Rear Shock

Does anyone have an original rear shock they no longer need?

Think mine is way overdue for a refurb / replacement. Rather than have the bike laid up at the grease and spanner for a week whilst the refurbishing is done, thought of getting a 'spare' and having that re-engineered and fitted.

DK Motorcycles in Newcastle under Lyme will have second hand ones in Steve, not cheap tho

Hi Steve, This may or may not be of interest to you. My FJR has done over 46k. FJRs are notorious for having weak suspension particularly the rear. The members club reckon the rear unit is goosed at around 12k. At the recent B/M mine was bouncing about like a frenetic Zebede more so with bravepill sat on the back, so did some research, and plumped for a new rear unit and front springs from a company called FTR suspension, they used to be called White Power. Got my local man to fit them for me, and I must say the difference is a revelation! I have read and been told there should be no compromise when it comes to suspension, and am now completly convinced. It almost feels like a new bike. Prior to the change I could fairly easily touch the pegs down on each side, but now I struggle. The reason for this is that the rear ride hight has benn raised by 10mm, I know this dos'nt sound a lot but it sure makes a difference. When you order susp. units from this firm, they manufacture to your spec. i.e. You give them your wieght, hight, make and model of bike, do you regularly carry a pillion etc. etc. It takes 4 to 6 weeks for delivery as each shock is individually made. Prior to this I had never changed the oil in the front forks, when my man drained them he said it was'nt oil that came out but p--s Anyway done about 500 miles since the change, only downside for me is the 10mm increase in rear ride hight, as I'm only 29" inside leg and struggled to to get my tiptoes down as it was, and the front susp. is a tad hard, but that is easily adjusted. All in all I'm pretty chuffed. Hope this has been of interest. Tes.

Tes, many thanks. You may not believe this, but I am planning on going to FTR.

They can rebuild the OEM units - resprung, gassed, oiled etc, but need to take the bike to them and kick about Bury St Edmunds for the day. Hence the thought of getting a unit which they can work on and it shouldn't take as long fitting and adjusting.

There is an ad on fleabay for a place to redo shocks for £100, but after taking with the guy I got the impression he was blowing smoke.

Thanks for the info, I'll give FTR another ring and gauge if getting new is that much better than a proper refurb.
It's amazing what a difference new fork oil makes.


-Steve

Hl Steve, Further to my earlier post I decided that the ride hight was just to tall for me. I really was right on my tippy toes, so, bought a lowering kit {15cm} and dropped the forks about 6cm to compensate, feel a lot more confident now in low speed manouvres. The steering is't quite as quick as before, but still not at all bad. Have you come to a decision yet? Tes.

Not contacted them yet, been doing some thinking. I did some research on the eBay vendor and there does seem to be bad reports about him, good ol' gut feelings hey. Classic case of you get what you pay for.

Also been a bit side tracked with the bike, the front brake lever has been a lot easier to operate since the last service. Braking however has been deteriorating badly over the last few weeks and in the wet I have found myself using my feet to bring the bike to a halt :( Had a brainwave whilst on a ride today, check/adjust the lever span - looks like it has been moved from 4 to 1, put it back, and brakes back to normal

Tried fixing the speedo today by fitting a new cable, but found the old one wasn't broken. The drive gear was changed last year, so unless it's gone again, the clocks have packed up. The spring in the left foot peg broke last week.

Is this the beginning of the eternal repair bill? Been looking around for possible bike replacements, but nothing has grabbed me yet. Now that I know I'm not in for a biggie brake bill, I'll turn my attention back to the suspension.

Glad to hear you have made the adjustments to increase your confidence.
If after the refit the bike height is the same I might consider raising mine, does seem the height makes quite a difference to handling - not that I think all of this will make much difference to me, will have to wait and see.

-Steve

When I ran a FZ750 Gensis (abrilliant bike btw...) I fitted a Hagon replacement shock and had the front forks refurbished professionally. It made a big difference...the bike had done about 35000 miles by then.

@Stevecat...thought about a FZ1S to replace the thundercat? Fast, handle well, comfortable. Handicapped slightly by a poor tank range, altough the Cat is exceptional in this regard

Yes, the Fazer's have been on the list. Been too spoilt with the range on the 'Cat, and is the first spec I look at.

The TDM has a 20l tank, but doubt I'd get on with a twin, don't really want a big bore bike, but would prefer a shaft. I went through this in the 90's when I was looking at what would replace my 650 turbo, nothing was like it, the Thundercat seemed the closest, so that went on my list - 10 years later I was in a position to buy a bike and didn't look for anything else.

Thought about the BMW F800S? OK, it's a twin but is apparently none the worse for it, full of mid-range, belt-drive.....

Just a thought.

Hi Steve, You could buy yourself a nice little Austin 7 or what about a Yam FJR 1300. Shaft drive 250 mile range supreme comfort, panniers etc etc Pam would love it, go on, you know you want to! Tes.

weasley wrote:Thought about the BMW F800S? OK, it's a twin but is apparently none the worse for it, full of mid-range, belt-drive.....

