporting a wrist brace, a broken bone in my foot, and a bad back. (Sucks getting old). Shouldn't take a healthy person more than 20 min....

Second job was relocating the battery tender pigtail that the dealer installed. They ran it up and behind the trunk which required it to lay across the lip / seal. This would allowed water to leak into the trunk when washing or in the rain. I pulled the trunk and drilled a small hole in it and passed the connector through. I am installing a gromet to tighten up the hole and will seal it with some black sealant

Next job is to install my Scorpio 2 way alarm..

mark

do you know the spring rate of the shock, did you specify the rate?

 

[spydaman60]

which elka did you get? i have noticed that the oem shock just isn't going to cut it!! i ride two up most of the time!!

 

[Nyparrothead]

Hi

i have the stage 2 and it is a beast compared to the junk Sachs oem... I was told the the Sachs and the Fox upgrade both have a 360 lb spring, barely addaquit for for the mass of the machine itself.

I gave them my weight and they have a equation they enter it into and it tells them what size spring you need. I have a dual rate setup.

it is 1/2 the cost of the upgraded Fox and I would say based on the spring alone, 10 times the shock!

mark

 

[spydaman60]

thanks!! I agree about the sachs. I go 250 and the wife around 160, so we're pushing 410 without any other gear. glad to hear that you are happy with the elka.

 

[Chupaca]

Busy man...

hope you get a chance to try the shock out soon. :2thumbs: you are keeping busy anyway..congrats on doing it yourself...:thumbup:

 

[vondalyn]

tell us how you like it

once you get a chance to put some miles on it. I'm also interested in changing out the OEM shock and this sounds like a better option than the upgraded Fox so far.

 

[Nyparrothead]

once you get a chance to put some miles on it. I'm also interested in changing out the OEM shock and this sounds like a better option than the upgraded Fox so far.

The 1k Fox upgrade is a waste if your in need or a higher spring rate as they told me that it has the same springing as the Sachs oem... Call Elka and let them build one for you. My custom stage 2 was 500 bucks

mark

 

[pauly1]

I installed the Fox shocks, at less than retail, and love the way they ride and perform. Didn't need the heavier spring (which is adjustable, BTW) and didn't have to wait. I've got 1600 miles on them and love the ride.

Wayne

 

[Nemesis]

How does a stiffer shock improve the ride?

 

[Nyparrothead]

How does a sstiffer shock improve the ride?

No bottoming out, rebound control, better control... Again, the Sachs and upgraded Fox shock only have a 360lb or so spring according to Fox. When you add the weight of a avg weight rider riding 1 up and add the mass of the machine, you are already overloading the spring

now if you are a little chunky you are going to be bottoming out and your spine compressing

mark

 

[jcthorne]

No bottoming out, rebound control, better control... Again, the Sachs and upgraded Fox shock only have a 360lb or so spring according to Fox. When you add the weight of a avg weight rider riding 1 up and add the mass of the machine, you are already overloading the spring

now if you are a little chunky you are going to be bottoming out and your spine compressing

mark

The springs are rated in pounds per inch of compression, not total load. Both the Fox and Elka have adjustable preload to compensate for the weight of the driver. In the loaded position, you generally want the sprng/shock in the center of its travel if the rest of the suspension is designed properly.

The stock springs are not overloaded with the rated carrying capacity on the bike. The stock rear shock is not all that great though in controlling the spring.

 

[Nyparrothead]

The springs are rated in pounds per inch of compression, not total load. Both the Fox and Elka have adjustable preload to compensate for the weight of the driver. In the loaded position, you generally want the sprng/shock in the center of its travel if the rest of the suspension is designed properly.

The stock springs are not overloaded with the rated carrying capacity on the bike. The stock rear shock is not all that great though in controlling the spring.

We will have to disagree.. The stock shock is junk and the specs say the f3 has a usable load of just over 400 lbs. there is no preload on the Sachs oem and I am well under the the useable load of the machine and therei may as well not have been a shock on it. There are many other (avg ) size guys here that have the same issue and forget about two up.

