2002 warrior shock and shackle on 85 tri z

[TRI-CYCLE]

Just finished an all day project.

Bought a 2002 warrior shock wishbone and shackle off eBay. Started experimenting and bolted the warrior shock and longer shackle to my factory 85 tri z swinger.

I love the stance ( lower) and feel of the warrior shock. I weigh 148lbs so me being to heavy for bike is doubtful id think. But I notice the shackle/swing arm mount hits the bottom of gas tank/skid plate before the shock bottoms out.

Takes quite a bit of pressure before it hits.. but it does.. is there a way to prevent this with a slightly shorter shackle or newer swing arm? Trying to avoid reforming the tank and skid plate to make work. Thanks for advice fellas!

[barnett468]

Just finished an all day project.

Bought a 2002 warrior shock wishbone and shackle off eBay. Started experimenting and bolted the warrior shock and longer shackle to my factory 85 tri z swinger.

I love the stance ( lower) and feel of the warrior shock. I weigh 148lbs so me being to heavy for bike is doubtful id think. But I notice the shackle/swing arm mount hits the bottom of gas tank/skid plate before the shock bottoms out.

Takes quite a bit of pressure before it hits.. but it does.. is there a way to prevent this with a slightly shorter shackle or newer swing arm? Trying to avoid reforming the tank and skid plate to make work. Thanks for advice fellas!


Hello


No matter what you do if you change any linkage you will end up either reducing the total travel or raising the back of the bike up. You need to put a spacer on your shock shaft under the foam bottoming cushion to reduce travel. It will now bottom out sooner and harder. If you don't like the bottoming then you need to get a new stiffer spring and use less pre load if its straight wound or a more progressive spring rate if it's a progressive wound spring. Easy deal.

[barnett468]

Hello


If it has adjustable damping you can use the spacer then try increasing the compression damping before buying a new spring.

[oldskool83]

prob was not a good mod, plus would need revalved and anything else. warriors have no suspension travel, a 660R shock would be better i think. to do swaps like this ya gotta think in depth about design. I would of prob tried 660r 01 shock with a longer bottle revalve and sprung. its not get a works shock and or rebuild yours. Z's do sit high

[TRI-CYCLE]

Definitely can't afford a works shock. Looked into them often but can't find one under $500 even used. I was mostly just curious if a banshee.. or any other model quad, etc might run a slightly shorter shackle that was still longer then the factory z shackle. But understand that's a long shot hope.
I ride this z as if it were a race quad. Jumping is my style of riding so suspension travel is important. The warrior shock I think has plenty to offer for my size, but was super excited to lower it a bit.

Mainly what you guys are saying is I need to increase the compression of the spring to make it "stiffer" by what I'm assuming is as easy as tightening up the adjustable nuts on top of shock downwards.. and if that doesn't work, take more drastic measures by experimenting with a stiffer coil (given I run a spacer if needed)?

I would of loved to run a 660 shock, but only found write up of them installed on 86 model tri z's and was unsure if the difference in swingarm shape between the 2 years would interfere with running the raptor shock.

I'm learning as I go so bare with me. Thanks guys

[barnett468]

Hello


"Mainly what you guys are saying is I need to increase the compression of the spring to make it "stiffer" by what I'm assuming is as easy as tightening up the adjustable nuts on top of shock downwards.. and if that doesn't work, take more drastic measures by experimenting with a stiffer coil (given I run a spacer if needed)?"


NO, Please re-read my post again slowly. Spacer to reduce travel first to keep shackle from hitting. Spring and dampen as necessary after wards.

[barnett468]

Hello

You can certainly try increasing preload as a mickey mouse "fix" but If you increase existing spring preload so it NEVER bottoms again your bike will be very high in the rear and be so stiff that your first spinal veterbrae is going to meet your first one. Do you have good health insurance?

[barnett468]

Hello

Not to mention that the substantially increased "effective" spring rate may over ride your rebound damping to the degree that it continually tries to kick you over the handle bars when ever you hit a bump.

Yup Works Perf, used lots of them there's not much better.

[TRI-CYCLE]

Ok. Caught what youre saying now. What's a good thing to use as a spacer, or does somebody already make these? Here's a few pics.. if they upload correctly

[TRI-CYCLE]

Ok. Caught what youre saying now. What's a good thing to use as a spacer, or does somebody already make these?

[barnett468]

Ok. Caught what youre saying now. What's a good thing to use as a spacer, or does somebody already make these?


Hello


Nice bikes. No one makes a spacer you will need to calculate the length needed and have one made, should cost around $30.00 or less, very, very easy deal. Please send me a clear close up of your bottoming cushion and shock eye.

Put bike on stand with a bit of weight on front wheels and rear wheels barely touching ground.

