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Chopper Shox

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22K views 27 replies 22 participants last post by  snatchleeka  
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#1 ·
Bottom line....Do they work that much better then a spring seat?? I've got a rigid with a memory foam seat that rides on traditional old skool springs. Missouri roads are crap so I was regretting of tearing down and putting it all in a soft tail frame.
Has anyone had a rigid with a spring seat and converted to the ChopperShox system? Results?? Does it ride much better? it would be a great cheap solution since I love the rigid look and don't want to spend the money to re-build. But 2 Missouri potholes and 2 close launches over the handle bars are forcing me to do something-
 
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#2 ·
I tried and mounted one, it needs to to be really squishy and the angle has to be correct for travel. Otherwise the lever action will not work right.
What I would do, either run springs like everyone else or get a harley police air seat wit the compresor and mount that in place of the shox.
 
#4 ·
So fucking what? I run em' and they work fine for my ass. Smooths out the road a little, and 150, 200 miles don't fucking hurt as bad as a frame mounted seat. I ran seat springs on my stock frame so I cant compare. Yeah, some builds with Chopper Shox don't look good in my opinion, but that's why I made mine different. With the price of a airbag set up at 1500 doll hairs, I went the less complicated route. The only thing I would do different, is set it up yourself, the kits are too expensive, you can buy the shox and seat pans and have somebody cover the seat, for less.

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Dirty Dee
 
#6 ·
Alternatives:
The Bung King Solution:
http://www.bungking.com/osc/product...oduct_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=117&osCsid=a89abced32bbe34afb6c623e58e3d554

The do-it-yourself air ride:
http://www.knucklebusterinc.com/features/2007/01/16/the-pig-seat-diy-air-ride-seat-for-your-chopper/

At the end of the day, your still putting the suspension at your ass versus the wheel, so there is only so much you can expect it to do. The air ride should be pretty cushy. Haven't heard much (good or bad) about the bung king setup, but I dig the look, even if it is pricey. I've heard the chopper shocks are real stiff, so I don't know that they would be the solution for you.
 
#8 · (Edited)
grail21 said:
Alternatives:
The Bung King Solution:
http://www.bungking.com/osc/product...oduct_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=117&osCsid=a89abced32bbe34afb6c623e58e3d554

Had one and am going with regular seat springs now. The Bung King is probably the best version out there design wise, but they take up a lot of room. The linkage system is designed very well through the motions of travel and the Fox shock is fully adjustable and rebuildable. I just could not get the oil tank placement right with that thing in the way.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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#7 ·
I've got 5" springs under my seat right now. With the roads in Metro Detroit as bad as they are...highways included.....its what I imagine riding around in a third world country would feel like. I'm good for up to about 150 miles....but after that...I can barely stand up the next day. On top of that....I got bucked out of the seat the other day on I75 so bad my buddy ran up along side of me because he was positive I was gonna bail. I'd love to hear some more comments...positive or negative....about either an air seat or the chopper shocks. Come fall...if I can't come up with a solution....a softail frame is in order.

I love my rigid....like its my first born son.....but these roads are killing me. Seriously....they have to be the worst roads in the country. Not just one or two....almost all of them.
 
#9 ·
I was thinking of an airbag setup, but not the cop or high dollar setup. McMaster has some low priced airbags, and I was thinking of running a pair of the mini sleeves, http://www.mcmaster.com/#air-springs/=2dvvbb. A bare bones setup would only require minimal plumbing and a valve to fill. You could install an air tank or small pump if you want extra air when some a-hole releases the air from the valve that filled your sleeves.

The +$1,500 setups are for RUB's. Late.
 
#10 ·
you have to get the real chopper shox, they are rated based on your body weight, the cheap ones you see on ebay are crap they are rated for 550 and up, those are for a bicycle. I think on my real chopper shox it says 250. I run a a single shox and it is much better than the springs i ran before. But you can only get so much cushion from these things, dont expect a softail ride, I mean look how big the springs are on a normal sprung rear.
 
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#11 ·
Chopper Shox also has different kinds of springs, I've got the stainless ones and they feel the same as a plain old sprung setup to me. But you also have to take into account how they're mounted. Someone else mentioned the angle that they're mounted at makes a difference - this is very true. You may have to "massage" your mounting system a bit to get them dialed in perfectly but I can't really tell the difference.
 
#12 ·
yeah right now i have the hair pin springs on my rigid and they are alot better than the springs out there....we tried the shock system from west eagle recently and it worked real well and is fairly cheap...only hard part was working out the right angle.....you have to work on that to make sure you have the best travel angle for your set up or else it won't work...
 
#18 ·
I ended replacing my 550lb springs on my cheap chinese shocks with the following springs from http://www.mcmaster.com/

1 96485K138 SPRING-TEMPERED STL JUMBO COMPRESSION SPRING, 3" LENGTH, 1.937" OD, .25" WIRE DIAMETER 2
EA 2 0 11.77

They are a little longer and slightly wider inside diameter, but they hooked up just fine. Still a little harsh, but way better than the 550lb springs. I wont be able to tell how good the setup works until I get the bike together and can ride it.

I'm re-working the mounts some... all in and all a total pain in the ass so far and I should have just bought an old harley police seat and called it a day...

just my 2 cents for what's its worth...
 

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#19 ·
dont buy those little cheapo pos ones. legit mountain bike shocks like the fox in that bung king dealie are available in all sorts of shapes and sizes. mtb shocks companies come out with the latest and greatest every year so the outdated ones are worth fuck all and people practically give them away. i dont really like the look of them on a hardtail seat but they are a good alternative for some.
 
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#20 ·
I forgot to add is you want supension just buy a new cushy HD. Or get a late shovel FLH.
The best you can get sprung is a buddyseat on pogo, don't let this choppershox fool you... I'll put money on it, that it's the same as as rockshox. yes you can get and spring rate and all but again if the angle is wrong your not going to get the bounce you want.

The bung king looks pretty and all, but it also look like a few pounds of metal added to the weight of your bike.
 
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#27 · (Edited)
Abe_Lugo said:
I'll put money on it, that it's the same as as rockshox.
Click to expand...
I'll take that bet! Choppershox are not as sophisticated as rockshox. Rockshox are actual dampers, pneumatic shock absorbers with a spring assist. Choppershox only *look* like an damper, they're really just a fancy way of holding a spring. In fact, choppershox are almost identical in every way to an X1 pocket bike suspension, with 2 differences: choppershox have a much MUCH softer spring, and are machined much nicer than the X1 shock.

Can you tell the difference? left is choppershox, righ is X1 pocket bike suspension.
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Now you can't tell from the pictures but the Choppershox are actually constructed much better than the pocket bike shock (for eample - there's a crappy washer on the bottom of the X1 shock, there's a nice machined brace on the bottom of the choppershox). I have a few of each and it's very obvious to anyone looking at them in person that the choppershox are nicer.

And no, I'm not affilated with choppershox. In fact, I used to despise them because I thought they were just ripping off a $15 X1 part and selling them for 2 bills...until i broke 2 of the X1 shocks back to back, ordered a choppershock for shits and gigs, and realized I was totally wrong.

my .02

PS - to my surprise rockshox doesn't produce a shock that's 4" eye-to-eye either
 
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#26 ·
Hey, y'all, first post....

I have the Choppershox with a temporary mount, see photo....and even at a radical angle they work good...HOWEVER, I weigh in about 240 and the first shocks (200-250#) were too stiff so I had them send me the under 200# ones, which they did free :), and they work great.
Haven't yet covered the pan....and might not.
 

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