Maek

 

[jcthorne]

We will have to disagree.. The stock shock is junk and the specs say the f3 has a usable load of just over 400 lbs. there is no preload on the Sachs oem and I am well under the the useable load of the machine and therei may as well not have been a shock on it. There are many other (avg ) size guys here that have the same issue and forget about two up.

Maek

You just agreed with me. I said the stock shock was junk. My point was that the SPRING was not overloaded and is indeed about the right rating. The stock spring IS preloaded. Try disassembling one sometime with out a spring compressor. Strike that, don't do it, it would be dangerous. There is no preload ADJUSTMENT on the stock shock, but there is a preset preload. IE the spring is not fully relaxed as installed. It would rattle in the mount if it were.

What is better about the Fox and Elka's are the SHOCKS, not the springs.

 

[1blackbeauty]

Alot more to the equation than just a spring. If you increase the spring then you need to change valving and/or add rebound control. Elka told me I needed at least a stage 4 for 400lbs+ on my F3. High and low speed compression is a better way to control bottoming out without over springing the shock. BRP warrantied my Sacks and gave me a credit towards the fox.

 

[pauly1]

You just agreed with me. I said the stock shock was junk. My point was that the SPRING was not overloaded and is indeed about the right rating. The stock spring IS preloaded. Try disassembling one sometime with out a spring compressor. Strike that, don't do it, it would be dangerous. There is no preload ADJUSTMENT on the stock shock, but there is a preset preload. IE the spring is not fully relaxed as installed. It would rattle in the mount if it were.

What is better about the Fox and Elka's are the SHOCKS, not the springs.

One can use whatever rationalization for one's purchase and please be satisfied with your selection.

As jcthorne stated springs are rated in force per displacement, in this case pounds per inch of displace. That's accumulative. 360 lbs will compress the spring 1 inch from its full uncompressed length. 720 lbs of load will compress another inch, or 2 inches from its full uncompressed length. The shock provides the damping or resistance to movement. Higher damping = more resistance which makes the ride feel stiffer given the same spring rate. A spring without damping with continue to oscillate until the energy dissipates due to friction and gravity.

Too much compression damping creates a stiffer ride. Too much rebound damping controls how fast the spring returns to the starting position. If it's set up too high and the vehicle travels over a series of bumps the springs may not have enough time to decompress, which then drives higher preload and stiffer response. In some cases the suspension can bottom out in that series of small bumps versus a massive pothole.

 

[Lamonster]

While at Spyderfest John from Elka helped me setup my 2.0 Podium rear shock. We adjust the spring preload and the slow speed rebound and high speed rebound. It took some trial and error but we got it right now. John never had anything bad to say about the Fox shock and to me that meant a lot.

 

[spacetiger]

To the OP, what bike do you have? Also, I didn't see the spring rate you changed to, can you post this?

I just switched the spring (Eibach 800 lb/in) in the rear on my 2012 RTS and find it is good for solo and 2 up. I set the preload using a coil over sleeve (but you could make a spacer) so with 2 up it gets close to bottoming out. I do not have to use the air bag.

Jerry

 

[Nyparrothead]

To the OP, what bike do you have? Also, I didn't see the spring rate you changed to, can you post this?

I just switched the spring (Eibach 800 lb/in) in the rear on my 2012 RTS and find it is good for solo and 2 up. I set the preload using a coil over sleeve (but you could make a spacer) so with 2 up it gets close to bottoming out. I do not have to use the air bag.

Jerry

Hi

I have an F3s Black and Chrome... i gave Elka my weight and they plugged it into there equation and I think it came back calling for an 800 lb dual rate spring. The stock Sachs and ungraded fox are both in the 360 range

i now have preload control and rebound control, something that a 24k bike didn't have... Sad if you ask me especially since the bike is built for two up riding and a useful load of over 400 lbs....

the he elka guys were great to feel with and it rides so much better. The service manual was a bit off on the procedure but it was not bad but could have used another hand



mark