YSS rear shocks received and installed - report

[montliz44]

Hi all,

I got my new YSS rear shocks in the mail and installed them, so here are some notes about them:

These are the shocks: https://bikerzbits.com/honda-forza-nss- ... orber.html

I ordered them on Dec. 28 and they arrived a couple of days ago, so it took just short of one month from order to delivery, even though I used the pricier Thailand Air delivery option. My total charge, including shipping, was 294.28 USD.

They are some beautiful, beautiful parts and they really dress up the appearance of the scooter. Great looking upgrade. These red ones are the same exact shade of orange/red as my US red Forza.

I can't tell you much about the ride yet, but the installation was easy. You don't have to remove any Forza body panels to get to the upper mounts, if you're willing to use a box-end instead of a socket on the upper bolts. (PCX owners will tell you that you have to do about an hour's worth of body-part removal and replacement to get up in there, but that's not the case with the Forza.). The lower mounts are easily accessible with a socket and short extension, and a normal box-end will do the job on the uppers. There's no Locktite in there; they're just nicely torqued down at the factory, so a couple of shots from your best hammer will break them loose and after that you can pretty much unscrew them by hand.

The kit comes with a small selection of spacers, but I ended up not using any of them, as the YSSs are exactly the same dimensions as the original Hondas. (Lucky for me, because the package does not include any instructions - you're on your own there.) Fortunately there are some nice illustrations on the box that show how to adjust the rebound, compression, and preload, but I'm going to put some miles on the new ride before I change any of those.

So there ya go - money well spent IMO, even if they don't improve the ride, but I'm sure they will. I put the lower-priced non-reservoir type YSSs on my PCX and the difference was like night and day.

Johnny

[Jge64]

You will be blown away and how much better, find some speed bumps, your back will thank you.

[CelticCross]

Jonny,

What size box and sockets are needed? I'd like to make sure that I have appropriate tools available before buying new shocks.

Thanks

[zanggerk]

have you tried them out already?

[Mister_Fube]

I'm very interested to hear further about the YSS shocks, now that you've had time to live with them a little. I was made aware of the hard ride of the Forza from this forum and other review sites before buying and found them to be accurate, however, as someone who commutes on some fast stretches of UK motorway (potentially going up to 80mph in order to keep up with the prevailing flow of traffic), I have found that at higher speeds, the shocks come into their own a bit more. Possibly, this was Honda's thinking when equipping the Forza with such an otherwise unyielding setting on the OEM shocks - works for higher speeds but compromise on lower speeds. If the shocks were bottoming out over 70mph, that would be more worrying for me than feeling all the bumps sub-50mph. That said, if the YSS ones work better all round, I'm up for some of that.

[montliz44]

This is very subjective of course, but I've put a few hundred miles on the new YSS shocks now and I think I can say something about the difference.

First of all, I haven't adjusted them at all from the way they came in the box. You can adjust the main spring tension (preload?) by tightening or loosening the collar, but I haven't done it.

Around town, the shocks still feel quite firm on the little pavement irregularities, but not harsh, which is how I'd describe the feel of the OEM shocks. On the highway at road speeds the YSS shocks really perform, even in the rough stuff.

For example, there is a scary stretch of highway just off the island here which can't be avoided and which claims several bikers every year. People from out of the area don't see it coming until it's too late, but people who live around here use it as a sort of mini test track for their own riding skills and their bikes' suspension and handling. It's nothing more than a really rough curved on-ramp to the interstate that passes under a bridge while going uphill onto the fast lane of the interstate, but the curves and the lean angles are all wrong and it has to be taken at full highway speed (say 65mph/105kph) in order to get up onto the big road without getting run over.

With the OEM shocks it was not fun at all - a real white-knuckle experience every time. But with the YSS shocks I just sail right up through there WOT, no problem. The Forza now does it as well as any bike I've owned, and way better than some of them. So that's my test, and the YSS delivers.

Hope that makes sense,

Johnny

[Mister_Fube]

Good report. Thank you. I know what I'm getting myself for my next birthday.