Ben Hur shock studs: mystery #2.

[Hotblack]

So what is the deal with these shock studs anyway? The guy I got this from put the bike together with the manual and whatever photos he could find, but he was stumped on how the shocks went on. This is what he came up with, they look like home made spacers. I allegedly have every part that he got with the bike, some not attached (more on that later!) but nothing looks like it goes there. He went to the dealer for help but came up empty there too. They seem to line up fine, is there any problem with running them this way? The shock eyes look to be a standard size, same as my 550, which I might add has quite reasonable shock studs on it. Am I supposed to attach spinning knives on the ends of these in the event that I see Scotty coming up in my mirrors??

[Anonymous]

I think he lost a dozen washers at some point. You just stack the washers up on either side of the shock in order to get it even. They are long so that you can put a carrier on the back of the bike. The spacer should be find, there isn't any sideways motion on the swingarm unless the bearings are shot.

Cheers, Steve

[Hotblack]

Thanks. You say the method is to stack the washers on either side, so the shock should be in the middle of the stud? This causes no extra stress on it? If this is the case I probably ought to put washers on, because these are right next to the frame (I think with one washer in between) and are probably slightly misaligned.

[Anonymous]

I had one of my shocks off a few days ago and the bottom stud only had one inside washer. I really don't think there's a problem with having one or none. For some reason Suzuki didn't make the machined shock area on the studs as wide as the shock bushing so you can't really help it anyway. You'll be fine if the shocks are straight up and down.

Steve

[Hotblack]

Coolness. Arigato.