Upgrade CB400N rear shocks

[Steven T]

Does anyone know of a bolt on upgrade, from a bigger bike, for the rear shocks of a CB400N? The stock ones aren't quite cutting it on the roads around here.

Thanks,

Steve

[Robert Taylor]

Does anyone know of a bolt on upgrade, from a bigger bike, for the rear shocks of a CB400N? The stock ones aren't quite cutting it on the roads around here.

Thanks,

Steve

Do you want something that works or something that fits and is cheap? Unfortunately with bikes such as this its pretty much confined to budget level aftermarket ( if readily available ) It helps then to have a season ticket for chiropractic services. Sorry, my cynical 2 cents worth but pretty close to the reality

[FROSTY:Me]

steven--heres the rub dude. If you are VERY lucky you might find a set of near new factory shocks from Something like a cb500/cb550 maybee a gB400/500 and it might even be a bit of an improvement. Most likely though they will be as worn out as your CB400 shocks.
next best option is a set of aftermarket "factory look" shocks. But RT is right in his cynical old man way that only restores the bike to its factory shock state which rapidly claps out.
It used to be that Koni's were the ducks nuts for those ol beasties. But then as fast as you get the back end feeling good you need to do something about the woefull front end.
Personally I'd enjoy the ol girl for what she is

[HenryDorsetCase]

Try YSS or Ikon. i gather the deal with ikon is they bougt koni.s tooling and they do a reasonable product for the price. I put some on my CB400F and they were fine

[short shins]

Do you want something that works or something that fits and is cheap? Unfortunately with bikes such as this its pretty much confined to budget level aftermarket ( if readily available ) It helps then to have a season ticket for chiropractic services. Sorry, my cynical 2 cents worth but pretty close to the reality

Yawn.... boring yadda Ohlins Yadda whaffle Blah

Cant go wrong with a set of Ikons or Hagons both availabe in NZ to keep the wingers happy.

[jellywrestler]

save the shocks and throw the bike out, hondas are gay

[Robert Taylor]

Yawn.... boring yadda Ohlins Yadda whaffle Blah

Cant go wrong with a set of Ikons or Hagons both availabe in NZ to keep the wingers happy.

What you misunderstand is that there was no hint of my Ohlins activity in my explanation. I was just stating everything for what it is. If you want something that looks as close as possible to the original and / or is very cheap then you cannot at the same time have expectation of stunning bump compliance and chassis control. The best youve ridden is the best you know.
If you are personally happy with the two shock brands that you rattled off then that is fine, youre easily pleased, but we deal at a level where our customers have much higher expectations. Each to their own.

[TeamDS4]

What you misunderstand is that there was no hint of my Ohlins activity in my explanation. I was just stating everything for what it is. If you want something that looks as close as possible to the original and / or is very cheap then you cannot at the same time have expectation of stunning bump compliance and chassis control. The best youve ridden is the best you know.
If you are personally happy with the two shock brands that you rattled off then that is fine, youre easily pleased, but we deal at a level where our customers have much higher expectations. Each to their own.

To be pragmatic, anyone who would spend $1500 on a pair of shocks for a CB400N needs their head read. It would be like spending $250,000 to renovate a house in Nightcaps, i.e. money down the dunny. As mentioned above I'd try to find a resonable set of second hand shocks of the same length from a comparable machine.

[Robert Taylor]

To be pragmatic, anyone who would spend $1500 on a pair of shocks for a CB400N needs their head read. It would be like spending $250,000 to renovate a house in Nightcaps, i.e. money down the dunny. As mentioned above I'd try to find a resonable set of second hand shocks of the same length from a comparable machine.

Like I said, each to their own. The reality is that if you want a pair of shocks that are built to a very high standard of performance ( i.e ability to absorb abrupt bumps very very well while still providing excellent chassis control ) then the price of such suspension is not indexed to the price of the bike. It costs the same to make like spec'd suspension whether its for a $1500 bike or a $15000 bike.

Also I was stating that if you dont want to spend a lot of money on shocks then just dont have a high expectation of their performance, especially if they are secondhand and of unknown distance / hours.

[TeamDS4]

Like I said, each to their own. The reality is that if you want a pair of shocks that are built to a very high standard of performance ( i.e ability to absorb abrupt bumps very very well while still providing excellent chassis control ) then the price of such suspension is not indexed to the price of the bike. It costs the same to make like spec'd suspension whether its for a $1500 bike or a $15000 bike.

Also I was stating that if you dont want to spend a lot of money on shocks then just dont have a high expectation of their performance, especially if they are secondhand and of unknown distance / hours.

So you clearly aren't adverse to taking advantage of a fool with their money

[Robert Taylor]

So you clearly aren't adverse to taking advantage of a fool with their money

Thats nothing more than a mischievous twist on words and we dont operate in the way you suggest. But its so easy to type such nonsense isnt it?

In fact we have questions where its clear that ( as happened today ) the solution doesnt always involve spending money. A guy wanted work done oh his front MX forks as he was losing the front end all the time. After interrogating him on the phone it was clear that the setup in the rear end was too soft, making the bike ride low in the rear, taking weight off the front and lazing out the geometry. I told him to add spring preload to the rear and obtain a set of suitable sag numbers and retest before even thinking about doing anything to the front. Its highly possible that I have saved him a bundle of money.

Then a week back we had a YZ85 in our workshop. The guy had paid money elsewhere to have it revalved and the bike just wasnt working, it was beating up on the kid bigtime. The ''suspension tuner'' that happily took money off this racer didnt establish that his personal weight was way too light for the fitted spring. The spring rate was 4.8 and it needed 4.0, some 4 steps down. Even if the shock was tired internally the absolute first thing to spend money on was correct springing. Perhaps the ''suspension tuner'' just didnt care? FRANKLY, this really disturbs me that there are people out there like that. Weve also seen this nonsense in road racing, a couple of seasons back a top Superbike racer was expected to perform well with 50mm rear rider sag when in fact the ''suspension tuner'' was too lazy to get on his knees and measure and set the bike up properly.

Not every business is intent on taking money, come hell or high water. The end result has to be as it should be.

[sil3nt]

To be pragmatic, anyone who would spend $1500 on a pair of shocks for a CB400N needs their head read. It would be like spending $250,000 to renovate a house in Nightcaps, i.e. money down the dunny. As mentioned above I'd try to find a resonable set of second hand shocks of the same length from a comparable machine.

Why do you think this? If someone is keeping a CB400 long term then I fail to see how spending money on the suspension is flushing money down the dunny.