Joined
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172 Posts
~
Hello again, Folks.
Well, I have to hand it to Klaus Huenecke at EPM Performance. When a slight hitch occurred in getting my new YSS shocks shipped to me he stepped right up to the plate and sent them express so that they arrived on Monday, and did so at his expense. As usual, great personal service.
I had a bit of time late in the afternoon to slap the new boingers on, and as I did so I thought I would snap a few pics for you guys...
First off, this is what comes out of the box from Klaus:
![]()
As you can see along with the shocks themselves comes a nice owners manual, a copy of the warranty information, two different sets of stickers, and a very nice set of preload adjusting spanners. The manual is actually nicely done, though pretty simple, and all the pieces and documentation is of very high quality. Even the stickers are made of first class material.
Here's a little better pic of one of the shocks:
![]()
I ordered these 360mm long (approx. 14-1/4") with the adjustable length option that allows me to increase them overall another 10mm (a bit less than a 1/2") to 370mm (approx. 14-1/2"). I ordered them this way to raise the rear ride height a bit in order to put a bit more weight on the front wheel, reduce the rake and trail a bit to quicken the steering slightly, and increase cornering clearance. I didn't want to go too much as I didn't want to spoil the natural "stance" and aesthetics of the XR, nor did I want to have the bike leaning way over when on the side stand... Whoops... I mean the "Jiffy Stand".
I do have to admit that the YSS sticker is a bit more creative than most, too.
Zooming in a bit we see:
![]()
This is the lower end of the shock. Sorry it is a bit fuzzy, but my photography often leaves a bit to be desired...
Anyway, here you can see the nice, large rubber rebound adjusting knob. It is smooth and easy to operate, but with firm, distinct clicks so you can get accurate, repeatable adjustment. The shocks came out of the box with the adjustment set on 26 clicks out from full firm, and the shocks have a complete rebound adjustment range of 60 clicks.
In the above pic you can also see the two nuts - one thin black one and one larger silver, aluminum one - for the length adjustment. Just as I requested they came set at their shortest length to give me the largest range to further increase ride height if I wanted. One cool feature about the length adjustment is shown in the manual, and that is there is a neat little hole through the shaft to show you the limit you can extend the shaft. That way you don't over-do it and end up with a busted shock.
Now let's take a look at another part of the shock:
![]()
Here you can see the absolutely HUGE shock shaft these YSS units have - a full 16mm in diameter (that's over 1/2"!!!). It is really hard to appreciate just how big these shock shafts are until you see them in person. The pictures just don't do them justice... Not much chance of bending these if their material is even remotely similar to other brand's shafts.
If you look closely in the pic you can also see the steel shock tube body. Some may desire an aluminum tube, but for street use I vastly prefer the steel one. It's tougher and will hold up better, is stiffer, and its threads being steel are in no danger of getting stripped or damaged by the alloy preload collars.
Moving on up the shock we see:
![]()
Here you can see the steel shock body tube a bit better, as well as the very nicely made alloy preload adjustment collars. Honestly, these are the very best preload collars I have ever seen on a shock, and that includes Ohlins, Penske, Wilbers, etc. They are really well done, with perfect edges that mate perfectly with the adjustment spanners. The shocks came with 10mm of preload on them out of the box.
Again, the picture above is a bit fuzzy, so it is somewhat hard to see, but the reservoir itself is absolutely gorgeous. Super well made and machined. However, the casting of the upper shock body - done in cast aluminum - that thread onto the steel shock body tube and that the reservoir threads onto, is the only real let-down of the whole dampener. It is a bit *heavily* done, and not the prettiest you will ever see. Don't get me wrong, it is obviously made of good material and is plenty stout... It just could be finished a bit better.
That said, the compression adjuster is a work of art. A beautiful little black anodized surround, with nice drilled indicator holes to show each click, and the adjuster screw itself is a wonderfully made little brass head with a sharply cut driver slot. Just like the rebound adjuster it moves smoothly with the perfect amount of effort, and the detent clicks are firm and crisply felt. The shocks came set up 16 clicks out from full stiff, and this out of a possible 30 clicks.
One last thing to note is that the shocks come with spherical bushings in both ends, and those, just like everything else on the shocks, move smoothly yet solidly... As a whole, the shocks are built very "gun-like", particularly in how tight all the clearances feel on anything that moves.
Nice.
