Gen 1 wibers shock

[trimmantom]

I have a wibers 640 from my 04 and was wondering if anyone here has used one of these on a Gen3?
I just picked up a 13 model and was considering the swap if it will work.
Any input appreciated.

 

[trimmantom]

I have a wibers 640 from my 04 and was wondering if anyone here has used one of these on a Gen3?I just picked up a 13 model and was considering the swap if it will work.

Any input appreciated.

Wilbers Shock DA

 

[escapefjrtist]

Yep, direct swap.

--G

 

[SkooterG]

It will work. Many have done it. Supposedly it's not *ideal* as the swing arm length change that came with Gen II made things a bit different.

 

[MCRIDER007]

It will work. Many have done it. Supposedly it's not *ideal* as the swing arm length change that came with Gen II made things a bit different.

That is only half of the “not ideal” problem with transferring a GEN1 Wilber’s to a GEN2/3 swing arm. Wilber’s shocks come with very light springs and a excessive amount of preload to compensate for the light spring. My Wilber’s came with a 646 lb spring when a 800 spring is what I really needed. Adding the 800 lb spring was pretty easy but the shock should have been revalved to compensate for the heavier spring and the ride quality suffered unless I added another 50 lbs of weight. As such, the 800 spring was still much too light for riding 2-up.

Yamaha got its act together with the GEN3 shocks, both in terms of spring size and damping. If you put your Wilber’s on the ‘13, keep the old shock until you are sure the Wilber’s is an improvement. In my case it was not, I kept my 08 with Wilber’s for several months after I bought the ‘13, rode them back to back under different conditions multiple times, and eventually sold the 08 with the Wilber’s.

 

[trimmantom]

Yep, direct swap.
--G

Thank you Sir

 

[trimmantom]

It will work. Many have done it. Supposedly it's not *ideal* as the swing arm length change that came with Gen II made things a bit different.

That is only half of the “not ideal” problem with transferring a GEN1 Wilber’s to a GEN2/3 swing arm. Wilber’s shocks come with very light springs and a excessive amount of preload to compensate for the light spring. My Wilber’s came with a 646 lb spring when a 800 spring is what I really needed. Adding the 800 lb spring was pretty easy but the shock should have been revalved to compensate for the heavier spring and the ride quality suffered unless I added another 50 lbs of weight. As such, the 800 spring was still much too light for riding 2-up.

Yamaha got its act together with the GEN3 shocks, both in terms of spring size and damping. If you put your Wilber’s on the ‘13, keep the old shock until you are sure the Wilber’s is an improvement. In my case it was not, I kept my 08 with Wilber’s for several months after I bought the ‘13, rode them back to back under different conditions multiple times, and eventually sold the 08 with the Wilber’s.

Thank you for your input fellas.

 

[HotRodZilla]

The only year with a shorter swingarm was the '03. The rest are the same as every other year. I have a Wilbers off of a 2005 on my '07. It wasn't worth the damn until I had it rebuilt with a heavier spring. Now, its awesome. Tge adjustment is great and my bike has never felt better.

 

[MCRIDER007]

The only year with a shorter swingarm was the '03. The rest are the same as every other year. I have a Wilbers off of a 2005 on my '07. It wasn't worth the damn until I had it rebuilt with a heavier spring. Now, its awesome. Tge adjustment is great and my bike has never felt better.

Sorry Zilla but you missed the mark on the year of the swing arm length change. That happened in 2006 when the swing arm was lengthened by 35mm. The general rule of thumb was that the longer swing arm required a 50 lb heavier spring on the shock to have similar performance....one of the reasons a Wilbers off a 2005 didnt work very well on a 07.

 

[HotRodZilla]

The only year with a shorter swingarm was the '03. The rest are the same as every other year. I have a Wilbers off of a 2005 on my '07. It wasn't worth the damn until I had it rebuilt with a heavier spring. Now, its awesome. Tge adjustment is great and my bike has never felt better.

Sorry Zilla but you missed the mark on the year of the swing arm length change. That happened in 2006 when the swing arm was lengthened by 35mm. The general rule of thumb was that the longer swing arm required a 50 lb heavier spring on the shock to have similar performance....one of the reasons a Wilbers off a 2005 didnt work very well on a 07.

I could have sworn 2003 was the one that was different. Maybe I'm thinking of the rotors. Oh, well, whatever. Either way, 35mm isn't much, and after a proper rebuild, my Wilbers is great. Of course some of that was you helping me get that bad boy adjusted correctly in Red Lodge. After that, it's been great!!

 

[MCRIDER007]

The only year with a shorter swingarm was the '03. The rest are the same as every other year. I have a Wilbers off of a 2005 on my '07. It wasn't worth the damn until I had it rebuilt with a heavier spring. Now, its awesome. Tge adjustment is great and my bike has never felt better.

Sorry Zilla but you missed the mark on the year of the swing arm length change. That happened in 2006 when the swing arm was lengthened by 35mm. The general rule of thumb was that the longer swing arm required a 50 lb heavier spring on the shock to have similar performance....one of the reasons a Wilbers off a 2005 didnt work very well on a 07.

I could have sworn 2003 was the one that was different. Maybe I'm thinking of the rotors. Oh, well, whatever. Either way, 35mm isn't much, and after a proper rebuild, my Wilbers is great. Of course some of that was you helping me get that bad boy adjusted correctly in Red Lodge. After that, it's been great!!

I think you are giving me too much credit. As I recall, I talked...you listened, and sometime after Red Lodge you must have adjusted the shock. It’s good to hear that your adjustments worked.