Rear Shock Lowering Bracket? 82 GS850GL

[Guest]

I've seen brackets for the GS550GL that pushes back the bottom of the rear shock about an inch or so, which really brings down the back end of the bike. I'd really like to find something like this for my GS850GL, but I've had no luck searching thus far.

Without going to a machine shop myself and having something fabricated, does anyone know where these exist? Are there possibly ones that work for multiple GS models?

Bonus question: It looks like the 82 GS850GL has an eye-to-eye length of 320mm on the rear shocks, and looks to have round holes on each end. How interchangeable are these with more modern streetbike shocks (preferably with the air reservoir) that have the same lengths?

[Steve]

If you are entertaining the idea of replacing the shocks, why not just order some that are a bit shorter?

Not sure exactly how far you can go, but I need to do the same thing for my wife. Just keep in mind that the u-joint in the driveshaft likes to be kept as straight as possible most of the time, so don't go too short. You should also measure clearance to see how much shorter you can go. With the bike on the center stand, remove the shocks, lift the rear wheel until is still has a little bit of clearance to the rear fender, then measure the mounting points for the shocks. Use that as the "compressed length" measurement for your new shocks.

If you have stock (original) shocks on there, they were shot aboutt 31 years ago, so it's a good thing you are wanting to replace them.

.

[fahrenheitfarmer]

Thanks for replying Steve!

I'm looking for something a little more modern than the standard chrome rear springs and would like the rear just an inch or two lower...nothing too drastic. Good advice for testing the clearance! I'll let you know where I go with it.