FJRocket
Doctor Throckenstein !!!
Santa came just in time, in his big brown sleigh. Look what he brung me:
The CNC elves at GP Suspension included a nifty little bracket for the remote reservoir:
Time to head out to the garage and drop out that POS stock shock and install the Sweetness of Penske and GP Suspension!!!! :yahoo: Thanks YET AGAIN Warchild for the GB!!!!!!!!!!!! :wubsmiley:
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Warchild has posted some great instructions to help. There's a link to them in the 4th post below. Also, there's more info on shock removal and installs on FJRTech.com .
Get the bike on the centerstand. Jam a 2x4 under the tire. Shim as necessary to support your wheel/shock. A standard 2x4 is almost perfect for me.
BTW, that's an AVON STORM on my AE, if you wanted to see what the tread design looks like.
Remove the seat, the tank fairing, both side covers, and the outer airbox cover.
On the AE, you do most of the shock removal just like the A and the first gen bikes. Refer to Warchild's installation/removal info on FJRTech.com . Only AE difference is that you have to drop the auto shifter servo down out of the way. Just remove the two allen bolts and drop it down. You can remove the shift arm/rod ends if you want, but it isn't necessary.
It take some doing, but you CAN get a 17MM socket under the ABS on the AE/A. When I removed the bolt, I had to "coax" the whole ABS system up a bit to get the bolt out from under the frame.
Drop the dogbones, drop the shock. You only need to remove the upper dog bone bolt and the shock bolt. Then the rest of the mechanism swings out of the way.
Hope you already removed the 3 10mm bolts holding the soft/hard switch, because it's easier to get the shock out that way. BTW, there are two wire connectors on the electronic doodad under the ABS mechanism that have to be removed to get the soft/hard cables out of the way. I'd hook those two connectors right back up after you drop the soft/hard switch.
This is what I found when I pulled the dogbones bolt out:
Had to dress it up, clean in off and moly the crap out of the bolt before putting it back.
The Penske is easier to get up in the frame that the Wilbers. But I used the foam wrapping around the reservoir during shipping and taped it back on before feeding the reservoir up through.
Once I had the reservoir resting on the swing arm, I set the shock up in, I dropped the lower shock bolt back through. Then I pushed the shock up and set a quart paint can and a 2x4 block under it. The shock upper bolt sleeve is just about right where it should be. The sleeve was a minor ***** to position.
After that, put the spacer back in the hole on the right side of the bike. THEN feed the top bolt back through to the right side. I actually had to tap mine through. That Penske top shock bolt sleeve must be a wee bit tight. I torqued down the top bolt and left the rest of the lower shock/dog bones hardware to finish up at the very last.
I took out the two allen bolts holding the right exhaust can support. The long part of the GP Suspension bracket bolts BEHIND the frame and bracket. The nylock nuts provided with the kit are tight against the inner plastic fender, so it's easier to get them started if you have them over the holes as you thread the longer GPS provided allen bolts through the support/frame/bracket. The third hole in the bracket is for another application (like a 2003 - 2005 FJR).
Lastly, I fed the hoop bracket over the Penske reservoir and mounted the hoop onto the GPS bracket. Very nice. Only problem with my mounting is that the res is upside down. I tried to twist the line, but I'm going to have to take a wrench to the hydraulic fitting and rotate it 180 degrees if I want to put the gold knob at the top of the res.
The right side cover goes on and off no problem with the reservoir in place. Before buttoning up the left side of the bike, it's a good time to service your air filter.
The CNC elves at GP Suspension included a nifty little bracket for the remote reservoir:
Time to head out to the garage and drop out that POS stock shock and install the Sweetness of Penske and GP Suspension!!!! :yahoo: Thanks YET AGAIN Warchild for the GB!!!!!!!!!!!! :wubsmiley:
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Warchild has posted some great instructions to help. There's a link to them in the 4th post below. Also, there's more info on shock removal and installs on FJRTech.com .
Get the bike on the centerstand. Jam a 2x4 under the tire. Shim as necessary to support your wheel/shock. A standard 2x4 is almost perfect for me.
BTW, that's an AVON STORM on my AE, if you wanted to see what the tread design looks like.
Remove the seat, the tank fairing, both side covers, and the outer airbox cover.
On the AE, you do most of the shock removal just like the A and the first gen bikes. Refer to Warchild's installation/removal info on FJRTech.com . Only AE difference is that you have to drop the auto shifter servo down out of the way. Just remove the two allen bolts and drop it down. You can remove the shift arm/rod ends if you want, but it isn't necessary.
It take some doing, but you CAN get a 17MM socket under the ABS on the AE/A. When I removed the bolt, I had to "coax" the whole ABS system up a bit to get the bolt out from under the frame.
Drop the dogbones, drop the shock. You only need to remove the upper dog bone bolt and the shock bolt. Then the rest of the mechanism swings out of the way.
Hope you already removed the 3 10mm bolts holding the soft/hard switch, because it's easier to get the shock out that way. BTW, there are two wire connectors on the electronic doodad under the ABS mechanism that have to be removed to get the soft/hard cables out of the way. I'd hook those two connectors right back up after you drop the soft/hard switch.
This is what I found when I pulled the dogbones bolt out:
Had to dress it up, clean in off and moly the crap out of the bolt before putting it back.
The Penske is easier to get up in the frame that the Wilbers. But I used the foam wrapping around the reservoir during shipping and taped it back on before feeding the reservoir up through.
Once I had the reservoir resting on the swing arm, I set the shock up in, I dropped the lower shock bolt back through. Then I pushed the shock up and set a quart paint can and a 2x4 block under it. The shock upper bolt sleeve is just about right where it should be. The sleeve was a minor ***** to position.
After that, put the spacer back in the hole on the right side of the bike. THEN feed the top bolt back through to the right side. I actually had to tap mine through. That Penske top shock bolt sleeve must be a wee bit tight. I torqued down the top bolt and left the rest of the lower shock/dog bones hardware to finish up at the very last.
I took out the two allen bolts holding the right exhaust can support. The long part of the GP Suspension bracket bolts BEHIND the frame and bracket. The nylock nuts provided with the kit are tight against the inner plastic fender, so it's easier to get them started if you have them over the holes as you thread the longer GPS provided allen bolts through the support/frame/bracket. The third hole in the bracket is for another application (like a 2003 - 2005 FJR).
Lastly, I fed the hoop bracket over the Penske reservoir and mounted the hoop onto the GPS bracket. Very nice. Only problem with my mounting is that the res is upside down. I tried to twist the line, but I'm going to have to take a wrench to the hydraulic fitting and rotate it 180 degrees if I want to put the gold knob at the top of the res.
The right side cover goes on and off no problem with the reservoir in place. Before buttoning up the left side of the bike, it's a good time to service your air filter.
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