ZRX Shocks on your XR! Customize bushings

Dear XR-fellas,

Today I want to tell you how I did my ZRX shock conversion, which might help to make other shocks fit as well! As I read before, some guys did use these shocks too but never really told how they did it.. I saw some metal spacers being made, but I just did not like the rigid mounting of those.

As I did feel some shocks (hehe) going through my spine on the highway, I was thinking about getting other rear suspension for the "08 XR. Ofcourse I do like Ohlins, but that has a little too much of an impact on the wallet, so I went for something else.


So here it begins..
I bought a pair off of the German ebay for about 200 euro’s. That’s about 230 dollars. They hadn’t been used and had been lying on the shelf in the basement for ages. Looks like a good deal to me!

The shocks as advertised:

When I received the shocks, I instantly noticed the difference between the eyes of the rubber shock bushings.. 10mm lower one, 14 mm upper one. It had to be 12.7mm (1/2”) at least. So the search of the right bushings began. I stumbled upon some pitbike bushings on Ebay. Sold in the UK, but could quite cheaply be sent overseas. So I ordered them. The metal bushing inside the rubber was removable and had enough to be bored up from 12mm to 13mm. Sizing was about right for me. Hourglass shaped, 24mm OD, 21 ID, and 20mm wide and the eye is 12mm big.

Once they came in I wasn’t sure if this was a good purchase, because they were just loosely sitting in the shock eyes. After this observation I came to a great idea. Since the Netherlands is the bicycling country, I of course have some inner tubes lying around and went and put them around the bushings! Might be a crazy idea, but they fit great around the bushings and made the fitment just perfect. I checked how hard the rubber would be after this, and feels just as sturdy as it should. I left quite some tubing on one side of the bushing to get some grip with pliers when trying to put it into the shock eyes.

Rubber tube vs no rubber tube:

The metal bushings had to be bored out in a lathe, the pillar drill couldn’t get a proper grip and the bushing had to be squeezed oval to get it clamped right. So it had to be the lathe. 13mm drill bit it is.

After assembling the bushings, I put some Vaseline onto the rubber tubing and try to pull it through the eyes. This wasn’t as easy as I thought, so I went and pulled the metal bushings out of the rubber dampers, and after this I could easily pull the rubber into the shock eyes. BUT I only went half way, so that the metal bushings were able to be put back in again, while having the rubber party installed. After this I finished the job clamping the whole into a vice and cutting off the excess rubber from the tubing.

After putting it in. (Sorry for low quality, didn't had the idea to document it very well before tonight..)

Great results, perfect fitment! I do really need to make myself some spacers, to complete the job. Now I only put them on and spaced it out with some washers I don't actually like the idea of that, since the machine itself is of such nice quality. For now it will do! :clap:

Before:

After:

I hope you enjoyed it. Don't mind my grammar mistakes or weird choises of words. (I'm Dutch!)
If you got any questions, feel free to ask them.