GUERRILLA 452

[iansoady]

But remember your contract is with the dealer not the manufacturer and it's up to the dealer to sort things out.

[Propellor]

Hi Martin.

I took Bruce (the scram) in for his service this morning so I've had a good look at 4 guerrillas in the showroom plus the demo bike they lent me. I also had a quick glance at mine to make sure it's OK and it is.

The 5 machines at the dealers were all fine and the sales guy said he's not heard of a problem with the shock. He also reckoned the dealer should get a replacement within days.

I've looked more closely at the tang ring to figure out how they probably make them and why yours might have gone wrong. First off the ring is actually a ring and not two separate pieces as I'd assumed from your photo. It's clearly split as can be seen on your photo, but it's a complete circle otherwise. Then it twigged how they most likely make it. It looks like a pressed piece so I reckon it's pressed in the flat then rolled into a circle, not quite meeting at the join. In fact a close look on these bikes you can see the circle is slightly misaligned by about 0.75mm. The welds on these bikes and mine seem longer than yours. I'd say each stitch is about 10mm long.

A very close look shows where the problem might lie. The fit of the ring onto the shock body isn't that close, so there's a gap to the shock body, plus the gap gets slightly bigger as you get towards the end of the tang. It's not much and you need to look closely to see it. But if there's a lot of friction between the tang and cam ring I could imagine it would tend to splay open the gap. Especially as the edges of the tang aren't perfect, with it being a pressed piece. Maybe then the forces applied through the suspension would finish the job, splaying it out more. I think that's possibly what's happened to yours.

I bet most people don't adjust them. I haven't needed to and probably never will unless the missus wants a run out on it. I think it'd be wise, with hindsight, to lubricate the two parts prior to twisting it.


That's my best guess, now having seen the thing up close and not via a photo.

Hope these ramblings make sense and maybe they're of some help.🤷

Cheers

[iansoady]

It would also be wise to take as much load off before trying to adjust it. Does the bike have a centre stand?

[xbally]

Thanks Andrew and Ian for your further observations.

To answer Ian first, yes the bike does have a centre stand and yes it was on the centre stand when I tried to adjust it.

Andrew-thanks very much for your thoughts.

I have to confess as to not being sufficiently technically minded  to understand the physics or metallurgy involved in the manufacture of a single type suspension rear shock absorber.

I've owned quite a few mono shock bikes over the years and have made pre load adjustments to them occasionally without any real problems. Usually it's a question of getting the right C spanner to securely fit the adjuster rings. I tried various ones I have acquired over the years but found the one provided in the bike's tool kit to be the best so that's what I was using at the time.

A single shock is definitely harder to adjust than a twin type though.

I even trawled the internet for any tips on making the adjustment (as well as the owners' manual) just in case and as I think I've said before had made previous adjustments incrementally several times without any apparent problem?

I'm glad your bike seems OK and it's interesting that no others have yet reportedly been affected.

[Propellor]

Another observation of all the guerrillas I looked this morning, including my own, is that they're all set to the lowest setting. I have said earlier in this thread that I thought mine was a notch or two from bottom but couldn't check as I was on holiday. It turns out it was the scram I was thinking of. Gus the guerrilla is set to the lowest setting. And that's where he's staying 😮😂😂😂.

One thing that is apparent looking at the scram back to back with the guerrilla is the steepness of the slope. The jump from low to high on the guerrilla is more than twice the distance of the scram. Without knowing the spring force of each bike it's difficult to say, but on the face of it, it looks like the effort to get the guerrilla to jump one notch will be greater than that on the scram. The layout of the guerrilla is more novel than the scram, so it may be that it works with a lower rate spring? No idea.

Martin, did you adjust your shock upwards first then decide to go back down?

[xbally]

Andrew, I can't honestly remember what I did.I think when I got the bike IIRC, the rear shock was on the hardest setting , so I slowly reduced the pre load.
When the bike was delivered to me at home I was somewhat "shocked" to see the state it was in. No attempt appeared to have been made to clean or polish it. The driver merely said we don't clean them so I wasn't surprised the shock was on its hardest setting.

[Propellor]

Andrew, I can't honestly remember what I did.I think when I got the bike IIRC, the rear shock was on the hardest setting , so I slowly reduced the pre load.
When the bike was delivered to me at home I was somewhat "shocked" to see the state it was in. No attempt appeared to have been made to clean or polish it. The driver merely said we don't clean them so I wasn't surprised the shock was on its hardest setting.

Mmmmm 🤔 so I look at 6 guerrillas all set to lowest setting. Nobody is likely to have touched them. Yours gets delivered to you in a poorish state and the shock set to highest. To misquote Basil Fawlty : I smell a rat, major.

I've been making the assumption yours was bought new.

[Propellor]

Ps. I suppose there's scope for misunderstanding. When I say lowest I'm referring to the amount of preload. I'm assuming we agree on which position represents the lowest preload.

[xbally]

Yes, bought new and yes - I re-checked in the manual before i adjusted and the direction I was turning the pre-load adjuster accorded with changing it from the highest (ie most jacked up) to the lowest.

I haven't yet quite felt like attacking my bike with a tree branch yet though Manuel.

[Propellor]

Yes, bought new and yes - I re-checked in the manual before i adjusted and the direction I was turning the pre-load adjuster accorded with changing it from the highest (ie most jacked up) to the lowest.

I haven't yet quite felt like attacking my bike with a tree branch yet though Manuel.

Ha ha. Attacking them with a tree is how you can feel occasionally.

So do you think the dealer has had a "hand" (or even a long pole) in the demise of your adjuster? Strange that it came the complete opposite of all the ones I saw, brand new un molested. Makes you think.

[xbally]

"So do you think the dealer has had a "hand" (or even a long pole) in the demise of your adjuster? Strange that it came the complete opposite of all the ones I saw, brand new un molested. Makes you think."

No idea I'm afraid.

Apart from the state of the bike when it landed (looked as though it had been in a dry but perhaps dusty warehouse for a while) and the rear shock (which I'm not laying on them at the moment) they've been as I would have hoped.

[Moto63]

I haven't yet quite felt like attacking my bike with a tree branch yet though Manuel.

🤣🤣…he no rat. He hamster

Ps.. defo not laughing at you or your situation Martin, merely, I hope. Laughing with you, as sometimes when things like this start to “niggle you” I find it best to try and almost laugh it off.
🤞

[xbally]

I haven't yet quite felt like attacking my bike with a tree branch yet though Manuel.

🤣🤣…he no rat. He hamster

Ps.. defo not laughing at you or your situation Martin, merely, I hope. Laughing with you, as sometimes when things like this start to “niggle you” I find it best to try and almost laugh it off.
🤞

DON'T MENTION THE WAR ..................

No Michael, I totally understand.  I always try to keep a sense of humour and PERSPECTIVE with these things despite having less and less patience the older I get!

[Propellor]

I haven't yet quite felt like attacking my bike with a tree branch yet though Manuel.

🤣🤣…he no rat. He hamster

Ps.. defo not laughing at you or your situation Martin, merely, I hope. Laughing with you, as sometimes when things like this start to “niggle you” I find it best to try and almost laugh it off.
🤞

DON'T MENTION THE WAR ..................

I did once, but I think I got away with it 😂😂

[xbally]

I just phoned the dealer again and guess what..........the shock has still not landed there...........They are now estimating after the bank holiday. We shall see? I'm beginning to lose patience.......