[NMKawierider]

Nope..no pics. It may be too large. Resize it to below 640x480. Jason said we are already out of room on the server but maybe we can get a few smaller pics in. That or email them to me and I'll use some of my space. nmkawierider1@comcast.net

[doug80638]

File size is 0 kb.

[Hrc630]

I have try to upload with my iPhone and it don’t work

[glenlivet]

Is there any way to buy just springs to replace the ones on the cfmoto shocks?

These guys probably could, given the specs that Hrc630 provided above.
I bought springs from them before, respringing some 450R gas shocks for use on my King Quad. Good product.

https://www.hygearsuspension.com/pages/springs

[Hrc630]

Yes the Elka work directly on the CF shocks.

You can buy the spring directly from ELKA for 90$/each or pay a lot less on ebay for some 225 lbs by 10 spring

[Hrc630]

I can have 2 ELKA ELITE fully ajustable for about the same price as mine. They are 19 1/4 and ready to go. With a small shock spacer on eBay they will be perfect for the rear of a ZForce.
If someone are interested just txt me (514) 913-3446

[glenlivet]

Doing spring pre-riding season maintenance and I had a chance to look at the rear suspension in greater detail. I found to my surprise that when I looked at the exposed rod of the rear shock, with the back end suspended in the air, shocks at full hang, the amount of rod exposed appeared to be (being generous) from the top of the rubber bumper to the cylinder end, about 2 1/2 inches! This is remarkably little stroke in my experience, for a shock as long as this one is.



So I measured the suspension arm from frame attachment point to shock attachment point. 6 3/4 inches.



From the shock mount to the outer knuckle pin is 2 1/2 inches (not pictured) So the shock mount point is more than 2/3 the distance out from the frame pivot, meaning that with a shock travel of 2 1/2 inches, the total outer knuckle excursion (and wheel travel) can be no more than half again that number, or 3 3/4 inches. Even if we generously allow half an inch additional travel at the shock for compression of the rubber bumper on the shock rod, that only gives us another 3/4" for 4 1/2 inches of rear suspension travel. CF Moto claims 6 1/2 inches of rear suspension travel for the Trail Z force. This appears to be a physical impossibility, at least when fitted with the shocks that I have and measured. Travel in rear cannot be more than four and a half inches. Where they pulled the figure of 6 1/2 inches I cannot imagine. Maybe they are counting the total swing arm travel with the shock removed.

This might go a long way toward explaining the rear spring having such a very short compression range (coil bound all the rest), since this will make the spring rate rise rapidly as the spring compresses.

I agree that t certainly does appear that the rear suspension as designed can safely accommodate a lot more wheel travel than the shocks it is fitted with will permit.

The shocks LOOK the part of tricked out high tech tuneable gas shocks, but the reality, 2 1/2" stroke and maybe 4 inches of wheel travel? say what?
No wonder Hrc630's trail rides like a cloud now, on his Elkas.

[glenlivet]

I can have 2 ELKA ELITE fully ajustable for about the same price as mine. They are 19 1/4 and ready to go. With a small shock spacer on eBay they will be perfect for the rear of a ZForce.
If someone are interested just txt me (514) 913-3446

I'm on that like glue, buddy!

[4getful2]

I take it these measurements were done at suspension full droop ,WITH the stabilizer bar ends unhooked?

[glenlivet]

The sway bar makes no difference when the vehicle is suspended with both rear wheels off the ground.  The (anti) sway bar just ties one side to the other and its range of motion is greater than the suspension arms. The extension limiting stop is in the shock body.

[Prestonj12]

Yes the Elka work directly on the CF shocks.

You can buy the spring directly from ELKA for 90$/each or pay a lot less on ebay for some 225 lbs by 10 spring

What I.D. Springs should I get?

[Hrc630]

1.88 inch i.d.

[glenlivet]

Suspension redux.
I sent the question to Elka asking how much total rod stroke is offered in Elka's Stage 1 shock for the CF Moto 800 Trail SXS. This is their reply:

Thank you very much for choosing Elka Suspension
Front shaft travel
4.528"

Rear shaft travel
4.921"

Regards,

SEBASTIAN LEVESQUE
Sales Representative

Virtually five inches of travel rear, compared to two! 

This raises a number of questions such as - If Elka did indeed participate in designing the CF Moto shocks, as we have heard tell a number of times, then why in heck would they design a teeth shattering 2 inch travel shock for the CF Moto when their own aftermarket offering for that same machine has more than twice the operating range compared to that?

Deliberate under designing for CF Moto, in anticipation of generating upgrade traffic?
Or did CF Moto say: "Elka, we need a shock that's cheap to build but looks cool'?

Or... is the oft repeated but never citation backed story that Elka had a hand in CF Moto shock design, just a story with no basis in fact, made up by someone and eagerly repeated by others?

In any case as long as the Elka shock is robust enough for the job then it's looking like a worthy upgrade. When a shock can be sprung compliant enough that the spring doesn't have to accommodate the whole range of travel from full extension to resisting bottoming out, within two $@#% inches, that's got to be a world class improvement before even starting to discuss better valving etc.

[NMKawierider]

I believe it was Sebastian that told me several years ago that Elka did not have a hand in the design the CFM OE shocks, and that they did in fact supply an economy-class(stripped-down stage3 I assume) shock to CFM but no longer do that. Said if it didn't say "Elka" on it, they had nothing to do with it.

[ctdls]

For giggles the other day I set the clickers to 15, so that is from full "S" which means slow BTW  15 clicks towards "F" which means fast.

In that setting when you give the cage a shake it will actually move a little  The change in ride I would describe as somewhat Ha!

I compared the ride to the Z1000 that we set soft using CFMOTO spec's. One of the killer Z1000 shocks would not click proper so I'm not sure on how skewed the results are. It really doesn't matter as the Z was so much better.