NC750X DCT 2026 - Shock Therapy - Little links, Big difference

Indexé : 2026-05-22

[00:00:17]Hi guys, welcome back to NC Adventures.

[00:00:21]Another day in the garage. So, what am I dealing with today? So, uh, one of the things I've been having issues with is the rear suspension. Um, now this is a really personal thing, guys. This is this is not me saying that there's anything wrong with the rear suspension.

[00:00:39]In everyday use, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this. Um, you know, indeed, prior to me putting luggage on, um, I actually had no issues with it at all. It's it's very, um, smooth. It does soak up the bumps. Um, what I've found is once I've actually started to apply weight to it, cases, um, some of my gear, it starts to get a little bit soggy for me. Um, so the initial problem I have is sag. There's a there's an awful lot of sag in there. And, um, that once I actually start to load gear onto it, that the spring loading is is also still a little bit soft.

[00:01:20]Um, so for me personally, there's a few ways I can deal with that. I could change the shock. Um, that's very expensive. You know, that's um, yeah, that that's a that's a 400 pound solution. Um, I don't think it warrants it. I think there are a few other things I can try first.

[00:01:40]Um, so, so what I'm actually experiencing before I go down the path of what I'm going to do, um, is if I just get off the center stand.

[00:01:55]Right. So, bearing in mind, so so what what have I done? Actually, let's let's recap. So, so once I load the bike, I've actually found it was so soft to me that I um I have to have my preload up onto maximum.

[00:02:12]So, in terms of the adjuster that sits at the top of the shock, that is uh under full compression. So, as as high as I can get it to go. Um but if I just press on the bike, takes very very little effort to make that sink.

[00:02:30]So, what I was finding, let's get the first side stand.

[00:02:36]And again, actually, you can probably see it this way as well, how easy it was it is to to rock it on this uh side stand.

[00:02:45]So, um yeah, what I was finding is um once I've loaded up, so so let's talk about cases and weight and stuff. So the the Dometi cases in themselves are about 5 kilos a piece empty.

[00:03:05]The framework that's on there that takes the panas. Let's say that that's another 10. So that gives us 20 kilos.

[00:03:14]Um top box and top rail. Top box rail.

[00:03:20]I don't know. Let's say objectively that's another 15. So what's that? 35 kilos.

[00:03:29]Um and and I'm actually getting quite a lot of sink at 35 kilos. So you know if you if you compare that off to a a pillion I mean what's a standard pillion normal weight is 60 70 kilos something like that. I mean I'm I'm a I'm a heavy lad. I'm I'm a 100 kilo lad. um which obviously impacts this as well, but um it is with the cases on and and the gear, it isn't it isn't an excessive amount of weight.

[00:04:05]Yeah. So, so what I want to do is I want to tailor the bike so it's more comfortable handling that weight. Um the other problem I have and this is problem a problem I've experienced in the past as well is that um when when you start to apply weight static weight not like a pillion it will get off the weight's always there and it's going to stay there while you're moving around is that the bike sinks and the more it sinks the more upright it comes.

[00:04:37]So you can I can and have in the past got myself into a position where if we look at the sidestand the sidestand is it's probably an inch off the deck there.

[00:04:47]I've gone to garages where the road or the the the the forcourt next to the pump actually comes uphill slightly. So I've gone into the garage and I'm I'm in a teeter position. So bearing in mind I'm not sitting on the bike either at this point that will go further down.

[00:05:06]So, um, yeah, first solution, eat less pies. But nevertheless, I still need to get this into a position where I can try to take some of the sand out of it. So, what can you do?

[00:05:25]What I'm going to do, and again, this is not a um this is not a recommendation to anybody else. This is this is me personally how I'm going to deal with it. Um, I'm going to introduce a pair of shortened dog bones. So, so the dog bones will do two things because they're they're shorter than the standard ones.

[00:05:48]They will bring the swinging arm further down, thus raising the height of the bike. The other thing it does is it alters the geometry or the mechanical advantage of the swing arm on the shock.

[00:06:06]If you shorten it, you actually make the swing arm work harder or the back wheel works harder to compress the shock. So it it it stiffens that up by changing the leverage.

