I have an R1 shock on my '08 in AZ, and HAD one on the GREEN HORNET (which died last summer), but re-installed the OEM shock before the insurance company got the '09, keeping the R1 shock, and I wanted it on my GREEN HORNET TOO even tho' the NEW shock is PDG....
Last year I TRIED to replace the stocker, but didn't want to cut off the frame bracket that the remote adjuster attaches to at THAT time, so I put it back to stock, even tho' that involved MOST of two days in the garage-shop!
I decided to get back in there, cut-off the offending piece, and mount my R1 shock, so Wednesday I put the bike on stands and started removing stuff (all BECAUSE Kawasaki has wrapped the hydraulic line between the remote adjuster and shock around the frame, necessitating pretty much stripping MOST stuff off it.
I posted up about this last year so I won't duplicate the posts, but start w/ this pic of the shock FINALLY close to where it can be removed.
This is the piece you need to cut-off as it will 'foul' the reservoir on the shock ALMOST immediately when it compresses.
Here's a view looking directly AT the piece from the right side of the V.
There's the main wiring harness running just above this, so you'll need to be very vigilant at holding it out of harms-way when cutting (I used two different air cut-offs for this job), and here's a view from above of the first cut,
and here's a view of the second (horizontal) cut.
There's NOT a lot of room in there, so I got the cuts to where I could move the piece back-and-forth till it broke loose, dressed the sharp edges w/ a file, then added some Tremclad paint to the bare metal.
To support the bike while removing the shock I used this piece I made from some scrap lumber to 'cradle' the muffler
and used it on top of my large car-jack like this (pics from working on my Gen 1 V)
and w/ the rear supported on a stand, it ONLY needs a SLIGHT lift to un-load the shock bolts, and easily remove the shock (AFTER untangling that hydraulic line I mentioned earlier). THUS, after spending HOURS getting to this point, now replacing shocks is a 30 minute job, MOST of which is setting-up various supports/ jacks....
Here's a pic of the R1 shock installed - NOW all I needed to do was to replace all the stuff I'd HAD to remove to get in there, another 5 or 6 hours!
And here's a pic taken 5 or 6 hours later....
Last year I TRIED to replace the stocker, but didn't want to cut off the frame bracket that the remote adjuster attaches to at THAT time, so I put it back to stock, even tho' that involved MOST of two days in the garage-shop!
I decided to get back in there, cut-off the offending piece, and mount my R1 shock, so Wednesday I put the bike on stands and started removing stuff (all BECAUSE Kawasaki has wrapped the hydraulic line between the remote adjuster and shock around the frame, necessitating pretty much stripping MOST stuff off it.
I posted up about this last year so I won't duplicate the posts, but start w/ this pic of the shock FINALLY close to where it can be removed.
This is the piece you need to cut-off as it will 'foul' the reservoir on the shock ALMOST immediately when it compresses.
Here's a view looking directly AT the piece from the right side of the V.
There's the main wiring harness running just above this, so you'll need to be very vigilant at holding it out of harms-way when cutting (I used two different air cut-offs for this job), and here's a view from above of the first cut,
and here's a view of the second (horizontal) cut.
There's NOT a lot of room in there, so I got the cuts to where I could move the piece back-and-forth till it broke loose, dressed the sharp edges w/ a file, then added some Tremclad paint to the bare metal.
To support the bike while removing the shock I used this piece I made from some scrap lumber to 'cradle' the muffler
and used it on top of my large car-jack like this (pics from working on my Gen 1 V)
and w/ the rear supported on a stand, it ONLY needs a SLIGHT lift to un-load the shock bolts, and easily remove the shock (AFTER untangling that hydraulic line I mentioned earlier). THUS, after spending HOURS getting to this point, now replacing shocks is a 30 minute job, MOST of which is setting-up various supports/ jacks....
Here's a pic of the R1 shock installed - NOW all I needed to do was to replace all the stuff I'd HAD to remove to get in there, another 5 or 6 hours!
And here's a pic taken 5 or 6 hours later....