Suspension Work

[Anonymous]

Does anybody know of a good company that will rebuild a very tired 84' GS1150es rear shock or am I better off replacing it with a new or different unit. If so, who is still making replacement shocks or what other models shock will bolt up? I searched the site for "Shock Rebuilding" but came up empty. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance

Randy

[argonsagas]

Have not heard of anyone who rebuilds shocks. Bike Bandit is a good place to look for many things. I ran into a company from e-Bay, and found they are both friendly and helpful.

https://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com/

[Billy Ricks]

I believe Fox will still build a shock for you. '86 and '87 Gixxer shocks have the same type ends on the shocks but I'm not sure about the length on them. You would also likely need to replace the spring on a Gixxer shock. Try these folks, http://www.le-suspension.com/LE-Products.html, they specialize in suspension rebuilding and race mods.

[Dink]

If the company Billy Ricks mentioned rebuild shocks, you are away they can rebuild your shock and replace the spring for approx. 1/2 what a replacement will cost. In Australia there are a lot of companies doing exactly that.
Dink

[Billy Ricks]

Lindemann is one of the best in the business. They do suspension work for many of the top racers in the country, both roadracers and MX.

[Anonymous]

Hey Billy and Dink

Have either of you had an 1150 shock rebuilt. The guy at Le-suspension said he didn't think it could be rebuilt. He told me to look for a seam on the shock body and to see if there was enough room to thread a fitting to be able to repressurize the shock down by the lower eyelet. They do have an Works Performance non-adjustable for $350.00. I'm woundering then how much a rebuild normally costs?


Randy

[Billy Ricks]

Randy, I think I see where he is talking about needing to insert a valve. It looks to me like a little of the lower eye could be ground off to make room without sacrificing the strength of the eye. I think he is saying he needs to get to the flat surface on the bottom of the gas chamber.

[Anonymous]

Randy, I think I see where he is talking about needing to insert a valve. It looks to me like a little of the lower eye could be ground off to make room without sacrificing the strength of the eye. I think he is saying he needs to get to the flat surface on the bottom of the gas chamber.

Yes. From what I understand it is also a clearence issue. He said it sticks out about a 1/2". I would imagine he could drill it on the other side of the dampaning ajuster. Do you know if the shock comes apart????
It turned out that the stripped down Works Performance shock is $456.00, and a rebuild is $175.00. Better!!

Randy

[Billy Ricks]

I think it would come apart. I don't mean to sound like a wise-guy, but it had to be put together. I know the springs will come off and the eye he has to deal with may be threaded on. I believe the stock shock was made by Showa. That is not too shabby. Suzuki sourced supension components from KYB, Kayaba, and Showa. If your stock shock can reworked by them it will probably be better than the Works shock.

[Billy Ricks]

Randy,
You know what I would do? I would go ahead and send it to them. Lots of times guys that do this type of thing will find a way to do it. I know you've probably read at some time my posts about Total Seal working on pistons I could never find rings for. See if they will let you send it to them to checck out.

[Anonymous]

Billy
Once again thanks for your help. I just figured out that Le-suspension is about 40 miles from my house. "MORNING" I talked to the guy a couple of minutes ago and he said that they would take a run at it if I dropped it off. We'll see what happens. If it works, I'll post it in Tech info, in case there is anyone else that might need the same work done.

Thanks Again

Randy

[Billy Ricks]

Randy,
Any update on the rebuild?

[skip]

randy,
please post when the shop gets back to you. I have two shocks that i would like to rebuild if the price is right...............skip

[Anonymous]

I'd like to hear how this whole thing worked out too. The rears on my 77 550 are Showa & I have been wondering about replacement. How good were these OEM shocks in their day?

[bgk]

Everytime I scope out ebaymoters.com and punch-in suzuki gs in the search box, theres almost always brand-new shocks (still in OEM packaging, with OEM labels identifying bike make and model, etc.) for around $60 to $70 a pair (I think). Check it out, you may be pleasantly surprized to find you can have brand-new shocks for less than the price of rebuilding your old ones.