So with all the hubbub to get online and shop this holiday season, we figured we would make it simple at DIY Moto Fix and just have one big sale.
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Whether you're the one getting up at 5am to get the best Black Friday deals, or you're the one driving 90 minutes north to go ride in the dirt all day (that would be us), today through December 1st everything on the DIY Moto Fix site is on sale.

 We normally don't go this steep with our discounts, so you definitely want to jump on board for this one before it's over.

Below we have a list of our top selling products with links so you can learn more. Scroll through and make your wishlist.

If you are taking off for a weekend of riding, then be sure to share this post with your significant other so they know what to put in your stocking this year!

Do you want more suggestions? Check out our entire store at this link. Happy Holidays!

Have you ever ridden a buddy’s bike and walked away wishing that you didn’t have to get off because everything just clicked as you were riding it? On their bike, you could rail every corner, absorb every bump effortlessly, and feel completely stable at high speeds. Once you got back on your bike it feels slow, riding over rough terrain wears you out, and taking corners is best described as unpredictable. To make matters worse, you and your buddy could have the exact same bike! What could possibly account for the huge gaps in handling between the two machines?

By design, numerous tweaks can be made to significantly influence how your dirt bike handles. Some of these alterations are as simple as turning a few adjusters, while others require more involved labor such as disassembling forks to swap out springs and dampers. Today’s focus will be on introducing all the different variables that can be adjusted, which ultimately impact how your bike handles. This is the start of an in-depth series on motorcycle handling where I’ll be going into extreme detail on how to make adjustments to individual areas on your dirt bike.

For the sake of clarity, I’ve broken out all the things that we can consider adjusting into two categories: geometry variables and suspension variables. What is challenging about tuning the handling of a dirt bike or motorcycle is that all the different options available to adjust are in one way or another interconnected. This means that geometry variables often influence suspension variables and vice versa.

I’ve slowly been accumulating suspension parts so that I can rebuild and change the spring rates on my Triumph Tiger. While I had accounted for all the parts I needed, I realized I forgot to think through the tools necessary to do the job. I’m used to working on twin chamber off-road forks and shocks and the requirements for the cartridge forks differed, as did the shock. Today I want to discuss how to compress the fork springs so that the damper adjuster, spacers, and spring can be removed.

A couple weeks ago I talked about making a nitrogen filling station. Today, I want to present information on the tools you'll need to service a shock. Plus I want to cover commonly replaced parts.

I suspect many of you currently take your shock to someone to have it serviced when it needs to be freshened up? I also bet that it is usually a pain to be without a bike for perhaps a week and that it probably costs around $100 each time? I know I always dreaded having suspension work done on my bike because it seemed to take forever, plus I always had to drive over an hour and half to the nearest shop. For me, those days are long gone. Now I do all my suspension work myself.

I believe the majority of you are completely capable of servicing your shocks yourself, but just don't quite have all the pieces of the puzzle you need. Maybe you're not quite sure what tools you need; or once you get the shock apart, you don't know what parts you will have to replace? To help clarify what's needed to service a shock and answer some of the common questions about shock building, I created a detailed guide for you. The guide will help you decide if outsourcing your shock maintenance is the way to go or if you are in fact ready to take the job on yourself.

Before I discuss the details of the guide, I want to provide you with a little background on shock absorbers. For major motorcycle brands, shocks are sourced from the following companies: Showa, KYB, and WP. These three brands are primarily the companies responsible for equipping OEM bikes. Companies, such as Ohlins, cater more towards the aftermarket. Out of the three common OEM shock brand options, Showa and KYB are the go-to's for the Japanese manufacturers, while European brands, such as KTM, gravitate toward the WP brand. So if there is any question as to what brand of shock you have, you can keep this in mind. Out of the three common OEM brands, Showa and KYB shocks are very similar, while WPs feature a slightly different design.

The guide I created is geared towards those of you with either Showa or KYB shocks. Those of you with WP shocks may still find the guide useful, but there are a couple tools missing. Within the eight page guide, you'll be provided information on all the tools you need to service a Showa or KYB shock. These tools include any specialty tools and discuss shock pressurization options. Plus there are some pointers on how to make your own specialty tools if you are on a budget.

Once you get through the tools section you'll be presented with a detailed outline on replacement parts. Knowing what to replace within the shock when it is due for servicing is extremely important and the replacement parts section will walk you right through what you may need. It will also provide you with different options for buying replacement parts.

To learn more about shock building and download the free guide, simply enter your email below.

If you have any questions or have something to contribute please leave a comment. I enjoy hearing from you all!

Paul

Have you ever wondered what is needed to make your own shock fill tool and nitrogen fill station? In this post I'm going to go into detail and discuss what is required to make your own shock fill tool and fill station. If you have ever been interested in rebuilding your own shocks and doing all the work in-house keep reading, this post is perfect for you!

If you aren't quite sure what the difference is between the shock fill tool and the fill station or why you need them both, no worries, I'll cover this now before we get into the details of each. There are a couple main advantages of using a shock fill tool in conjunction with the fill station. First, the pressure gauge on the fill tool has finer graduations than the gauge on the pressure regulator on the nitrogen tank. This allows finer adjustment of shock pressures. Second, the fill tool is easily maneuverable and much less cumbersome to hook up to the shock than the fill station. This is especially true when the nitrogen pressure is being fine tuned while the shock is on the bike. For these reasons I personally like to use a fill tool as it allows more accurate filling and more versatility. Now there are certainly other ways one could go about designing a pressurization system so that the fill tool is not needed but I don't plan on getting into those methods. 

The primary job of the fill station is to deliver nitrogen to the fill tool at a slightly higher pressure than the specified pressure. This way the fill tool can be used to bleed pressure down to the correct value. Let's take a look at what parts comprise each tool.