Installing a not-exactly-stock shock

This is a companion piece to this article.

This article will demonstrate some of the modifications necessary to install a Fox shock with a piggyback reservoir design (the oil reservoir is attached to the top of the shock). The process should be similar with other shocks. (See here for instructions on the ZX600 shock). Fewer mods will likely be necessary if you can get a Fox with a remote reservoir.

This shock is a Fox TC-R from a '99 GSXR750. Right picture shows both shocks. OEM is the wimpy-looking one.

The owner sent it to Aftershocks for an oil change, a spring that fit his weight, a nitrogen recharge, and to have the seals checked. Then it was time to make it fit. The following modifications were made before the Dremel came out:

• The upper mounting bolt from the Ninja did not fit through the new upper mounting hole of the Fox shock. Both upper mounting holes were measured at 1" with the sleeves out, so the upper mounting sleeve from the 250 shock was moved into the Fox shock upper mounting hole.
• The lower mount bolt hole on the Fox Shock was too small in diameter, but was easily drilled out to fit the 250 lower mount bolt.
• The lower mount of the Fox Shock (U shaped part, aka the clevis, not the bolt hole) was 1/16" narrower than the 250 lower mount U piece. A little grinding took care of the problem. For such mounting issues, grind before bending. You can take some off the shock linkage, the clevis, or both. 1/16th of an inch isn't much when you consider being able to take from 4 surfaces.

Now comes the actual fitment. Because this shock has a mounted reservoir, the extra bracket that mounts from the upper shock mount to the battery box had to be removed. Before photos:

And after:

The fuse box bracket on the right side also had to be cut away a little for the right side of the reservoir to clear. Other normal things to do for this type of shock to work are pod filters and cutting away part of the battery box. With a little creativity and elbow grease you should be able to make your bike handle much better.

Unfortunately, after the shock was installed a small crack was found that allowed oil to leak out and wouldn't hold the proper pressure.

The only thing to do was to send it back to Aftershocks to have a line added and make the reservoir remote, since Fox no longer makes shocks for street bikes.

The reservoir creates another small installation problem. You have to find a decent place to put it, which isn't too hard, as there are several good candidates. This one ended up under the tank, above the air filter pods.

See here for notes on installing a GSXR shock.