Changing out rear spring ES

Johnwesley

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2020
Messages
233
Location
Mena, Ar
I decided it was time to get the rear spring changes and make my ES more usable. As it is now the setting has to be at two helmets to keep from bottoming and the damping set to normal for good handling. I do not have any luggage on the bike yet, but I do have some ordered. Issue is at that point I will be maxed out solo with gear and may still to have enough spring. I decided to go done the Eibach trail with spacer. Based on my calculations I will be about where I a, at not but with preload set on solo rider. Hopes are this will allow my ES to function well with my weight of 220. I found the Lazy R machine shop who specializes in one off stuff and was happy to make the spacer for me. I went with 8mm thickness to make sure and not his coil bind when fully loaded and two up. Pluse I like less preload than most mixed with a bit heavier spring. I find it works better for the g-out situation and plusher over all. Hope to get to work on the install tomorrow.

 

Johnwesley

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2020
Messages
233
Location
Mena, Ar
Working that rear shock out the bottom is a puzzle, but doable. Working the swing arm helps out a lot. Starting with it all the way down and then movin it all the way up as the shock is lowered helps a lot. Don’t have numbers yet but did some normal off road g outs and steps without bottoming set on one up preload. That’s a big improvement but I’ll reserve final verdict until I get some real time on it. Spacer fit great and all went together easy.







 

Johnwesley

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2020
Messages
233
Location
Mena, Ar
Went for a ride today and have one planed for New Years out to Little Missouri Falls. The spring is working very well for me. The ride feels more plush and conforms to the terrain better. I can tell the rebound is not enough to control the spring in the low setting. For me this is good since you can dial the ride in the way you would like. Right now I have soft +3 and this is nice for slow fs roads and the like, if the pace picks up then normal works and for aggressive cornering hard works well. There is still fine tuning available for the norm and hard, that will get tuned in with some more riding. I’m happy with this setup as is for now. I’ll report back as the miles pile up. The ES is super nice to have an dail what you want as you ride.
 

Ss1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
414
Location
Russia, Moscow
Вытащить задний амортизатор снизу - это головоломка, но выполнимая.
By the way, I pulled out the shock absorber from above. It needs to be twisted and it comes out great.
 

Chalk

New Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
Messages
15
Hi Guys, looking for the dimensions of the stock spring in the ES.
lm going to go for a stiffer spring and don’t want to have to pull mine apart for dimensions.
cheers
 

Chalk

New Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
Messages
15
Thanks for the info, do you happen to know if it’s the same for the 2020 Es model?
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,516
Location
Ventura, CA
Thanks for the info, do you happen to know if it’s the same for the 2020 Es model?
Not sure but Yamaha has not stated any changes since 2014. You could go to one of on-line parts sites and compare part numbers across years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Chalk

New Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
Messages
15
2014 to 2019 the numbers have changed, can’t seem to find any detail.
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,516
Location
Ventura, CA
2014 to 2019 the numbers have changed, can’t seem to find any detail.
It occurs to me that Yamaha will change the part number if the spring is a different color, so maybe that's not the best way to compare them after all.
 

Chalk

New Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
Messages
15
Things would be so much easier in a world where dealers give a shit and manufacturers understand customer servic.
 
B

ballisticexchris

Guest
What a pain n the rear!! Getting the shock out was not so hard. Changing the spring was a major ordeal. I used the Tusk compressors. I greased the crap out of the threads and they still were really hard to compress the spring. The plastic inserts for the teeth broke and I ended up just using the metal to grab the spring.

It was spooky to compress Eibach and I ended up barely getting it in. I was waiting for it to launch at any time. Both the Tusk tools broke and one blew up and slipped off the spring while loosening the tension. It is together but the spring is scratched to hell and tool is destroyed. I had a feeling it was going to break. I'm glad I was anticipating it and standing clear when it shot across the garage.

I blame and kick myself in the butt for using cheap crappy tools. In the future I'll be either getting a proper shop tool or take it to a local suspension shop for the swap.

This is what I was going to buy:

motion pro.jpg

I will never ever again use cobbled up crap or cheap tools to compress springs. I have this Motion Pro tool in my wish list and will be purchasing it for the next spring change. Also will be getting the Race Tech fork spring compressor if I ever decide to service the forks.

This homemade junk with tie downs and plates to compress fork springs or cheap ass tools to save a buck are not the answer when working with springs. Lesson learned!!
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,516
Location
Ventura, CA
Interesting. Sorry you had issues with the compressors. I've done four bikes with my Tusk compressors and they are ready for more. Yeah the little plastic covers on the jaws broke by the second or third time I used them but mine came with spares. Agreed, that they are hard to turn, even with the threads greased up (I did that too), that's why I clamped one in my vise. Doing so conveniently held the whole assembly in place while I worked the compressors back and forth. I honestly scratched the spring up worse getting the shock back into the bike.Compressor.jpg
 
B

ballisticexchris

Guest
Yes Jeff, I did just like you are showing and also used a big crescent wrench to hold other one. Mine came with the spare plastic but I did not bother. In the past I had cooler nuts that I loosened and was able to remove the spring. This ES stuff is all new to me. Got it done though!! Good news is no error codes. I will be measuring sag today or tomorrow and I'll post up the results in Karls thread.

Oh a little tip for getting shock out is to turn bottom clevis almost 90 degrees as you are pulling out the shock. Makes it easier.
 
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