Here's a pic of the YSS shocks alongside the stock XR1200 Showa's:
![]()
Installation was a snap, and as you would imagine, very straightforward. Jack the bike up enough to take pressure off the shock bolts, pull the stock shocks, jack the bike up a bit more to lift the rear end the appropriate amount, and then bolt up the new YSS units. Only thing to note is that you need to toss the stock washers under the XR's shock bolts when you mount up the YSS's, otherwise the final installation will look goofy. The washers outside diameter is much larger than the alloy shock bushings on the YSS's, but you don't need the washers thanks to the YSS's use of spherical end bushings.
Here's a pic of the shocks mounted up while the bike is still on the lift:
![]()
You may notice I pulled the YSS stickers off the piggyback reservoirs... I just didn't like the way they looked. In pulling them off I did learn that the sticker material and adhesive YSS uses is of VERY high quality...
The sticker material is of the metal film type, which is nice in that they peel off all in one piece. Their adhesive is first class, and those stickers would have stayed on pretty much forever had I not wanted them off.
The shocks have no clearance issues anywhere, and you can tell when you bolt them up they will work better, for no other reason than there is no longer any binding at the shock bushings. With the stock rubber and collar bushings everything is in a pretty big bind when the bolts are tightened down. With the alloy collar insert/spherical ball bushings the YSS shocks use there is NO binding whatsoever, and they move with solid precision around their pivots. Again, nice.
Here's a picture of the right side with the YSS shocks mounted:
![]()
Here's a pic of the left side:
![]()
Here's a pic that shows the right side a bit closer up:
![]()
As you can see, one of the great things about the new YSS shocks is how wonderfully easy it will be to adjust the preload if necessary. That's really nice.
Now I didn't get to ride the bike more than down the street and back last night when I finished as I had other committments... But in the short blast down the street I can immediately tell this is the single biggest improvement I have made to my XR. Just going over the dip/bump out of our shop parking lot it is instantly apparent the stock shocks are so bad they wouldn't even make good screen door dampers.
The YSS shocks are slightly stiff out of the box, as they should be, as all good shocks need a bit of break-in. That said, I have to say I feel Klaus nailed the spring rate for me, and set the shocks up just the way I asked. The damping feels firm, yet fluid, and I simply cannot describe how much better they feel than the stock shocks. Even just riding up and down the street the difference is DRAMATIC... I wish I had done this the day I got the XR1200. It's that big a difference.
I can't wait to go out and do some real riding on the XR now!
I will post up some ride impressions once I get a chance to put a little time on the new boingers.
Hope you enjoyed the pics!
Dallara
~
Hello again, Folks.
Well, I have to hand it to Klaus Huenecke at EPM Performance. When a slight hitch occurred in getting my new YSS shocks shipped to me he stepped right up to the plate and sent them express so that they arrived on Monday, and did so at his expense. As usual, great personal service.
I had a bit of time late in the afternoon to slap the new boingers on, and as I did so I thought I would snap a few pics for you guys...
First off, this is what comes out of the box from Klaus:
As you can see along with the shocks themselves comes a nice owners manual, a copy of the warranty information, two different sets of stickers, and a very nice set of preload adjusting spanners. The manual is actually nicely done, though pretty simple, and all the pieces and documentation is of very high quality. Even the stickers are made of first class material.
Here's a little better pic of one of the shocks:
I ordered these 360mm long (approx. 14-1/4") with the adjustable length option that allows me to increase them overall another 10mm (a bit less than a 1/2") to 370mm (approx. 14-1/2"). I ordered them this way to raise the rear ride height a bit in order to put a bit more weight on the front wheel, reduce the rake and trail a bit to quicken the steering slightly, and increase cornering clearance. I didn't want to go too much as I didn't want to spoil the natural "stance" and aesthetics of the XR, nor did I want to have the bike leaning way over when on the side stand... Whoops... I mean the "Jiffy Stand".
I do have to admit that the YSS sticker is a bit more creative than most, too.
Zooming in a bit we see:
This is the lower end of the shock. Sorry it is a bit fuzzy, but my photography often leaves a bit to be desired...
Anyway, here you can see the nice, large rubber rebound adjusting knob. It is smooth and easy to operate, but with firm, distinct clicks so you can get accurate, repeatable adjustment. The shocks came out of the box with the adjustment set on 26 clicks out from full firm, and the shocks have a complete rebound adjustment range of 60 clicks.
In the above pic you can also see the two nuts - one thin black one and one larger silver, aluminum one - for the length adjustment. Just as I requested they came set at their shortest length to give me the largest range to further increase ride height if I wanted. One cool feature about the length adjustment is shown in the manual, and that is there is a neat little hole through the shaft to show you the limit you can extend the shaft. That way you don't over-do it and end up with a busted shock.
