Removing rear shock, to install new spring

i did that with a bimmer. looked nearly the same but only nearly.
front stand was a "not streering head?" type.
the ladder was 2 pipes "connected" with a strap.
and the lift position at the rear of the frame.
beware of the COG i say!
bike was one step from flipping over.

Is using the ladder that way bad luck? I would have to look at my stock rearset when I can dig them out. On other bikes without fixed begs we cut some keys to fix foldable pegs so you could use Jack stands or the like. Thumbs up on the creative solution.

me?
draw a line from hinge to hinge and imagine the COG,
and you see it is perfect. like CoolSparky did.
if the hinges are at the very end of the rearframe und the fork...bad luck is in reach
edit. and the "ladder" is made from two sticks

So once you get the shock out, what’s the process of removing the spring?

Go to 19 minutes:

I had to change the shock spring to 21040-26/85 and the forks to 8.5 for me 68 kg

Don't forget, your weight is only half the argument. Pace, and riding style, is the other half.

Ooof that was a faff. Swapped springs on my 22 V4S and it was not an easy job. I think the stock exhaust makes it 2x as hard as it should be. There’s minimal room to get the shock out of the swingarm and I had to resort to taking the plastic subframe cover (right above the shock) to make room. Though I do have to say that my subframe adapter worked a charm. Kept the rear wheel on. Had to bodge together a socket to capture the lower shock nut. Basically just clamped a vice grip on a 15 mm socket.



A few things to watch out for
- make sure your rear wheel chocked, bike is in gear, and the chain slack is taken out
- be careful raising the bike up too high as the rocker will interfere with w the exhaust

I had to raise the bike just to where the rocker kissed the exhaust and had to kind man handle it out.

When I got the shock compressed, I ran into trouble removing the spring collar after you remove the clip. Turns out the groove that the clip goes into created a ~5 micron lip and the collar wouldn’t slide over the end.



I gently filed the lip down using a fine ....... and Bob’s your uncle.

Swapped the stock 8.5 down to a 8 Nm spring and the bike feels more balanced w the 8.5/9 front spring for my weight. Returned the preload to the stock setting (18 mm thread showing from 12, I know that’s not the way you’re supposed to do it) and I noticed on my test ride the bike seems to turn in a bit quicker. Static sag was 13 mm from 17, not sure what rider sag is but I’m not sure I care to measure.

Anyway, working on this bike is terrible. I hate it.

BP PanigaleV4S said:

I did near the same thing with an 1199 in my old garage which had exposed ceiling joists. Nylon strap to support the bike. With the V4, with the stock cans you can use a bit of wood and a floor jack. With the full Akrapovic, a bit of a 4x4 on a floor jack on the rear suspension mount.


It's not all of the weight. The front is still supported.

Click to expand...

I tried the floor jack method today and couldn’t manage to get the shock out. The bike seemed a bit unstable on the floor jack coupled with a Pit Bull head stand. In the past I supported the bike on ceiling joists, but I don’t have that option in my current house. I was looking forward to getting my TTX in today too.

IDK, I've done it a few times without any drama. Do you have a pic of how you had it setup?

BP PanigaleV4S said:

IDK, I've done it a few times without any drama. Do you have a pic of how you had it setup?

Click to expand...

I didn’t snap one before reassembling the bike. I had wood on a jack under the OEM exhaust. Every time I jacked it up a few pumps, the Pit Bull rear stand wheels would begin to lift off the ground. It started making me nervous, so after trying a few different points on the exhaust, I decided not to push my luck. I may just run over to Bellisimoto tomorrow or Tuesday.

You had it when the rear stand wheels were unloaded. If you have fixed pegs and jacks stands tall enough you can do that as well.

BP PanigaleV4S said:

You had it when the rear stand wheels were unloaded. If you have fixed pegs and jacks stands tall enough you can do that as well.

Click to expand...

I have Gilles MUE2 rear sets, so I didn’t have that option because of the folding pegs. I suppose I could buy one of these if the shop rate is exorbitant:


Or an ABBA!

SuperDomestique said:

Ooof that was a faff. Swapped springs on my 22 V4S and it was not an easy job. I think the stock exhaust makes it 2x as hard as it should be. There’s minimal room to get the shock out of the swingarm and I had to resort to taking the plastic subframe cover (right above the shock) to make room. Though I do have to say that my subframe adapter worked a charm. Kept the rear wheel on. Had to bodge together a socket to capture the lower shock nut. Basically just clamped a vice grip on a 15 mm socket.

View attachment 49485View attachment 49486View attachment 49487

A few things to watch out for
- make sure your rear wheel chocked, bike is in gear, and the chain slack is taken out
- be careful raising the bike up too high as the rocker will interfere with w the exhaust

I had to raise the bike just to where the rocker kissed the exhaust and had to kind man handle it out.

When I got the shock compressed, I ran into trouble removing the spring collar after you remove the clip. Turns out the groove that the clip goes into created a ~5 micron lip and the collar wouldn’t slide over the end.

View attachment 49488

I gently filed the lip down using a fine ....... and Bob’s your uncle.

Swapped the stock 8.5 down to a 8 Nm spring and the bike feels more balanced w the 8.5/9 front spring for my weight. Returned the preload to the stock setting (18 mm thread showing from 12, I know that’s not the way you’re supposed to do it) and I noticed on my test ride the bike seems to turn in a bit quicker. Static sag was 13 mm from 17, not sure what rider sag is but I’m not sure I care to measure.

Anyway, working on this bike is terrible. I hate it.

Click to expand...

QUALITY!!!

andyb said:

QUALITY!!!

Click to expand...

Wow you’re criticizing a post of mine from a 1.5 yrs ago now. Quality. Stalk much?

look above idiot......the post came back to life at 3.31am today...... what's worse is your .... is still there.......injuneer innit!

I think SD should get credit for an entirely unique solution. No Panigales were killed in the process. Sometimes you just got to use what you have.

It's not a terrible idea, but I think there was some articulation of the rear suspension necessary to get the upper and lower bolts out. No reason you couldn't adjust the jack as needed of course.

That stand for $238 doesn't seem bad at all.

BP PanigaleV4S said:

It's not a terrible idea, but I think there was some articulation of the rear suspension necessary to get the upper and lower bolts out. No reason you couldn't adjust the jack as needed of course.

That stand for $238 doesn't seem bad at all.

Click to expand...

Yup. Can adjust the jack accordingly but just be very very careful about appropriately taking out the chain slack. I did the wrong side and the thing dropped 5 inches suddenly because I didn’t do it right. Would be good to chock the rear wheel tight like a tiger

Was easy, without wheel installed