removing forks and shocks - tips?

[sbeec]

I've got a 02 250C and I'm going to remove my Ohlins forks and shock for maintenance. First time removal for me on this bike - any tips or lessons learned for me??

thanks, Rich

[stainlesscycle]

the forks are easy. very straight forward. the shock can be a a pain. pipe needs to come off, rear wheel needs to come off. once you get everything loose, 'supposedly' you can finagle the shock out dependent upon the height of the swingarm... i've always had problems with this method and end up looseneing subframe, removing carb, etc...

[rgranger]

After Girard, GasGasMan, said that it could be done, I was able to get my shock off without removing the sides or subframe. Need to get the bike up high so that you can move the swingarm some to get room, but it does come out without pulling the damn filter boot, damn that was hard to get back on!!!

[GMP]

The pipe needs to come off on mine, silencer alone will not do it. Even so I sctatched the hell out of the powdercoat on my spring. All i needed was another mm or so so its likely a tolerance thing and works better on some bikes than others.

Another way, not neccessarily the best but an option, is to do it separate from the spring as long as the rings/body threads are clean. If you have a setup like my Sachs where the spring is slightly preloaded with the rings backed all the way out its a PIA. Otherwise, you can drop the spring through the swingarm first and then you have a lot more room to wiggle the shock out. This is also great for a spring only change.

[sbeec]

well -I guess I'll dig into it and work on it...
thanks for the reply- I'll post my results.

[nambo-trev]

i just took my shock out yesterday and there was no way i was getting the ttx out without the swing arm removed. its not to big a deal to take the swing arm off, takes an extra 15 minutes and you can check out your linkage and swingarm bearings while its off!

[sbeec]

thanks again- I've ridden my old twins shocks (yes, 83 husky and vintage MX) so long that this will be the first linkage set up for me. Just something new to me.

I'm digging in tonight !!

[sbeec]

well - that was pretty easy.....really...

Forks - straight forward as noted earlier. Only question is on the right side of the front axle is the pentagon shape inside the axle.

Back end - remove seat; side panels....then gas tank and rear sub frame - silencer of course - THAT's IT!

The the top shock bolt, rear bolt of the lower dog bone link, pivot the dog bone down which opens access to the lower shock bolt. Pop that bolt and the shock goes right up and out of the swing arm.
swing arms stays on and everything. here's the pics......

opps - I'll have to resize the photos - tomorrow......0430 comes early ......

[motogroove]

Mounted my new shock spring last night.

On a 2001, no need to undo the dogbones. Remove the top bolt first. Lift the swingarm and observe the height in the swingarm travel where you can get a socket on the bottom bolt by going above the dogbone and below the swingarm. A one gallon paint can under the rear wheel holds it just about the right height for good access.

[sbeec]

I thought about lifting the tire/rotate swingarm but my front tire and forks are off so it was quite unstable. I'll work that method next time. Thanks