Neither do I so I put the bike on the centre stand and then put a tree stump under the frame to lift the weight off of the front...worked quite well actually! I was quite surprised!
You can take the weight off the front wheel by: 1. Using a trolley jack under the engine towards the front of the bike - the bike will pivot downwards at the back raising the front wheel off the ground; 2. If you have strong enough garage ceiling beams, using straps round the handlebars and attached to the beams lift the front end up.
Matt, I've got the springs and rear shocks now, but still feeling apprehensive: 1. Did you have any issue removing or refitting the fork nuts due to them being under pressure from the spring? 2. Do I need to remove the rear exhaust to swap the rear shock? For some reason there's no instructions with these - maybe the job is really simple!
Taking the fork nuts was fine...you should try and get the pressure off of the forks BUT I hadn't completely so just held onto the wrench to stop it shooting off and it was fine. When putting back on it was easy, made sure the front wheel was off the ground and only had to apply minimal pressure on the bolt. For the rear, yes you'll need to take the end can off of the exhaust. This is easy, I changed my end cans for TORS the first week I had the bike and was amazed how easy they come on and off. To fit you just then take the two bolts out , remove shock and replace with new and torque up the bolts! Do one at a time so the other one holds the back end up. Hope that helps! Who knew I'd be handing out advice! Good luck, just take it slow! I wrote my own instructions from Delboy's videos to make sure I had properly taken in what I had to do and on the most part nothing went wrong!
Just jack up the bike, only enough to take the weight of the bike then put some wood or something to support it, and only do one fork leg at a time, that way the forks won't 'collapse'...
Considering adding TECs to my Thruxton but how much are people paying their insurers to update their policies with upgraded suspension?
Hi creaky, a suspension upgrade doesn't warrant a hike in insurance, they are just interested in engine performance increase and knickability Ie big custom paint job or showy, pricey mods, I disclosed all my mods, exhausts, paint, airbox AI and lamda sensor removal and new hagon shocks and they said they made no difference. Probably will if I try to claim though!!, so ask them if they hike it go elsewhere.
Hey Matt, I've just bought the TEC rear gas shocks and progressive fork springs. But, I'm a total mechanic newbie.... So here my questions. Do I need a specific thread lock product? Do I need a specific torque wrench product? Prices can vary quite a lot, and I guess I would need the whole set. If you have any recommendations on good quality / price products I would be grateful. Also, did you have to cut the fork shims to fit the new spring? Cheers Matthieu
Probably no increase on a new policy but when I rang Carole Nash this morning regarding my existing policy it was classed as a change of spec that would incur a £40 admin fee. To fit and not declare they told me would invalidate the policy in the event of a claim. Just wondered if anyone else had declared and been charged or were fitting them oblivious to the potential problem? Certainly when I took out my policy they were happy with all my other mods, i.e. fork gaiters, knee pads on the tank, arrow exhausts, etc.
Hey Matt, Any sort of lock tight would be fine and I'm not sure re torque wrench...I can't remember which one I have. I bought a generic tool set with a big set of sockets in and then the wrench separately. Didn't have to cut anything to fit new springs as they are only slightly longer than original! Hope that helps!
It is easy to do because as I've said previously...I'm useless at this stuff and have managed! It's a great feeling when it's finished and you've done the work though!
I'm sure you did - I'm also looking forward to do it by myself. I'm now hesitating between renting a workshop for 1-2 hrs and investing in tools, because I don't have a garage nor a real space to do it at the moment. Eventually I will get the whole tool kit and try to minimise the wallet damage
I'd probably say the workshop for now just so you have everything you need there! I'm lucky enough to have my father-in-laws unused garage at my disposal so make all my mess there!
Yes, you are lucky . I live in North London, Islington. Soon (if the weather allows it...) I'll take the A3, I heard it is a nice ride down there, and there is a nice long tunnel too... I love tunnels with the Arrow
The a3 is a boring dual carriageway but there are loads of nice roads down round this way! When you come down let me know as I'm a minute off the a3!! The hindhead tunnel is a bit of fun to my the bike shout in!