Are these the 'adjustable ' dog bones...? I was thinking of getting some so I can occasionally lower the bike for off roading....Steve

Yes they are adjustable, but not in the sense that you can do it quickly without tools! You need to remove the dog bones and replace them in a different position to make the adjustment.

They do jack-up and lowering versions, but interestingly neither has a "stock" or zero position. They start at +5mm or -5mm.

Jack-Up

Lowering

Also worth noting that, if you have a centre stand fitted, the links can only be fitted in two of the four positions without fouling the stand's bolt threads protruding out of the nuts (although the bolts can be reversed to avoid this issue).

Cheers Pleiades, good info. I had this misguided idea five minutes with the spanners would see the bike lowered. ..! Steve

Whilst the dog bones (linkage plates) are under tension the vast majority of the time, if the suspension 'tops out' (hits the internal bump-stop in the shock) with any inertia, they will momentarily be under a significant compression force. I suspect that this is what has happened in Jon�s example? A combination of a high spring rate, low rebound damping and the action of a trailer�s weight pivoting and acting like a lever increases the chances of �topping out�. With a trailer, as the rear end of the bike rises, the trailer inclines backwards and all its weight will effectively shift rearwards, increasing upward leverage on the hitch, in turn further lifting the rear of the bike (extending the suspension) and with a greater magnitude of force/inertia. This is an exponentially increasing effect too; the more the rear suspension extends the greater the effect the trailer will have on extending it further.

You guys are too clever, ive no idea how they have bent but projection now have them and have comfirmed it. They are bent. Ive had a pdf image of the new links they are mighty. Ill post a pic up when they have been made,

Steve i adjust mine when i go trail riding as my offroad wheelset sits a good inch and a half taller than my road wheelset. So i use the +5mm offroad and the +25mm on road. Keeps.my geometry very similar.

Perhaps just a strange coincidence but before i shipped them off i had them measured at work on the co-ordinate measuring machine and how i had them on the bike at the +5mm setting (for offroad) now measured exactly the same as the standard links too within a tenth of a mm. They where also just beginning too bow outwards. 0.78mm over the length of the link.

Now Pleiades, you sir have a very good point about the extension of the shock. But not with relation too my trailer. When i ride offroad, contrary to most people i actually run very little rebound damping (ohlins piggyback shock) I find this helps the Teneres traction on the loose rocky terain i ride on,.but can leed to the rear end bucking under me on high speed jumps and big landings, its a trade off i know as more damping would help the landings but take away the wheels ability to track the ground on fast rough terrain.
Its a trade off and i ride more fast rough stuff than I do jumps. But maybe this is how they have become bent?? That and running them in different settings often. Maybe be t one way and then the other??

On the road with the trailer (and or luggage) i run lots of rebound and compression too counteract the lever effect the trailer can have. The trailer has over 3500 miles on it now the biggest difference was made by actually learning how too load it properly haha.
Anyhoo. New massive links in the pipeline.

Ive got it.......... Pleiades your a genius. You got me tbinking and looking through old receipts. Ive had the links long before I bought my ohlins shock. Which i in turn bought because the Sachs unit died a miserable leaky death. That sucker was like a pogo stick for a good 3 weeks whilst offtheroad sorted my new shock out. Topping out many many times.
Ill bet thats when the damage was done.
I change the links so regularly, but very rarely clean them or inspect them. Was only this time as i was under there removing my bash guard for straightening that I cleaned everything so it wouldnt be such a mucky job.

10 points for Pleiades.

Excessive topping out inertia resulting in bent linkage plates... a fooked shock (sans oil) will definitely be a BIG factor as there won't by any rebound damping to speak of at all. As a matter of fact, the Sachs shock has woefully poor rebound damping straight out the box, never mind when on its last legs! So it's probably been smashing into the top-out bump stop for many a mile, giving everything else in the linkage a right old hard time of it.

Glad you've got to the bottom of it!

Why havn't they taken the weakest option and bent sideways...

Because they are under tension so effectively are always being pulled straight?? Another thought i had ia that maybe they arnt "bent" as such but "stretched" as the bolt holes are off the centre line of the links. Think of a banana if you pull it from either end it will straighten out. And ita effective length will be longer.

I think im correct in saying that the shorter the links the higher the rear end. Mine are lift links yet they were near as makes no difference the same length as the stock ones when i removed them.

Heavy loading and jumping a 200+kg bike with +110kg rider could have bottomed the shock and the links were pulled straighter by the force?? I used to use a hyperpro progress spring along with the progressive linkage on the Ten would have made it virtually impossible too bottom out. All that pulling force would have been on the links.

Discuss.................

The numbers are made up and the drawing crappy but do you get the idea?? The dashed line is the load centre between the bolt holes.

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/t...pszh5185rf.jpg