Stock rear shock upgrade/rebuild

[Vets1989]

Stock shock with 10 k miles seems to be giving me road feedback than when new, especially when riding alone.
Thinking of replacing spring with Hyperpro progressive rate, since I can't afford new shock assembly.
Has anybody done this?
Also understand shops in UK rebuild stock shocks, but local dealer says probably not cost effective.
Whatever experience you have, I would appreciate hearing from you.
Any problems with remote preload not releasing when turning all the way out?
When and where in Tennessee is the nt rally?
Thanks
Vic

 

[EX Winger]

Pigeon Forge, 15- 19 may! it is posted in the very front of this web site on left hand colum.I have not notice a problem with he NT suspension yet at 45,000. I changed out my Wing rear suspension , and the fork springs at around 75/80,00miles and it did help it quite a bit. It is possible you will find noticeable improvement from a spring change. It seems that someone here did a suspension upgrade with-I the last 6 months, but my memory fails to remember who it was.

Eldon

 

[skiper]

Hi Vets - Can you describe the problem / symptoms in a different or more detailed way ?

 

[DirtFlier]

[...Also understand shops in UK rebuild stock shocks, but local dealer says probably not cost effective...]

You'll have to pay well north of $700 for a new shock so it might be worthwhile to inquire as to the cost of shipping to/from the UK, plus the shock rebuild. The guys on the Deauville-UK forum seem to like the rebuilds. Now if you're going to buy a new spring, that figures into the rebuild picture as it may make rebuilding the standard shock less attractive vs buying a new shock.

 

[Chucksklrst]

$336 from partzilla http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Honda/Motorcycle/2010/NT700VA+AC/REAR+SHOCK+ABSORBER/parts.html

OEM Unit.

I just bought a rear Shock for my ST1300. Showed my dealer this page from partzilla and they matched it except for tax. I bought from the dealer to give them the business.

 

[Fisherdave]

I started the thread right before yours (Hyperpro Shock for the rear). I went ahead and ordered it from EPM Performance. The Hyperpro emulsion type shock was $619 & the Hydraulic pre-load adjustment was $269. I know that seems expensive & maybe I could have skipped the Hydraulic pre-load adjuster because the Hyperpro shock comes with a manual screw type adjuster. I know I was very impressed with how much better the NT felt after I replaced the front springs last year so I decided to take the plunge w/the new rear unit.

I had planned on pulling it apart myself, but I checked w/the local Honda dealer & they said around $120 to change it out, so I decided to let them take care of it. I just took it in today & should have it back later this week. I will do an initial report and then another after I have put more miles on it.

From the looks of things I will have an OEM shock/spring unit for sale if anybody is interested.

More later on this suspension upgrade.........

 

[DirtFlier]

[$336 from partzilla]

Wow! Much cheaper than I'd ever imagined.

At least for me, buying another OEM shock raises the question of "When the bike was new, was I happy with the stock shock & spring?" I'd have to answer an emphatic "No" because in my experience the rear wheel jumped over small bumps, such as crack repairs in blacktop, with the shock never moving. A lot of this has to do with a shock spring that is way too strong for a solo rider but some of that could be also internal damping rates within the shock.

 

[Fisherdave]

This is a photo of my new Hyperpro rear unit. The spring is considerably "beefier" than OEM. The directions indicate that the Hydraulic pre-load adjuster will bolt to the same location as the stock unit.



The yellow mesh is just shipping protection.

 

[Vets1989]

So it seems stock shock might benefit from installing Hyperpro progressive wound spring; but sounds like I will first to try.
$150 is the gamble plus time to remove and reinstall shock after replacing spring.
I weigh 200 pounds and find bike rides better with passenger; although it will bottom if preload is not cranked-up.
I just wonder if hydraulic preload is not unloading and that is the reason why ride seems to be worse now than when new.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Vets1989

 

[DirtFlier]

[...I just wonder if hydraulic preload is not unloading and that is the reason why ride seems to be worse now than when new.,,]

I'm not sure what you mean by "unloading?"

The preload adjuster on my shock failed at around 30-32k - it would no longer hold at a set position. I never saw any hydraulic oil on the adjuster, hose, or the hose fitting so my guess is an internal check (one-way) valve failed.

In ref to FisherDave's comment about the HyperPro spring being beefier, I'd guess it was actually softer but that's OK. The standard spring has a lot of space between coils which means it was a originally a short piece of wire before being wound into a spring. The diameter of the wire is also a factor. The spring on my Works Performance shock is a HyperPro spring that has a smaller cross-section than the original plus it has less space between the coils.

 

[skiper]

Hi Vets - I'm not the expert here but am trying to learn a thing about our suspensions. When you say worse do you mean , hard ride , or too slow to return wheel to ground - does it chirp when going over washboard ruts ? How is it worse ?