Remove shock spring.

Replace shock and mounting bolts but not NUTS.

Use a jack or tie down to raise the rear axle.

Stop when your linkage hits or tires hit fenders etc.

Lower axle 1”.

Very, very, carefully measure length of shock eye to eye. If you are off by ¼” this will translate into about ½ inch of wheel travel depending upon your leverage ratios. If you are off slightly it us easily corrected later.

If you can remove what ever link is hitting do so now.

Put a bike on ground with a 150 lb person then check shock length again. If this is too hard then simply put back on stand and remove shock.

Measure length of bottoming cushion and tell me what it is. They typically compress by 70% so I’ll just use that as the compressed number.

There should be a nut on the shock shaft under cushion locking shock eye to shaft. What is the od and height of that nut from the bottom flat surface of the shock eye?

I will have you buy a couple flat washers to shim spacer later if necessary..

I will give you the exact specs for the spacer. The machine shop will clearly understand them you do not need to.

When you get to removing the shock eye from shaft I will tell you how to do it. They often use industrial loctite on them so it may feel like it is stripping the threads when you remove it. Don’t worry you are not.

[Bryan Raffa]

I would not use the warrior Y link it is shorter ..on a already 1/4" shorter shock .. your better off running the Z link and lowering it by makein a longer dog bone link.. if thats is what your after lowering it..

[TRI-CYCLE]

Thanks for the compliments and very detailed advice. The more I think about it the more I've decided to just put the stock shackle back in place. This will allow full compression of suspension which I need most.

I'm not running the warrior y link, just the warrior shackle and shock. Tri z Y link. I'm sure this same thing has been tried a million times, I just can't justify doing all the work for less suspension travel though. Back to the drawing board...

[oldskool83]

1st what I do when swaping shock is fine lenght of travel and eye to eye lenght of shock its self. then start getting all the same info from other machines you think may work. It will take some time but wright it all down. No use shock is going to just make a great rider, most need rebuild by 10 years. with out knowing much about yamahas but knowing enough I think you should get 660r shock 2001, with remote rezzy bottle, then swap out the line for your triz line, mount it up and see where it falls. Maybe with some spacers or a custom linkage you will be fine. ebay "ask seller a question" is you best friend for finding dimension of shocks before buying. google is best for finnding lenght of travel per the specs of the machines you may want to use.

[Rigaman]

I saw a tri-z with a Yamaha R1 street bike shock mounted on it. Fit perfect. I am not sure how it handled and how much travel it had, but couldnt be alot...

[oldskool83]

wow really....junk right there. R1, they are 400lbs, have 3.5 inches if that of travel not even close.

Per workswebsite your tri-z shock is 13.50" eye to eye lenght. You you'd be best to use a Banshee, which is 13.63" eye to eye. You might be able to find a used works shock on ebay. The warrior was was way longer and shouldnt of even been used. 660R shocks are way to long to be used. A banshee shock has the rezzy bottle attached to the body of the shock so I am not sure if you have room for an OEM one but there are used works on there all day long with remote bottle for $250 which is a fair price and can be rebuilt, OEM yamahas cant I dont belive and they are all steal bodied up until the new quads.

[TRI-CYCLE]

I've considered a raptor shock, but still I can't find a write up for swapping a raptor shock to a 85 Z swingarm. I have read articles of them being installed on 86 Z's but am aware that there are some differences in swing arms and such.. wasnt willing to do a swingarm swap since my z has been restored and everything on it has nice powder coating and such done already. I knew the warrior shock was direct bolt up, once I dug into it I got an itch ( like most of you probably) to do a little more custom work.

My next idea was taking the warrior shackle to a machinest, and having him hack an inch of the overall length out, and rewelding it together an inch longer then the factory z shackle. The warrior was roughly 2 inches longer then the z shackle. This should put my bike a bit lower then stock, and still allow enough clearance to clear from bottoming out on the bottom of my fuel tank like my previous problem.

I'll keep you guys updated when I get shackle back tomorrow!

[oldskool83]

whats wrong with the way the bike is now, its been designed for a reason.

[TRI-CYCLE]

To tall, and designed as a narrow bike already, its hard to keep it controllable in the air. A friend of mine races the pro class on his 08 yfz 450r quad. Chasing him down on the rythem sections is tough, so I'm setting the bike up for my riding style. Plus it could be a potentially simple swap for a newbie do it your selfer like me in the future.