[00:06:21]So theoretically, if I can make the bike stand higher, have more mechanical advantage, so we have less sag or less so softness at the back of the bike. Um, that will take care of some of the issues that I think I personally are finding. The only other thing that will happen or one of two one of two things that will happen um is that the height or the increased height of the back of the bike will actually push the bike further over. So that creates a new issue because if I want to actually step on the bike and over when I've got gear on because it's that much harder I throw my leg over. Um it it makes that almost impossible because the bike's leaning at such a a bizarre angle. you're you're kind of having a hop and then throw your leg over. So, I'm going to try and counter that by getting a an extendable side uh side stand. Yeah. So, that should bring the bike back up again. Now, how that's all countering everything is that the bike is a little bit closer to upright, which means you can step and go on it. But what we've done is we've got rid of a lot of the sag. So, the bike should stay fairly stable in this upright position.

[00:07:41]It shouldn't it shouldn't sink any further. So, when I do the garage thing like I just discussed, um that should bring us into a position where the bike will comfortably sit over and stay there. It's not going to it's not going to feel like it's going to tip over with me on it.

[00:08:00]Right, dog bones. So, let's install some dog bones. So, how we're going to do this, we need a few tools.

[00:08:13]First tool I need is a bit of a plank.

[00:08:18]That sounds like me. That does a bit of a plank.

[00:08:21]All right. If I just underneath there, let's get the sight stand out of the equation.

[00:08:28]This is going to be hard work because that's going to have to lift that a long way uphill.

[00:08:35]Let's get ourselves there.

[00:08:39]Wow.

[00:08:41]Jeez.

[00:08:44]Right. Okay. Um, so before we start, let's go and take some measurements.

[00:08:52]So, here's the back wheel off of the ground. So, what we're going to do, I'm just going to take a measurement to set a a datim or a kind of a baseline. So, I'm seeing 75 mm to the base of the tire. My poor worn out tire, which is a story for another day. Um, 75 mm. Right. Okay. Let's not forget that. So, I am going to go and get some tools sorted out and I will be right back.

[00:09:31]Right. Okay guys, um so we're going to do this with two cameras. Got a hair camera and static cam, floor cam, so we can actually see both elements of this.

[00:09:40]Um so I actually have a crowbar and what I will do with the crowbar is I will use it as a levering tool when I'm working on the dog bones to actually get the bolts in and out. Um, but we'll go through this process first off of of getting the dog bones off and then we can see what's happening at this end.

[00:10:01]Okay. So, what are we doing?

[00:10:05]Just get the camera somewhere so we can see nice and clear. Okay. Okay. So, what we're doing is we are dealing with these two things here, dog bones.

[00:10:18]So, here's my replacement dog bones, the slightly shorter ones.

[00:10:25]I mean, if I just put that there, they're about 25 mil shorter. I think looks about right.

[00:10:38]Okay. So, in order to get these off, you're going to need 17 mil for the two nuts, um, and a 14 mil to stop the bolt spinning when you're trying to undo these two. Um, should you be using this video as a guide, don't be afraid of anything collapsing on you once you get these nuts out because the the entire thing is held together under tension because of the weight of the wheel. It's trying to squash these dog bones together. So, it's not going to it's not going to fall apart on you. So, if we can just get these off. So, okay. So, Okay, that was easy.

[00:11:31]And that's already spinning on me. So, get the 14 mil behind it.

[00:11:46]Okay, the first knot off. So, these nuts um hopefully we can They're actually a um they have an insert in them that actually stops them just back winding themselves.

[00:12:06]So they quite specialized the top one just spitting off that one.

[00:12:34]Okay, that's that kn as well. So, as I said, these are held under tension at the moment because the wheel the weight of the wheels on it.

[00:12:44]Um, so what we're going to do, see this, I'm just going to switch back to the head cam. is if I lever up with my crowbar and we watch what's happening here.

[00:13:01]You'll see that the tension comes off of those bolts. Can you see that we're levering up?

[00:13:09]So, in order to get the bolts out, if you just lever up, pull the bolt out and then let the wheel down.

