Shock for Champion Escort

Air shocks from a harley FLH are 13" in length, they are made by Showa, and are a dime a dozen on ebay, as most replace them with lowering shocks that are shorter. I just picked up a pair for my Guzzi for $30. They are actually supposed to work pretty good, just be sure to air them with a hand pump,, zero loss type is better. Rick

Will the main problem is finding a shock with an eye that will accept the 5/8" bolts that Champion used. So far my "Dealer" is aso at a loss for an affordable replacement and it looks like anyrhing he can come up with will be well over $500 for a pair. No single shocks available!
Champion is much more interested in their Trikes than the Sidecars so don't look for any help there.

One major problem I have run into is the lack of clearance between the bottom bolt head and the shock body. as the cheap rubber insert aged the shock body started hitting the bolt head and just about drove a hole through it. As you look for alternatives keep the clearance issue in mind.

I plan to take the swing arm off of mine in the near future and weld a second side on it from flat stock for the bottom of the shock so that it is supported on both sides. At that point I will be able to use a smaller through bolt, to replace the single sided one, and position the hole far enough away from the shock body to prevent future problems and perhaps enable me a better choice of replacements at better prices. Perhaps the take-off HD units mentioned above will work then too.

Look at the Progressive Shocks for 13" eye to eye' in the 12 series.
1202-20BG
T20521SA
1368 105/150 lb Spring

The eye neeeds to be 1" ID and 1/2" wide with an insert that is 3/4" OD and 5/8 ID by 3/4" wide

Jerry, from the other board

Thank you both for the suggestions. Jerry, I like your ideal of altering the swing arm. I think I will try that this spring. Too cold right now to work out in the garage. I just got it all back together after rebuilding both fork tubes & stiffer springs and replacing the rear shock spring and then some electrical improvements.

Funny about those Harley shocks.... I bought a set that looked new for $45 and used them on my BMW R90/6....13" eye to eye...and went fine over the 13mm stud... I think I would investigate removing the metal bushing that is in the center of the eyelet.... you can buy 5/8" bushings at Home Depot.... and it would be real easy to just replace the inner bushing...

Will I was looking through the Progressive online catalog and found that the 13" eye-eye 1202 20B(G) was made for the RD400/350 series bikes. Progressive has a 12-1202B @ $204 pair and a 14-1283B @ $134 pair. I couldn't find any direct ref to the orig shock that Champion used and it is likely that they bought a bunch of them many years ago before some of the numbers were changed or dropped from their catalog.

If Champion did indeed use a low end replacement shock, at the time, for the RD400/350 that would explain why all of the Escorts came with very weak springs for so many years. The springs supplied were so weak that our local Dealer (Honda & Champion) always replaced those springs with the 1368 (105/150lb) while mounting the sidecars on Wings and most other large bikes. From what I understand Champion wouldn't change the springs at the factory and left the Dealers on their own to figure out what needed to be done. That being said I suspect you, like many others, got an Escort with the wrong spring for it's intended use which may be one of the reasons it was on the used market.

The current 12- series Progressive shocks were changed some years ago and may not be the best choice today while the 14- series is closest to those NOS units that Champion used on our Escorts.
I'm going to check into getting a pair of the 14- series first choice or the 12- series second choice.
It may even turn out that the 12- series with self adjusting damping will be the better choice. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I'll check on the cost of a proper spring at the same time.

Update:

Turns out that what I have on the '02 Escort is an exact match for the 12-1202B by compairing the spring sizes used by the 12- vs 14- series.
Progressive has two useable springs:
03-1368B/C 105/150
03-1365B/C 120/170

Mine is set up with the 105/150 and is set with the preload at maximum for either the wife or the three cattle dogs in the chair.

Expect $166 @ MAW to $204 sugested retail for the 12-1202B shocks alone.
Expect around $85+ for the 105/150 or 120/170 springs in chrome.
The low end 90/130 springs in black paint for the RD400 runs $67+

It looks like the 120/170 spring may give me some adjustment range compared to the 105/150 thats on there now.

Take a look at your current spring and if it's painted black I'll bet it's the 90/130 which is sold for the RD350/400.

