Has anyone had an original rear shock absorber seize? The original rear shock absorber has "frozen" with very limited movement. I've removed the rear shock absorber and the suspension can be moved through its travel by lifting the wheel. Time for a replacement I guess.

no never had one seize. Fail to dampen sure but never seize, the last shocky that seized on me was from a trailbike left behind a barn for 15years, but that was expected

hi basic ...yes mine used to sieze ...in the bottomed out position

the rest of the moovement was... erm... like a pogo stick with a widdle bit of damping in the down direction

made for some interesting riding on the way to urunga a couple of years ago ...throught the twistys and hills of the "waterfalls way " up near dorrigo ...yes yes ...has a rear bevel drive leaking oil as well

crikey they are hard to kill these "k bikes" eh !!

"rad motorcycles shockies" up here in brisbane can do a repair on them mate ....give them a call ... 2 standards of repair ......seals replacement etc ...and hard chroming if the rod is corroded etc ( and both cheaper than buying a new shockie from anybody)

Ah yes Rad motorcycles can do rebuilds on your rubber mounts also. come to think of it you can go to Penrith as pro shock do the same

cool good info keith .....

wonder what their prices are like .....?

anyone with recent experience ?

Don't know if it helps but I bought a new BMW damper unit from Sherlocks a couple of years ago for about £90.
About half an hours work rebuilding it. Only special tool was a small spring compressor which I was able to borrow.
Give the spring a clean and a lick of paint while its off.
I know there are better units available, but 90 quid for a brand new unit?
If you think you need a WP unit and are looking for a way to convince the financial controller, then you've already answered your own question.

wow ...what a find cj ...good work

Hagon shock absorbers are relatively cheap: http://www.motorworks.co.uk/vlive/Shop/Parts.php?T=5&NU=15&M=40&Ct=MA&SbCt=BA_15_40_MA_65

I have Hagon on my bike, but I have not driven stock so don't really know how much it is different. Think I have this one: SUA50848 I have not tried to adjust it since I don't have the knowledge to do it. I think it is little too hard though.

I have the same model of Hagon on my current K and it works fine. I would rate it marginally better than an original for handling.
The adjusting collar was seized on it when I got the bike but a little WD40 and applying a C spanner (or vice grips in my case) and it will move.
I find the middle setting just about right.

Maybe this could solve problem
http://www.motorworks.co.uk/vlive/Shop/Parts.php?T=5&NU=15&M=40&Ct=MA&SbCt=BA_15_40_MA_63

WOW! £250 for a spring!
I think not.

Scroll down - damper unit, not spring
http://www.motorworks.co.uk/vlive/Shop/Parts.php?T=5&NU=15&M=40&Ct=MA&SbCt=BA_15_40_MA_63

Seizing sounds scary - mine has never seized but I reckon it's a bit crap. I was thinking of replacing it - how good can a 20+ year old shock be? It must have deteriorated. RAM shock would be nice but £200+.....

We'll see.
Cheers
Dave

Easy Nino. I was only drawing attention to the price difference.
Like I said, £250 for a spring?

Yes

I fitted a RAM to my K100 just prior to selling it and I will say Best shock I have ever riden with. I was not aware that the shock was new it felt right from the first time, nice and smooth on the open road and works just like you would want in the corners and ripples I came from a WP to the RAM and as far as I am concerned for road work the RAM was just so much better there was barely any comparison.

Thanks for the replies.
I've ordered an Ikon from Motohansa in Sydney. An original BMW shock is $1500, the Ikon is $550.

Don't and I repeat DONT buy an ICON they are crap they have been havivg big quality problems since they left the KONI designs and went it alone Almost everybody I know that has bought one in the last few years has been tempted to insert it in them. Dont be fooled they ARE NOT KONI with a different brand anymore.

G'day Basic2 , X2 on Rick's comments , I've just changed out an alloy bodied IKON on my bike , pretty poor performance from the word go , tried everything to try and get it right , even bought a second lighter spring to give it some compliance , I gave up and bought something from a local importer . I think you should consider the RAM shock too , just had a look at BSK speedworks website , they are selling them from 279 pounds for the standard length unit , converted to AUD thats $406.00 plus postage ( no idea what that would be ) , if the IKON is $550.00 I know which way I'd go .

Just my 2 cents worth

JR

Melbourne Australia

http://www.realmengineering.com/page15.html

These guys sell good quality shocks.

[quote="ungaas"]http://www.realmengineering.com/page15.html

These guys sell good quality shocks.
I agree with above statement. I bought one about 9 months ago and am very happy with it. Also it was delivered to my door in the Central West of NSW 6 days after ordering an it cost around $400.00 including freight. Very good people to deal with.
Regards Dennis.

It's been a few years since my RT needed a replacement.
When it decided to give up , it did , not the best feeling, when cornering ,even at low speed.
what resulted was , the local Newcastle BMW dealer was asking $175 for a reconditioned shock,
an option available was to hand over your shock and pay a balance of $100, he would then hand you over the new one.
Your old one , never to be seen again , would then be sent away for reconditioning ready for the next client.
never had a problem with the new (recon ) one at all.
experiences with dealers have been 50/50 good / ordinary, nothing to really set me off.
This was one of those good moments.

Stupid question, but I will ask it anyway.