[00:13:24]That's it. So, it's nice and easy. So, of course, you can do this. I mean, I use a I'm using a lever because it's not a huge weight, but, you know, for safety sake, you can do this with a jack um and just support it underneath and then um send the jack up and down to to set this height for you.

[00:13:45]So, if I push that Top bolt out of the way.

[00:14:03]There we go.

[00:14:07]That's the old dog bones off.

[00:14:10]So, the new one's in. So, I'm going to start with the top one first.

[00:14:21]If I do it with the top one first, it's just easier to slide this lower bolt in.

[00:14:24]That is trying to to get past the chain and that doing the top one last. So, do the top one first.

[00:14:35]Okay.

[00:14:39]Just um just get the nut started.

[00:14:48]There we go. That can't fall off. Yeah, that's not going to go anywhere. It's loose, but it's fine. We'll come back to that in a minute.

[00:14:56]So, what I want to do is Oh, wow. That's so close.

[00:15:02]So, that's just where the wheels sitting down on the axle stand. It's actually that height is very, very close to its final height. So, I just get that screw that screw. Get that bolt somewhere close. I'm just going to leave up again.

[00:15:24]There we go.

[00:15:26]That's that most of the way in.

[00:15:30]Get that roughly lined up. And I'm going to squeeze this. I can't at the minute cuz it's under tension. But if I leave the wheel up, it should loosen and I should be able to push it all home. There we go.

[00:15:42]Perfect.

[00:15:44]So, last last nut on.

[00:15:53]Okay. So, now we can do this up.

[00:16:00]Just make sure my camera is still in shot, which is perfect.

[00:16:21]As I say guys, this is not a how-to.

[00:16:22]This is just my own video of me putting these on. So, I would recommend that you find out if you do this what the correct torque is for these bolts.

[00:16:36]I am uh putting it together with my own experience of what I believe it to be.

[00:17:05]Okay.

[00:17:08]And that's it, guys. So, that's that's the new dog bones installed.

[00:17:14]So, what I'm going to do now is I'm just going to take the crowbar out of the way.

[00:17:21]Just bring you over here.

[00:17:30]So, take measure. So, we had 75 mm. If you remember before we started, we now have about 50 mm. So 25 mil difference.

[00:17:47]So the so the back wheel has come down by 25 mil. So by token that means that the entire bike is now pushed up by 25 mil or the top of the bike is or the seat is is 25 mil up. Right. Okay.

[00:18:04]So, let's get the bike off of the center stand.

[00:18:14]Get rid of this piece of wood and then have another look.

[00:18:25]you here and off the stand. Okay, that we won't need that again.

[00:18:47]So, just for interest sake. So as I said, so changing the dog bones has now decreased the leverage that the swing arm has. So it should now require more effort to compress the spring.

[00:19:07]That's Oh, that's a lot different.

[00:19:11]I can feel that already.

[00:19:13]Yeah. Okay. Okay, that's good. So, so I stand down.

[00:19:20]That means that the entire bike is going to lean over pretty substantially. Now, here we go. I don't know if you can see that or not, but that's that's a long way over. So, hence the reason I said that that needs to be corrected now with a longer side stand.

[00:19:44]So, what I'm going to do is just put it on the center stand. So, I know I know two things I'm going to see here.

[00:19:52]I think the first thing I'm going to see is that it's going to require less effort to get it on the center stand because I think the wheel will be very very close to touching the ground at 25 mil. So, le less effort. A lot less effort.

[00:20:07]Oh, I am. Yeah.

[00:20:10]So, the back wheel is dragging on uh that 25 mil lift.

[00:20:20]That's okay. Fine with that. I'm fine with that. The bike is fully stable on this stand. It's not like it's uh uh unsafe or unsteady.

[00:20:30]Okay, cool.

[00:20:33]Going to take a break. I'm just going to swap my camera batteries and then I will look at the side stand.

[00:20:42]Awesome. Be right back.

[00:20:48]Right, guys. Welcome back. Um, right. So, so this is my adjustable stand, side stand. Um, on paper it should be um, on paper it should be stronger than the standard side stand. Um, so I've got no concerns with that. I know the bottom leg is solid drilled, so steel, so that's going to be fine. The top bit, I think the wall thickness is thicker than standard, so also not a problem. With all of these aftermarket parts, the thing that would concern me is that weld and how strong that weld is.