Just a thought.

Friend of mine has an F800, he loves it and gets great mpg and tank range is great...but for me they lack a little sparkle.

Was in the grease and spanner two weeks ago trying to work out the braking problem. The spanner tried to interest me in a blue FJR they have in.
I turned to the owner/salesman and asked if they had any Austin 7's, you can imagine his stare. He then asked why on earth I'd want to change my bike ( probably can smell some cash in repair bills).

For now kitty stays, but its good to see what is out there I'd maybe like.


Thanks for the suggestions

Bike booked into FTR for Sat 6th (opening especially for me!), new springs front and back as well as all the other bits that need replacing, servicing and adjusting.

7am start for me; they have offered to run me into town so I'll be out of their way whilst they work on the bike. All going well I'll only need to kill 3 or 4 hours in Bury St Edmunds then a two hour ride home, on what will hopefully feel like a 'new' bike.

The cost comes in just under that of unfitted Hagons.

A completely different attitude this time I called, maybe they were overloaded with work a few months ago. Professional and very accommodating, feeling confidant that the bike will be in good hands.

Nice one steve will be very interested in the ride report following the suspension overhaul. Hope it all goes smoothly & you are impressed.

Hi Steve, You'll have the bike back now, how does it feel? I suppose like me you'll need a few hundred miles to make an assessment, hope your happy and feel its money well spent. Tes.

Two more weeks before its done Tes. Will be a reasonable ride home, but depending on the weather may take a less direct route back ( story of my life ) where I know some decent roads to try things out

Not getting it done tomorrow, they tell me they have springs for a later model Thundercat and these are longer
Maybe its time to start getting worried.

Will try for next weekend!

Hmmm....did the forks ever change on Thundercats?

At least you've not spent money yet or had a wasted journey.
Hope all is resolved to your satisfaction soon Steve.

Cheers
Rosco

Rosco wrote:At least you've not spent money yet or had a wasted journey.

Have paid a deposit because they are opening specially for me; yes would have been really peeved if I went there and found it a wasted trip only to be done again.

I don't think the spec's changed, told them that, but there is no point in forcing the issue. They may have been using one of the phrases from the mechanics book of excuses (page 12).
Might be the rear spring they are talking about, am having an industrial strength one fitted which is supposed to be better suited to my Incredible Hulk bulk

Well it looks like my rear shock has gone too , the bike is handling like a shopping trolley and I'm able to get more of my feet down on the ground , which for a short arse like me is indeed a bonus , but I think I prefer a better handling bike !! Having read all the previous posts , there aren't a lot of options , it's either buy a new Hagon £270 odd and have it fitted or have it reconditioned for £100 and a hell of a lot of hassle or try and find a used Cat one on ebay that's come off a broken bike(rare as hen's teeth) and you don't know how long it's going to last .As I do on Average 1000 miles per month I think I may fork out for a new one as they are gauranteed for two years unlimited milage. It's expensive but I think in my case it's probably worth it.

I wouldn't go the eBay £100 route.

I can find out how much FTR would do a rear shock rebuild for you if you like - would mean a trip to Bury St Edmunds, but you would have a fitted re-manufactured (your own) shock that will also be setup for you. I don't have the facility to work on the bike, so I have to pay a spanner - factored that into my costings and decided on the 'made to fit me' option.

Ok Steve , just out of curiousity let me know how much they would charge , cheers for that .When are you going ?

espaceman3 wrote:the bike is handling like a shopping trolley.

Change supermarkets I nearly always go shopping on the bike so am usually in leathers, have great fun filtering between trolleys and taking/making a gap. Usual hazards though, trolleys pulling out in front of you, the U-turners and the family day-trippers.

Right, suspension; Called for a price for you John, glad I did. Spoke with the guy who was supposed to have done the work on mine last weekend. A service is £72 plus VAT unless something major is wrong and provided it is not a sealed unit.

As far as I know they are all sealed and was previously told this was not a problem for them. Turns out they have recently done a rebuild for RiDE magazine and found the earlier shocks cannot be opened without breaking them beyond repair. They were given two shocks to do and one was OK and the older one not.

They are researching which models / years are OK and which aren't. I am suspecting that the post Euro 2003 models (US imports) are different to ours.

You can't get much older than mine, so I can most likely assume that it will be a un-resealable type. Right now I feel we should agree to walk away from this one and they refund my deposit.

Thanks for that Steve , I think my mind is made up - will have to splash out on a new Hagon at least they have a 2year warranty unlimited milage and they are rebuildable . I have Hagon front and rear on my other Yam and it handles brilliantly (even though it's not a "sports" bike as such) There is a Thundercat Hagon monoshock for sale on ebay , the chap bought it for his bike and never installed it-it's as new , currently £150 with about three days left - have a look Steve.

Just thought Steve , will my old shock be of any use to you ? It's from an 03 Cat.