Putting an Air Shock in there would be a real PITA. There is barely enough room for the "Normal" coil spring shock now with perhaps 1/4" to 3/8" clearance depending on the Tilt position as it is. Plus if you were able to get one in there adjusting the air pressure would require removing the wheel every time if the valve would clear the bodywork or tire that is which it won't for those on the side. The only position that a valve could clear may be to the rear assuming the OD of the shock body would otherwise clear.

Bare in mind every Champion sidecar body is somewhat different, being hand made 'n all, and could have more or less room in the wheel well for a larger shock but don't count on it without making some measurements Fully Extended vs Compressed vs full Tilt vs No Tilt.

As it is on my Escort I had to raise the body in the frame 1/2" to allow the Tilt Actuator to clear it at full extension where it would hammer against the fiberglass which only demonstrates to me that Champion didn't pay too much attention to clearance issues from one sidecar to another.

Another Update:

I just measured my Escort's Shock Clearance as above and found that any Air Shock known to me will not work due to the Valve or Air Hose connection hitting the Tilt Arm in various positions.
With the current shock, which measures just a hair under 2.5" OD, it comes within 3/8" of the Tilt Arm in places where the Air Valve is located on most.
Plus most current Air Shocks are well over 2.5" OD which would leave even less clearance, if any, in some Tilt positions not counting the Air Valve.

At this point I'll stick with the basic 12- series or equivilant shock.
Perhaps some day in the far distant future I may feel like doing some "Glass Work" on the body to allow an Air Shock.
Nah- too much trouble. 😉

Progressive 416 air shocks for my GL1100 are 13" eye to eye, take a look at those too since you mentioned you'd like an air shock. Call Progressive about the eyelet sizes as they are very helpful over the phone.

Here is some ordering info from MAW online.

http://www.mawonline.com/newsite/progressive-shocks.htm

Progressive 12 Series Shocks w/o Sprngs Pr 13`` #121202 $165.95

YAMAHA (SHOCKS) Mfg. #: 121202B Our #: M 16813 Vendor #: PS-1202BG, FITS MODEL: RD400 76-79; LENGTH: 13.0``; MOUNTS: Eyelet-to-eyelet

SPRINGS CHROME 120/170 $80.95

YAMAHA (SPRINGS) Mfg. #: 031365C Our #: P 13120166 Vendor #: 1312-0166, FITS MODEL: XS750 Special (Triple) 78-79; TYPE: HD - Chrome

This spring may be the best bet when your SO is in the sidecar most of the time at the minimum preload setting. Otherwise look for a 03-1368C which is 105/150 lbs. The 03-1368B will also work but Chrome looks and cleans up better over time than the Black paint does where the wheel throws up all the road crud directly on it.

Do you you think this shock & spring will work with a passenger weight of 180 lbs. ?

I would go with the 120/170 which should also allow for a load in the trunk when needed.

On mine with three Cattle Dogs that weigh aprox 140 lbs in the Hack and 50lbs in the trunk for 190 lbs total the 105/150 is a little too light with it's maximum preload. I am considering getting the 120/170 lb springs myself along with a new pair of shocks.

The local Dealer can't seem to figure out how to get them through Tucker Rocky so I'll likely order them from MAW in Jan or Feb if they can't come up with something before then.

I bought a Harley Sporster Progressive set and used them on my BW R90/6 with a Velorex (lite)... it was just a tad stiff with my 220lb and the rig empty...but sure worked well when the car was loaded... Without a load, the shocks were just not in their weight range.... they also have various rebound rates... I don't have a clue what my Sportster rates are... but if I were ordering new shocks I sure would look into rebound rates...

Joel

Jerry,
I assume that this shock & spring can only be ordered in pairs? If true and you end up buying the shock with the 120/170 spring, do you want to split the order? I can send you the money for the single shock & spring and postage involved. This spring would probably be a little stiff when the chair is empty, but I usually carry two five gallons jugs of water in plastic collapsible containers for ballast. I just seat belt them in and it works pretty good. If I pick up a passenger it is easy to dump the water and store the containers.

Will see my reply to you on the other board under WinginHunk.

I am now running a 150 lb spring on a NOS Pro/Man shock for the grand total of $37.50.

That streight wound 150 lb spring would be equal to a 120/170.