Two Thousand three hundred kilometers later (a week) I have taken a break from riding my new R1200R and decided to install the new Air Shock from RacingBros Type Bazooka 1.V. Why you ask? Well after completing the front end completely and the steering bearings I wanted a more subtle ride over bumps yet have the stiffness in the cornering that allows one to attack corners with confidence. I sold my Malossi Front Shock because of the stiffness and was hoping that this Bazooka could be adjusted better due to no spring and that it relies on air (infinite adjustments). I won’t detail the installation other than to link to my previous blog entry on shocks. Needless to say the installation went smoothly except that I needed to ride out to West Ottawa to Ottawa Fasteners to get two metric 10 1.25 thread  0.4 thin nuts. You require two, one to tighten down the rubber bushings then the second to lock the nut down. I used blue Loctite as well. The thread was slightly different on the Bazooka shock than the Malossi to install onto the upper shock support bracket. Other than that, the Installation was a breeze.

Bazooka Features:

• AL6061-T6 Cold Forged Damper Body
• Infinite Air spring adaptability and super lightweight. 50% saving from conventional shock
• Fully tunable and serviceable SAV (Speed Adaptive Valve) damping system
  Wide-range Low Speed Rebound adjustment (18 clicks)
• 32mm Super Hard & Super smooth damper body
• Tube-in-Tube super rigid structure. 150% stronger than conventional shock
• IFP Design (Internal Float Piston) – oil/gas separator inside; shock could be mounted either direction! Most stable damping quality!
• Different mounting structure for different Vespa spec.

The shock has two adjustments similar to most spring shocks. The air pressure adjusts the stiffness and dampening and then there is a simple turn knob with 18 clicks to adjust the low-speed re-bound. Now the fun begins to try to get this right for me.

They provide a simple chart with the rider’s weight and suggested PSI for the shock. This I imagine is a starting point and it allows for some personal preference depending on the type of riding you do and the accessories and weight of the individual scooters. I started with the suggested PSI and will play around with the low-speed re-bound for now.

Well, I took her out for a spin and she seems to be working great! Was it worth the upgrade? I am not yet certain. The verdict is out and time will tell. But instead of getting on the Vespa and riding her I got on the R1200R and went to visit friends 🙂