New Shocks, and A Wee Little Problem With the Scrambler, On Thursday

The stock shock absorbers on the Scramblers are deficient from Day 1, as far as I'm concerned, and my bike has nearly 12,000 miles on it (most on the stock shocks, some on an undersprung pair of Progressives). The damping is so light, that the shocks act more like pogo sticks than anything else. But, quality replacements are way too expensive, for the most part. Ohlins reservoir shocks start at $750, and things ge more expensive, from there. So, when I saw these no-name (probably Chinese) reservoir shocks on eBay, at an affordable price, I pulled the trigger.

Of course, due to the fact that I am running the stock muffler shells (though modified, internally), there was no clearance for the nitrogen reservoir, on the drive side, unless I turned the reservoirs to the front. I don't like the look of it, but it doesn't affect the performance of the shock, and I can live with it until I figure out some way to run them in the racier, reservoir-to-the-back, position.

I think that they would work with my D&D cans, but the straight-flow exhaust is just too loud to suit me. Maybe I can come up with some way to baffle them...

After I installed the shocks, I lowered the bike and took the lift out from under it. After adjusting the spring preload, I took a spin around the block to check the ride out. The shocks felt fine. But, this greeted me, in my driveway, when I returned:

I had left a trail of motor oil from my driveway, all the way around the block, and back to my driveway. Oops!

 All I can figure is that the lift must have contacted the nut on the K&N oil filter, and broke the seal on the welded cap. I have had a small drip from the filter, for a while, and was planning on replacing it, soon, anyway. But, at 4:00 pm on the day before a holiday, I went into Emergency Mode, and hightailed it to Performance Motorcycle.

I got to Performance in plenty of time, and bought a gallon of oil, and a filter ($120.00, by the way!), and came home to change the oil and replace the filter.

While I was at it, I broke out the soy-based solvent and cleaned the rear tire, including the spaces inside the tread. What a PITA...

I had the bike fixed before band practice, and rode it around yesterday, with no further problems. I can tell a big difference in how the bike rides and handles, with the new boingers on the back. The shocks are rebuildable, so I am hoping that I can make them last a while. I just can't really come up with three-quarters of  thousand dollars for the Ohlins...

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