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Yet another BITUBO ZXE11 rear shock install thread.


DewMan

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compare.jpg
 
Preface: These instructions assume a minimum skill level with hand tools and an assumption that you want to do this yourself, or I guess you wouldn't be reading this.
 
If You're comfortable doing your own chain adjustments and oil changes, this is a task you should be able to handle. If you're not comfortable doing basic maintenance get a friend who is to help you and learn at his/her side.
 
Few things feel as good as the sense of accomplishment of doing it yourself. If you see any errors or ways to complete this differently please leave replies to this post. If you're confused by any step or reason for the processes done here please ask. I'll do my best to answer any questions.
 
My thoughts on the XZE11 shock's performance are still pending since I'm also installing the JBH fork cartridges and the rains today kept my ride in the garage after installing the XZE11.
 
 
Minimum Tools needed to replace rear shock:
 
To support the bike:
Front & rear paddock stands, sturdy ladder & ratchet strap.
Numerous options will work. This is just what worked for me with what I had in on hand.
 
To remove the front seat:
5mm hex wrench/socket
 
To remove the plate1 (shifter side) and plate 2 (brake side) aka foot guards:
Hex wrench/socket. 4mm for shifter side & 5mm for brake side
 
To remove the rear fender/chain guard:
4mm hex wrench/socket.
 
To remove the shock mounting bolts:
Two 14mm wrenches or a two 14mm sockets with extension or combination of each. Preferred would be two 14mm sockets with 6in (15mm) extension on each. a drift pin and hammer will be helpful as well.
 
 
Procedure:
Here are the steps I followed. I'm sure there are other ways to do this but this worked well for me. I can't say I would do it any differently if I had to redo it.
 
1) Bike Setup:
Set bike up on paddock stands front and rear.
Remove main seat with 5mm hex key.
Straddle seat with Ladder.
Thread ratchet strap though frame tubes under the seat and over the ladder. Tension the strap until you feel the bike get a just a little light on the rear paddock stand. This should remove most spring compression from the shock.
 
ratchet2.jpg
ratchet1.jpg
 
You're now ready to start removing parts to access the rear shock.
 
2) To Access the shock:
Remove shifter side foot guard (labeled as plate1 in the parts list)with a 4mm Hex wrench/socket.
 
Remove brake side foot guard (labeled as plate2 in the parts list) with a 5mm Hex wrench/socket. Note that the rear brake master cylinder (not the resevoir) will now be hanging loose. Use 4mm hex to remove the two clutch side bolts
Remove the fender/chain guard with a 4mm Hex wrench/socket.
There are two bolts with short collars on the shifter side.
There are two "removable plastic rivets" (same as seen on most of the MT/FZ-07's body panels) on the brake side that need the center pin pushed in to allow the rivet to be removed. The forward located plastic rivet is accessed from the top brake side corner. The more rearward located rivet is accessed from the underside of the fender/chain guard.
See bolt and rivet locations in the following picture. Also see an example of a locked and unlocked rivet as well.
 
 
guard_bolts.jpg
 
 
guard_rivets.jpg
 
 
Unlocked/pushed in (left) and Locked/flush (right) rivets
 
 
rivet_open_closed.jpg
 
 
That's it... You're now ready to remove the old shock.
 
3) Shock Removal:
Hold the bottom shock bolt with a 14mm wrench/socket while loosening the nut with another 14mm wrench/socket. Use a soft tapping on a drift pin or similar with a hammer to coax out the bolt.
At this point the ratchet strap is now fully supporting the rear of the bike except for the swingarm and wheel.
 
Repeat the above process again to remove the top bolt being careful not to misplace the collar/bushing located on the shifter side.
 
That's it.... You're now ready to install the new shock.
 
4) New Shock install:
NOTE: Assumptions were by me due to the lack of specifics in the minimalist instructions.
With the rebound indicator dot (shown below) facing the chain, orient the shock as shown in the minimal instruction's picture 1 for proper orientation.
indicator.jpg
 
Reverse the procedure used to remove the old shock top bolt to re-install the same OEM bolt from the clutch side. Only hand tighten the OEM nut at this point. We'll torque it in a later step.
 
Check how the bottom bolt hole and shock line up. I needed to let a little pressure off the ratchet strap to allow them to properly line up. Your mileage may vary. Adjust strap until the shock and relay arm hole align properly.
 
On the old shock the bottom bolt was pushed in from the brake side. But the new shock has threads on the brake side so I re-used the OEM bolt pushing it in from the shifter side. Again, only hand tighten at this point.
 
You're now ready to let the bike down off the ladder/ratchet strap. I let it down to rest on the rear paddock stand only for ease of access to torqueing the shock bolts & reinstalling the other parts still to be installed and torqued but it's not required. You can let the bike all the way down so that it rests on the side stand if you want.
 
Per the shock's limited install instructions, bounce the rear suspension up and down a few times.
 
It's now time to torque the shock bolts to the factory recommended settings listed below
Front shock bolt: 44nm/32ft-lb
Rear shock bolt: 40nm/29ft-lb
 
NOTE: Since the OEM rear shock bolt was long enough I installed the OEM nut and torqued it also. I figure the additional bolt security wouldn't hurt.
 
Adjusting rider sag and rebound is highly recommended at this point unless you're also going to upgrade the forks as well. There are numerous online resources that show you how to properly set rider sag. I only suggest it now since it'll be easier to make adjustments now rather than after chain guard and foot plates are reinstalled.
 
Final install steps:
Complete the re-install of the fender/chain guard and plate 1 and 2 by reversing the removal steps.
For the plastic rivets push the center pins out, as shown in the below picture, before inserting them back to their original holes and the push the pins in until they are just flush with the rivet head. Then reinstall the bolts not forgetting the collar/bushings. Make sure the collar/bushings fit cleanly though the holes and do not pinch the guard.
Torque the bolts to factory recommended value of 7nm/5.1ft-lb.rivet_reset.jpg
 
Reinstall the clutch and brake side plates/foot guards to factory recommended torque values
Shifter side: 10nm/7.2ft-lb
brake side: 23nm/17ft-lb
 
Reinstall the seat and you're done!
 
After install thoughts:
The entire process was without issue. No bolts were gorilla tight and none appeared to have any factory thread locker. All stated torque values were found in the Yamaha shop manual. A JBH install thread was going to be next but I see @chuckles seems to have it pretty well covered. If I hadn't already done this write up and taken the pictures I wouldn't even have bothered posting this since he covered the subject quite well in his post while I was writing mine.

 
 
 
 
 

DewMan
 
Just shut up and ride.

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Thaks for the invisible writing ?
 
Installed my shock recently and it was nice to have the centerstand ?
 
Effects when you ride?

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@bugeyes, it must have been the in the invisible part ( not sure what you mean by that?) where I mentioned that I've not had a chance yet to ride on it yet since it's still on blocks while I work on the front forks. :D
 
If I need to do some editing letting me know please.
 
I'll report once I do get the chance to ride on it though.

DewMan
 
Just shut up and ride.

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@bugeyes , it must have been the in the invisible part ( not sure what you mean by that?) where I mentioned that I've not had a chance yet to ride on it yet since it's still on blocks while I work on the front forks. :D 
If I need to do some editing letting me know please.
 
I'll report once I do get the chance to ride on it though.
I use the white background color scheme on this forum, rendering your white text invisible. When I selected all the text I could see it but had  already posted.
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