seldredg

I'm facing the same issue regarding the shock length. I emailed Norman some time ago to see if the shocks could be shortened (rod cut and rethreaded, perhaps). Didn't hear back. How much are you going to pull in the forks? I tried a pair of 14 inch NJB experts to replace the shocks that came on my bike (long 1980 125 Honda MX shocks that were way too stiff, but the bike turned). To me the NJBs felt like they had no damping at all and made the handling much worse because the rear end sagged. I think the issue was mostly the springs were all wrong for my weight, and the difference from 15.5 inch MX shocks was drastic. I tried to buy a pair of Falcons but gave up after three months of waiting. I went back to a pair NJBs, 15.3 with different springs and like them fine for what I do (1 and 2 line rider).

How do you change the springs on an NJB shock? I assume they disassemble somehow. I have long NJB expert shocks that I want to shorten for a different frame. I thought perhaps one end would unscrew from the rod, which I could then cut and rethread. My vintage trials retailer said that wasn't possible. But they must come apart in some reasonable way or the springs couldn't be changed.

Using the long shocks does raise the CG, but I like the steering improvement. I'm tall and have a high CG. The stock bike already felt high and top heavy and ill proportioned with the foot pegs, so the raising the CG a little more couldn't make it much worse. I'm getting a new frame, and will go back to a stock length on the shocks. Do you have any idea how much the rake was pulled in? I've read factory riders did 1.5 degrees, but I don't what the stock rake is.

Bike with 15.3 inch shocks and footpegs back and down.

I also have NJB Experts, 15.3 inches, and I raised the forks in the triple clamps by about 3/4 inch. The bike now turns. I can make tight turns nearly as well as on my Gas Gas. I had the foot pegs relocated down and back by building another bracket off the end of the existing one, and I used Hebo foot pegs. This makes a large difference in how the bike feels. I feel less perched way up on top of it. I'm getting measurements of how much the rake and trail changed with these changes. I'll post pictures later if I can.