And plus, the north Dakota oil fields can get extremely boring. Having a project to tinker on only helps the time go by

[TRI-CYCLE]

By the way, may I ask what a 2013 HRE 200x is? I've got an 86 x that could use some attention. Also been looking at TPC Trikes... very very cool

[oldskool83]

no trike is gonna handle like a quad on the track, id you wanna MX id say you need to totaly redesign the bike and if a works shock is not in the budget for you a properly set up bike is def not.

search HRE and see what ya find. My 200x....too much stuff on it He has built me.

search HRE 200X

[TRI-CYCLE]

I understand this. I've got an 03 raptor I can ride if I want to. Been riding 3 wheelers my whole life though, so id prefer to build one that's comfortable to me, because at the end of the day, I'm the one riding it.

[Kfx-xc-racer88]

I fitted an 03' warrior shock on my 86' tri-z with the standard tri-z linkage and dogbone and it didn't sit as low as yours in your pic and it rode fine!

[TimSr]

Put the Warrior Shock on, and leave all the stock Tri-Z linkage. At your weight, you can reduce the preload nuts to minimum for the lowest ride height and the Warrior Shock will work great for you. If you are running it on a track, and need to drop lower yet, get some 18" track instead of those woods and trail tires. Then you'll probably need to slide the fork tubes up an inch to keep the same rake.

A Banshee shock (except 87 I think) has a piggyback reservoir which tends to puncture the gas tank when you compress it. An aftermarket "Banshee" shock with a remote reservoir will suit you fine, but at your weight, almost any you find will need resprung for your light weight, and it would probably be less expensive to order a new on for your weight. Banshee and Warrior shocks are the same length. Both Banshee and Warrior OEM shocks last only few years, so if you use one, keep watching for a Works. I paid $175 for one of mine, and $200 for the other I think on ebay.

A Raptor shock works great for going uphill. You have to compress it just to get it installed, and then you ride around with your butt up in the air.

[TRI-CYCLE]

Thanks Tim. Those tires are pretty Louisiana mud pit approved huh? Lol. I appreciate the info. I was going to experiment with the front next. I've ridden a lot of contraptions, and definitely prefer the low steady feel. My stock Z shackle is all wore out unfortunately, bushings have lots of play. Feels like an inch of slop when you pick up on the back of bike after shock reaches full depress... partially the reason I'm modifying the warrior shackle (since I have one laying around)

[Bryan Raffa]

just order the oem bushings,,,, thats part of the reason they stop making them... im installing new 86 bushings in my trail bike! time is money....

[TRI-CYCLE]

I'll order them just to keep them alive raffa! Make a necklace or something

[TRI-CYCLE]

167609167610

Let me know if photos uploaded correctly... only have a smartphone at moment.

Pics show warrior shackle factory length, then shows shortened warrior shackle compared to factory z shackle.

Another reason I wanted to go with the modified warrior shackle was because it has a grease zerks on both sides.. versus the z shackle only having one. Also the warrior has bigger bushings.. which probably doesn't matter much, but parts will be easier to order in future I figured.. if bushings get wore

[Dave8338]

Looks like it will work. One quick note on welding the cast dog bone. Make sure you grind a taper on both pieces, all the way around, where you weld them back together. Then fill in the missing material with your welder. A butt weld on cast is quite fragile. Just a heads up.

[TRI-CYCLE]

Thanks for the tip, the dogbone was welded 100%. The bikes stance is amazing. Exactly what I wanted. No more swingarm bottoming out on bottom of fuel tank either.

I do notice a little bit of slop in The rear end when shock is at full depress still.. not as bad. But enough to make me have a nightmare or 2... I keep comparing the z to my old neglected 200x that's bone stock... the old x is still solid as a rock.. I understand the z suspension is a little more advanced.. which makes me feel like a little play is almost notorious for old wishbone suspension style bikes. Also noticed when bike ride is sitting on its own weight, the bushings in shock allow it to rotate a bit left to right. not a whole lot. Just weird to me.

[Dave8338]

Thanks for the tip, the dogbone was welded 100%. The bikes stance is amazing. Exactly what I wanted. No more swingarm bottoming out on bottom of fuel tank either.

I do notice a little bit of slop in The rear end when shock is at full depress still.. not as bad. But enough to make me have a nightmare or 2... I keep comparing the z to my old neglected 200x that's bone stock... the old x is still solid as a rock.. I understand the z suspension is a little more advanced.. which makes me feel like a little play is almost notorious for old wishbone suspension style bikes. Also noticed when bike ride is sitting on its own weight, the bushings in shock allow it to rotate a bit left to right. not a whole lot. Just weird to me.

Funny, isn't it. :Bounce. They all have their own "feel". The play and rotation that you mention, is likely as you say, a few worn parts. If the overall " feel" of the bike is what you're looking for, a few new parts are only an order away. I've ridden a Yamaha or two, that felt like you we're atop a pogo stick. :wondering. Typically the feeling one gets, when the upper shock mount is too far back and slightly over sprung. Go figure...