 

[ARKNT]

Others here have differing opinions but for me the rear shock is harsh. I normally ride one up, weigh about 155 and the panniers with little weight in them.
I find the rear wheel jumps up off the pavement when going over road heaves and such. You can hear engine rev a little when going over such. Adjusting the preload up just makes it worse for me. I did an experiment to verify I wasn't bottoming out the shock. It wasn't and as I increased the preload, the travel got less as expected.

Brad

 

[Phil Tarman]

Brad, I'd think if your rear wheel is leaving the ground when you go over a harsh bump, you'd want to decrease the preload. But I'm definitely not a suspension guru. Others are.

I'll shut up and let them talk.

 

[Fisherdave]

Brad,
I have experienced the same issue as you mention. I am also a somewhat lighter (175 lbs.) rider, and I call it a "jittery rear end". In my case this particularly evident when I encounter a series of small bumps in rapid succession. I have the new Hyperpro shock on the bike & only got to ride it about 10 miles or so because of time/weather constraints. Of course today we have steady rain, thunder, lightning etc. In my very brief ride, however, I would say that the bike felt "tighter" for lack of a better term. With some amount of luck I'll get to put some miles on and fool w/the adjustments a little too. The Honda dealer had the shocks swapped out in a little over an hour. The hydraulic pre-load adjuster bolted right into place - no problems.

More later....

 

[DirtFlier]

[...Adjusting the preload up just makes it worse for me...]

When you add preload (from soft towards firm) via the remote adjuster, you're compressing the spring by a tiny amount which means it takes a even bigger bump before the shock will move. The stock spring is dual rate (1600/2500) but the softer portion is so absurdly short that once you sit on the bike, you're already into the hard portion meant for 2-up riding. I weigh 165 and doubt if I ever got 1/3 travel out of the stock shock because of that spring. Riders closer to 200 may be OK with the standard spring.

Works Performance, at my choosing, installed a single rate HyperPro spring (1500) that is softer than the soft portion of the original spring and they also valved my shock for "touring." The spring numbers in parens are the pounds required to make the spring compress one inch.

I've yet to bottom the shock and it allows the rear wheel to move nicely over bumps making for a much more comfortable ride. No more hopping! On the rare occasions that I ride with spirit in the twisties or fast on a very bumpy road, the touring valving and soft spring hasn't caused a problem.

I've had shocks built before and found that if you tell the techs you want "sport valving," you end up with a shock that is painful on long trips. Except for spring preload, my Works shock lacks adjustment for compression and rebound but they can build whatever you want.

 

[ARKNT]

Me adjusting the preload up was just an experiment as I was measuring the travel while riding the same road with different shock settings.
I expected the ride to be harsher with more preload. Mostly I wanted to verify it was stiff spring and was not bottoming out.

Brad

 

[Warren]

For what it's worth Hagon makes a rear shock for the NT. M61079H. $578 with the remote adjuster. Being they are a British company they may have the NT requirements figured out.

http://www.hagonshocksusa.com/HagMono.htm

 

[DirtFlier]

[Hagon makes a rear shock for the NT...Being they are a British company they may have the NT requirements figured out.]

I have a friend who bought a Hagon shock for his NT and he's been happy with it. He asked them to make it 10 mm shorter, eye-to-eye, and I believe they did it for little or no cost.

10 mm is the difference when using the HyperPro shock eye on the standard shock, that lowers the seat height by 1-3/8." The only drawback to the HyperPro eye, and I was happy with one for 1-1/2 years, is that you still have the too stiff shock spring. And if you bought the HyperPro eye and their softer shock spring, you might as well buy a brand-new shock, which is the why I went with Works Performance.

 

[Chucksklrst]

$336 from partzilla http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Honda/Motorcycle/2010/NT700VA+AC/REAR+SHOCK+ABSORBER/parts.html

OEM Unit.

I just bought a rear Shock for my ST1300. Showed my dealer this page from partzilla and they matched it except for tax. I bought from the dealer to give them the business.

So I got the old shock out. The Major items that I removed or unbolted to gain access are; Seat bracket, Battery (loosened battery box so I can flex it out of the way), Rear Brake Fluid Reservoir, Brake line bracket. Loosened the Foot Peg Step Holder, Removed Knob from the shock adjuster and promptly lost the little ball bearing. ( No problem, the new shock has another one.) Have to give my arthritic hands a rest now and go take care of some other family business. Might get get back to the Shock R&R this afternoon. This removal process reminded me of trying to remove someones gallbladder. So the old shock is out on the OR table (Lift) now. I believe the new shock installation is not going to be as easy as the removal.

 

[charlie b]

If you want Hagon shocks go to this guy. Give him the details of your bike and riding and he'll set up a shock for your needs.
http://www.davequinnmotorcycles.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/Hagon.html