Now let's take a look at another part of the shock:
Here you can see the absolutely HUGE shock shaft these YSS units have - a full 16mm in diameter (that's over 1/2"!!!). It is really hard to appreciate just how big these shock shafts are until you see them in person. The pictures just don't do them justice... Not much chance of bending these if their material is even remotely similar to other brand's shafts.
If you look closely in the pic you can also see the steel shock tube body. Some may desire an aluminum tube, but for street use I vastly prefer the steel one. It's tougher and will hold up better, is stiffer, and its threads being steel are in no danger of getting stripped or damaged by the alloy preload collars.
Moving on up the shock we see:
Here you can see the steel shock body tube a bit better, as well as the very nicely made alloy preload adjustment collars. Honestly, these are the very best preload collars I have ever seen on a shock, and that includes Ohlins, Penske, Wilbers, etc. They are really well done, with perfect edges that mate perfectly with the adjustment spanners. The shocks came with 10mm of preload on them out of the box.
Again, the picture above is a bit fuzzy, so it is somewhat hard to see, but the reservoir itself is absolutely gorgeous. Super well made and machined. However, the casting of the upper shock body - done in cast aluminum - that thread onto the steel shock body tube and that the reservoir threads onto, is the only real let-down of the whole dampener. It is a bit *heavily* done, and not the prettiest you will ever see. Don't get me wrong, it is obviously made of good material and is plenty stout... It just could be finished a bit better.
That said, the compression adjuster is a work of art. A beautiful little black anodized surround, with nice drilled indicator holes to show each click, and the adjuster screw itself is a wonderfully made little brass head with a sharply cut driver slot. Just like the rebound adjuster it moves smoothly with the perfect amount of effort, and the detent clicks are firm and crisply felt. The shocks came set up 16 clicks out from full stiff, and this out of a possible 30 clicks.
One last thing to note is that the shocks come with spherical bushings in both ends, and those, just like everything else on the shocks, move smoothly yet solidly... As a whole, the shocks are built very "gun-like", particularly in how tight all the clearances feel on anything that moves.
Nice.
Here's a pic of the YSS shocks alongside the stock XR1200 Showa's:
Installation was a snap, and as you would imagine, very straightforward. Jack the bike up enough to take pressure off the shock bolts, pull the stock shocks, jack the bike up a bit more to lift the rear end the appropriate amount, and then bolt up the new YSS units. Only thing to note is that you need to toss the stock washers under the XR's shock bolts when you mount up the YSS's, otherwise the final installation will look goofy. The washers outside diameter is much larger than the alloy shock bushings on the YSS's, but you don't need the washers thanks to the YSS's use of spherical end bushings.
Here's a pic of the shocks mounted up while the bike is still on the lift:
You may notice I pulled the YSS stickers off the piggyback reservoirs... I just didn't like the way they looked. In pulling them off I did learn that the sticker material and adhesive YSS uses is of VERY high quality...
The sticker material is of the metal film type, which is nice in that they peel off all in one piece. Their adhesive is first class, and those stickers would have stayed on pretty much forever had I not wanted them off.
The shocks have no clearance issues anywhere, and you can tell when you bolt them up they will work better, for no other reason than there is no longer any binding at the shock bushings. With the stock rubber and collar bushings everything is in a pretty big bind when the bolts are tightened down. With the alloy collar insert/spherical ball bushings the YSS shocks use there is NO binding whatsoever, and they move with solid precision around their pivots. Again, nice.
Here's a picture of the right side with the YSS shocks mounted:
Here's a pic of the left side:
Here's a pic that shows the right side a bit closer up:
As you can see, one of the great things about the new YSS shocks is how wonderfully easy it will be to adjust the preload if necessary. That's really nice.
Now I didn't get to ride the bike more than down the street and back last night when I finished as I had other committments... But in the short blast down the street I can immediately tell this is the single biggest improvement I have made to my XR. Just going over the dip/bump out of our shop parking lot it is instantly apparent the stock shocks are so bad they wouldn't even make good screen door dampers.
The YSS shocks are slightly stiff out of the box, as they should be, as all good shocks need a bit of break-in. That said, I have to say I feel Klaus nailed the spring rate for me, and set the shocks up just the way I asked. The damping feels firm, yet fluid, and I simply cannot describe how much better they feel than the stock shocks. Even just riding up and down the street the difference is DRAMATIC... I wish I had done this the day I got the XR1200. It's that big a difference.
I can't wait to go out and do some real riding on the XR now!
I will post up some ride impressions once I get a chance to put a little time on the new boingers.
Hope you enjoyed the pics!
Dallara
~
