I bought a Penske 8983 double clicker shock for my 2001 RC51 SP1. 7"spring at a 550 lb rate for a rider 180 with gear. I have a 2006 CBR1000, and am thinking about selling the 51 now. Penske says a 6" spring at 700 lb rate for the CBR. Can I just change the spring and swap it over? Upper and lower mount points look like they will interchange. Remote res, so cannister placement should not be an issue. I would really like to keep the shock, it was the best money I spent on the bike besides the valves/springs/mods to the forks. Looks like preload adjustment may be an issue because the 51 adjusts from the top an the CBR from the bottom. Just wanted to know if anyone knew and could save me the labor of disassembly and swapping them if they won't work. Thanks in advance...
The shaft length and valving are the issues that you may have. It may 'fit' as in bolt on, but it may not work as it should.
Why not call or email Penske? They can tell you if it will work or if not, what it will cost to modify it to make it work. They are great to deal with and do this type of thing all the time.
+1 Call a suspension shop. I'm getting a gsxr penske fitted to my SV and it's peanuts to change valving/length. If the mounting points are the same go for it.
If you need to up the spring rate that significantly (I'm assuming due to differences in the linkage ratio) then its pretty likely that you'll need to make a valving change to compensate for such a large change in spring rate.
No. Different spring rate = different valving. 1mm diff in lenght at the shock = 3 mm at the axle. Sell your bike for more w/Penske. Then get a new Penske, you know it's worth it.
