To start the day I ended up breaking down the rear tire and trying to figure out why I had to use so many weights (3 1/2 oz) on the tire balance? My father in law made fun of me saying " Its going to be like viet nam with all the lead flying by when you drive by..." I broke the tire down and rotated it half way around with the yellow mark opposite the valve stem...aired her up...balanced her again...still had to used like 3 oz of weights...called Ryan at Ryca and he said to break the tire down and rotate it again...should not have to use more than an ounce of weights...so I marked the tire in 4 quarters...broke the tire down...and spun the tire around...and that did it! Only had to used 3/16 of an ounce to balance the tire perfectly...so lesson learned for all of you guys out their that are going to mount your own tire...the mark on the tire does not always mean that it should be placed at the valve stem...just saying
Got the kick stand all set up thanks to Ryca.com...
Showing how I lift the bike up on my pull up bar...props to Tony Horton and P90X!
Steps to lowing the front shocks...Step 1 - tear down the handle bars
Step 2 - remove the caps....
Step 3 - remove the shocks, blinkers, etc
Step 4 - pour out the old oil...remove spacer, washer, and spring...note that the progressive side of the spring is at the top of the fork...
Step 5 - make your own tools to remove the damper rods in the forks...you have to weld a 24 mm nut head to a rod so that you can remove the guts of the shock...I did not figure this out myself...Ryca will sell you the tool for $40 bucks...I made it for $1.60 nut at Ace.
Step 6 - used the new tool and an allen head to remove the damper rod...In the last picture you can see where the 24mm nut head goes to into the damper rod...
Step 7 - cut a spacer to lower the front end...I used schedule 40 PVC..Ryca used aluminum tubing...I have seen on the net where people used gas pipe...I saw a youtube video where representatives from progressive shocks where using PVC so that is what I did...
Step 8 - put recycled oil back into forks or use automatic transmission fluid...I ended up using the recycled oil in one shock and had to go to Autozone for transmission fluid for the other side...did not have enough...Ryca suggest that you pull the shock up as far as you can get it...where the spring is at the top of the shock before you place the spacer in...fill the fork to the top and that is the correct amount.
Step 9 - put the caps back on...they were tough...used and 1" 1/2 socket...would have been impossible without the socket...very hard to get back on but do'able! Don't forget to put the clip on's and the blinkers if you are using them...
What a day...Spent all day in the garage...love it! For those of you that are wondering, I am a teacher and off for summer break...regardless the house needs painting...have projects galore...but I just can not get enough of my S40! I feel like a little Wiz Khalifa to end the day "Work hard Play hard!"