shocks questions

[phantombiker]

hey fellas...have a couple questions...

1. do all tri z's have a gas charged rear shock or are they aftermarket??
2. are they expensive to replace?? my trikes rear end squats like a 3 dollar hooker after a gang bang catered by anheuser busch and white castles.
3. how expensive and difficult is it to rebuild the front forks?? they seem pretty soft.

not working on them yet but want some input so i know what to look forward to. thx for reading...Mark

[Yamaha_Rules69]

All the tri z rear shocks are nitrogen shocks. The rear shock is rebuildable, but is kinda tricky stuff, and should most likely be left to a professional. It could get spendy that way, and if the chrome is damaged on the shaft, it is pretty much junk anyways, so you could always replace it with a different one. A yamaha warrior shock bolts right on, and is almost identicle to the Z shock, besides the different resovoir, and shorter hose. You just have to make a cushion for it with a piece of rubber, and hose clamp it to the frame.
The front forks are very easy to rebuild, and will probly cost around 25 dollars (or less) to rebuild if you do it yourself. Read in the service manual, and it tells you how to do it. You dont really need any special tools except for a allen wrench, and an angled snap ring pliers. I use a long piece of pvc pipe, and the old seal on top of the new one for a cushion - as a seal driver. I havent had a set of seals not hold yet doing it this way. Good luck!

[phantombiker]

All the tri z rear shocks are nitrogen shocks. The rear shock is rebuildable, but is kinda tricky stuff, and should most likely be left to a professional. It could get spendy that way, and if the chrome is damaged on the shaft, it is pretty much junk anyways, so you could always replace it with a different one. A yamaha warrior shock bolts right on, and is almost identicle to the Z shock, besides the different resovoir, and shorter hose. You just have to make a cushion for it with a piece of rubber, and hose clamp it to the frame.
The front forks are very easy to rebuild, and will probly cost around 25 dollars (or less) to rebuild if you do it yourself. Read in the service manual, and it tells you how to do it. You dont really need any special tools except for a allen wrench, and an angled snap ring pliers. I use a long piece of pvc pipe, and the old seal on top of the new one for a cushion - as a seal driver. I havent had a set of seals not hold yet doing it this way. Good luck!

thx for the advice, bro. do i need to remove the forks first?? not to ask a stupid question...

[Yamaha_Rules69]

Yes, you do need to remove them first. READ THE SERVICE MANUAL NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Xfile]

The 85-851/2 tri-z had very soft fork springs from the factory....If your fork seals are not leaking, try flushing the forks out with some good fork oil, refill with a heavier weight fork oil and add a 3/4" - 1" spacer above the fork spring (between the fork spring and fork cap). It will firm up the forks a bit and is a cheaper alternative to progressive rate springs.....the progressive rate springs do work better though. Make sure the fork seals are good before trying this..

[cr480r]

I am about to do some work on mine what oil weight do you guys use in the rear? What oil weight and height for the front?

[Xfile]

I have not done anything to my rear shock yet...but I'm using 20W PJ1 fork oil and it seems to work well.

[phantombiker]

I am about to do some work on mine what oil weight do you guys use in the rear? What oil weight and height for the front?

good question, bro!! i dont have a service manual to go by.

[Xfile]

FB,

the standard fork oil amount is 334cc's per fork tube with 10wt fork oil. I am using 350cc's of 20wt oil per tube with the spacers...It works well to firm up stock suspension. My good tri-Z is running 350cc of 20wt with progressive springs....this works better but a set of progressive springs will cost you around $75.---I should add that the stock fork oil amount I have listed is for 1985-1985 1/2 models....the 86 had larger diameter forks, so I would assume the specs are different on them. I am also running an 86 tri-z rear shock spring on my stock 85 shock...it seams a little stiffer than my stock 85 spring....but that could be my imagination