[00:21:30]But I'm going to take a punt on it. So on my head be it. Um but I have a little bit of faith. So I have played with this um height um in terms of where I think it needs to be set. And it actually does need to be on its uppermost setting. And so out of all of our settings here, it's the top setting.

[00:21:57]Um, this bolt in itself, the sheer load on this bolt is going to be incredibly high. So for um, for it to shear this by snapping it that way is it's not going to happen. Something else will break way before this bolt will shear.

[00:22:17]And certainly not on a 200 plus kilo bike. That's for sure.

[00:22:22]Okay, so let's just that up.

[00:22:35]Should say that the foot pad is um is an aftermarket foot pad that I had on the original stand. So I've taken that off briefly to put onto this one. Um obviously the wider pad just gives you a little bit more sure footedness when it's soft ground.

[00:22:59]So just nip that up. Oh cat screwing on me.

[00:23:10]Okay, cool.

[00:23:13]So before I start, I just wanted to show you something. So, those of you that aren't familiar with NC's, you have a side stand switch. So, the side stand switch is a safety switch. It stops you trying to engage gear, your automatic when it's down. Um, if you put the side stand down when you're in gear, it will turn the engine off. Um, so, so you have this this safety mechanism in there. Um, on the back of your side stand, both your original and an aftermarket, you should have this hole. So, that hole is actually where the sensor side stand switch will actually engage into so that when this rotates, it actually pulls the sensor around with it. And that's the thing that the bike sees as on or off or down or up.

[00:24:06]So yeah, be aware that if you do go down the road of a aftermarket one, make sure that you get one that has the correct pip on it. Right. Okay. Um let's go through the disassembly process. So what we need to do first is we do need to get said side stand switch off. So it's an 8 mm. It's obvious it's on the reverse of the side stand. So it's on the other side. So, we need to come underneath the bike to come and get it. Um, let's have at that.

[00:24:39]Okay, guys. So, there's a that for the size switch. So, we need to get that first. So, 8 mm.

[00:24:51]Actually, wondering, will it? Yeah, it will. If we get that out of the way.

[00:25:01]Perfect.

[00:25:19]Now just take the bolt out and then just gently pull the side stone switch out of the way.

[00:25:30]So, next job is to take this 14 mm nut off.

[00:25:39]Just put my foot on it to stop the side stand spinning. There we go.

[00:25:52]That's that.

[00:25:54]Put that aside.

[00:25:59]Okay. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to feed that piece of wire around the back. Just going to make a loop with my hands.

[00:26:14]And I'm just putting the heel of my hand on the bottom of the side stand. And then I'm going to pull with my fingers to try and pull that spring clear.

[00:26:27]Just like that.

[00:26:29]It will fall off the other end. I'm absolutely sure of it. So, if we take it off and just leave it in position, I know which way around that's going to go back on. Okay. So, all that's left now is to undo this bolt. So, you can see it's actually threaded because it comes from behind. So, so what we're going to do now is we're going to get a 14 mil spanner on the reverse of this and we're going to try and undo it. If he didn't wasn't doing it up, there we go.

[00:27:08]That's fortunate. The uh the nice thing of a new bike is everything is very greased and new and there isn't any corrosion, so it does come apart really easily.

[00:27:23]Okay, that's that.

[00:27:29]Before I put that new one in, I'm just going to go and put a little bit of grease on that. There you go guys. So, just a little bit of grease.

[00:27:50]Okay, cool.

[00:27:55]Off the new one and the bolt from behind.

[00:28:13]Nice.

[00:28:15]Actually, that's a better foot than the standard.

[00:28:19]Doesn't rock anywhere near as much.

[00:28:21]Okay, cool. Um, so next thing, put the spring back on.

[00:28:29]This hands back around here so I can feel the other camera's probably going to pick it up. I'm looking for this little spigot.

[00:28:43]Just going to get the hook set in there, which I have.

[00:28:51]Move myself around again so I see the angle. So, same thing again.

