making a rigid frmae kz440 to a soft tail...

I have an 83 kz440 ltd that I'm building for my girlfriend to ride.. well right now its a rigid frame with 10 inch struts on it... I was wanting to put 10 inch shocks on it... is it as simple as unbolting the struts and bolting on the shocks?

thanks
jason

here are some pics of the struts...

Since you're doing it for someone else to ride, I kinda wonder if the frame's integrity has been compromised... Either by the cutting that's been done or the beating it has taken from lack of rear shocks. Weakened or cracked welds come to mind. And I wonder if a rear section or something should be rewelded back on.

I was kind of thinking the same thing. It looks like its just a matter of bolting shocks on but it would probably be better if you tied those two ends together where the shocks mount to.

well the frame is solid.. it has not been ridden yet as a hard tail i was just wondering if the shocks would work where the struts are to make the ride beter I am going to weld a bar from one end of the back of the seat pan to the other to help support the frame and seat but the frame is as strong as an ox...

I can't tell for sure from the photos, but it looks like the struts are bolted onto the shock mounts. If so, then it ought to be a simple matter to install shocks. I know you didn't really ask what shocks would work & I'm not sure what size the stockers are, but Vulcan 500 shocks are probably a direct bolt-on: they're ~11.5" eye-to-eye. Also, MikesXS650 site lists various shocks, etc.

ok thanks ya the struts are just bolted on... i measured it out at 10 inches from bolt to bolt and a honda rebel 250 shock its 10.5 so i believe thats gonna be a pretty good candidate...

Would be careful to consider any potential interference between tire and other parts (such as under fender, seat, etc.) when shocks become compressed during riding.

Lots of under-fender wiring has been torn away by a lowered rear suspension when hitting a bump.

Good Fortune!

I've seen my share of ugly cobbled up struts before, but those "take the cake", lol, never seen them made out of house plumbing before.. rofl :blink:

Oh well, on topic... what Patton said: you're going to have to take into consideration a completely bottomed out shock height when mounting your rear fender. So if you get some 10.5" shocks with a 2" stroke, you'll have to space for 8.5 height with at least 1/2 to 1" clearance at bottomed out. I'd most definitely re-brace that tail section of the frame.

Long since I measured em but I believe the stock 440 shock is 13.5"

well for my own defense i did not make these struts :laugh: i bought it this way... ok i appreciate all the advice and im going to run some more supports because all my wiring is going to be inside the frame to help keep it from getting caught up in anything else...

thanks

jkufen wrote:

well for my own defense i did not make these struts :laugh: i bought it this way...

Chuckle, I knew that it wasn't your handy work... but I just couldn't help myself when I saw the pics... heehee.