If I want the spring on rear shock harder, should I turn the thing above it so that it goes more down? That is what my senses are telling me to do. Spring gets more tension and is then harder. Moved it about 4 threads downwards. Also turned the damping 3/4 rounds harder. I have this problem that the rear wheel seems to take contact with rear fender. I have been thinking remodelling the whole fender, but before I get to do that I thought I will test these shock adjustments.

tenox ....yes you must do what they call a pretension of the shock spring

the normal rule of thumb is that the shock absorber drops only 20 % of the travel when you sit on the bike ,,,so for most of us that is only about 20 - 30 mm or round about

you may require someone to lend a hand with a ruler , whilst you put all your weight on the bike ...i hope that helps ....give it a try and see what happens

G'day Tenox , when I bought my new shock a weeks ago the importer gave me a bit of a tutorial on how to set it up , similar to what Charlie has advised you can set "Static Sag" , with the bike on the centre stand and with the shock fully extended , measure from a point that is sprung ie the lower shock mount stud to somewhere unsprung , say the base of the seat , now push the bike off the centre stand , the shock absorber will compress under the weight of the bike , with another person holding the bike upright measure again from the same points , the first measurement with the bike on the stand = A , the second measurement with the bike off the stand = B , A-B = static sag , wind up the preload to achieve a difference of 5-15 mm , 5 will be more firm , 15 more plush , this is how they do it at OHLINS

Good luck

JR

Melbourne Australia

Problem is that I don't have that other person. So I bought some materials for the new rear fender project. I thought I would do it only after this riding season, but seems that I have to do it now. I don't like the current fender so it is actually quite OK + it is raining and only +3 celcius here. Might as well stay in garage. Thanks for the tips still - and I think I will try the bike with this new harder setup anyway.

you could probably do it yourself ....just use a flexible tape ...and measure between some reference height ....maybe rear of frame when you are on the bike and off ?

may have to back off the compression damping in the process tenox ...

good luck !!!

Bike feels good as it was, so I think that the problem is on that fender (homemade..) and I will replace it with a thin rubber carpet. Just cutted the right size piece and tonight I will do 2 metal plates to hold it with 4 bolts to frame + two cable ties under battery. I never liked the way current fender looks from side. This rubber one should install so that it can't be seen from side. Just for example.

Bike without any fender: http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/ajk73/K100C_003.JPG
Bike with current fender: http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/ajk73/Cafe_0.JPG

I do think that there has to be something so that the dirt wont go straight to the battery etc.

Edit: only one metal plate and 2 bolts because of the wiring which was on way of the other. + 5 cable ties.. Must admit that the bike is somewhat unfinished, but I just want to drive for a while.. And unfortunately the rubber one is also visible from side, but a bit cleaner still.

Had a chance to work on that "fender" allready at evening. It did not come out very well, but I will see if it works for this season. Next winter I will do it better. I was just wondering if anyone would have a good guess about the clearance. Is there enough of it I mean.

Old fender was 6,5cm from wheel and it had contacted it. New one has metal bar which is 8,5cm from wheel. I hope that it is enough. Too bad I did not understand to bend the bar. :|

http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/ajk73/Fender.jpg There is a picture of the new rubber fender. Opinions about the clearance? I placed that tape on that bar just to see if there is a contact while driving.

Bike from side now: http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/ajk73/Fender2.jpg It should go closer to the battery, but this was the best I managed this time. Should be able to improve when I get the bike more stripped at next winter. You can also see the amount I adjusted the rear shock if you look closely.

Edit: That metal plate is only about 1cm closer to the rear wheel than the frame itself, so I think if it still gets hits there is something wrong in shock adjustments. May get to test the bike at tuesday again.

To revive an old thread, my Showa (1100RS) has gone pppffffft.
Sent a message to Sydney Suspension at Penrith.
Could not find a 'Pro Shock' as mentioned by Keith.

Guy said they "could arrange it". Not sure if that is they do it or send it on.
Anyway, will get a quote and report back.

Will shoot a message off to Rad in Brisbane also as comparison.

rosskko wrote:To revive an old thread, my Showa (1100RS) has gone pppffffft.
Sent a message to Sydney Suspension at Penrith.
Could not find a 'Pro Shock' as mentioned by Keith.

Guy said they "could arrange it". Not sure if that is they do it or send it on.
Anyway, will get a quote and report back.

Will shoot a message off to Rad in Brisbane also as comparison.

I found RAD to be the cheapest by far ($77 vs $200) and he really knows his shite. Nice, cheery kinda guy to deal with too.

Good luck

Rodney (Rad) quoted between $190 and $240. Plus $30-$40 postage.

Is that for a rebuild of your shockie rosskko?

blaKey wrote:Is that for a rebuild of your shockie rosskko?

Sure is. It had a bit of a weep before the Alpine, but when I got down there I think it had unloaded completely.
$240 includes re chroming if needed.

he quoted the same for a shock that I got rebuilt for seanii roskko ....ended up costing about 210

I never tried it after ...but sean said it made a huge difference to what he was used to

they do good work in that little shed

cheers

Shock all ready to post to QLD for repairs.

My question for today is, can I use the 100 shock on the 1100.

I know it is an inch and a bit shorter, but barring that will there be any major dramas to the drive train for the 5 or 6 days commute till I get the original one back?

I have already fitted it to the 1100, but not ridden yet. Just in case it is completely the wrong thing to do.

rosskkko

I had Rad shocks rebuild the Koni shock on the project bike, cost $240.00 and  included hard chroming seals and new bump stop. I'm very happy with the service and quality of work.

If you use it then you will need to spread yak fat all over the bike to protect in case of thermonuclear discharge but it wont hurt the drive so you should be OK.