[00:28:56]Your other hand to pull that hook over.

[00:28:59]There we go. Nice and easy.

[00:29:03]And that's that.

[00:29:06]That feels loose.

[00:29:08]We'll tighten that up in a minute.

[00:29:12]Okay. So, with that in place, put our nut back on sorted.

[00:29:32]Okay. So, So, our last job back underneath again and uh get the side stand switch on. So, yeah, just to just to recap. So, we're just going to look at the side stand switch here. You can see it's actually got a a peg, little locating peg. So the rotation of that peg is the thing that defines whether um side stand down, side stand up.

[00:30:05]But that peg has to live in that hole that we've got on the reverse. So what that is, it feels like it's a bit high. Let's bring it back a little bit.

[00:30:21]There we go. And we're in express hands. One handed bolts.

[00:30:46]There we go. That'll do.

[00:30:49]So that's it, guys. So, that is all done.

[00:30:53]So, what we're going to do now is uh get the bike off the side stand, center stand, sorry, and uh and see how it now sits. So, now we are all about all about this side stand.

[00:31:11]So, not much action again on the uh center stand.

[00:31:19]There we go.

[00:31:20]So it has corrected the lean. I would say it's about standard. So I would say that's about as much lean as the bike normally had with its old side stand and with it old dog bones. So that to me feels right. Um and the reason being is once we get some weight on it and it's going to take a lot more weight to compress that spring. Um, it's going to bring the bike upright, but yet not to the point where I feel like it's going to tip over on me.

[00:31:51]Cool.

[00:31:54]Happy with that. I'm very, very happy with that action as well. That is much stiffer.

[00:32:06]Right.

[00:32:08]So, next thing we'll go for a ride and uh we'll let you know how that all feels.

[00:32:23]All right, guys.

[00:32:26]So, now back out on the NC.

[00:32:29]Um, yeah, she feels very different. Um, so I'm standing now um on the balls of my feet where I was flatfooting her before, but that's fine. Absolutely fine. It's definitely firmer, guys. Suspension. You can feel it. Feel it. It's uh Yeah, it's not um it's not hard. It's not harsh. It's just firm.

[00:33:09]If anything, it's probably the front that is uh still a little bit um a little bit hard.

[00:33:24]Maybe that's it. Maybe progressive fork springs will be the next thing on the agenda. But um yeah, for now just sort the sag out at the back end.

[00:33:36]Oh, this feels nice.

[00:33:39]I mean the NC always felt planted anyway, but yeah, this is this is nice.

[00:33:49]Okay guys, I am going to say that the uh the dog bones seem to be a success.

[00:34:04]There's no there's no drop off in performance at all. Um as I say, the suspension feels much firmer.

[00:34:14]It's not so wallowy.

[00:34:20]Yeah, very very happy with that modification.

[00:34:26]Yeah, guys. So, uh I mean obviously we're over 3,000 miles now. I think it would be a a good idea in a in a video or two's time just to give an overview um you know my review I guess of uh of how I've found the bike and you you guys know that I absolutely love this bike. Absolutely love it. It's nothing that I'm not happy about with it.

[00:34:56]You know, as far as I'm concerned, the modifications and I change and changes are they're just minor enhancements to to what is a fabulous bike.

[00:35:18]There used to be a time when people used to stop and yield on roundabouts.

[00:35:25]Right, guys. That's the uh the end of the test ride.

[00:35:29]And um what can I report? Well, it feels great. It really does feel great. Um adittly, we don't have any panas or anything on. I think that'll be maybe something for another video, but for now, I'm going to say that this is a success.

[00:35:47]You know, that feels so much better.

[00:35:49]It's a lot firmer.

[00:35:52]side stand modification all works a treat.

[00:35:56]So, uh yeah. Um I'm gonna wrap that up for this week and then what I'll do is in the next video we'll uh we'll probably cover that a little bit more.

[00:36:10]Maybe I'll just go for a really long ride somewhere. That might be another option. Um anyway, thanks as always guys for tuning in. Uh thanks for your comments. Thanks for your feedback. Um, ride safe and I will see you next week.

[00:36:25]NC adventures out.