Shock Removal

[GG27]

Hi again. Its time I have to take my rear shock for servicing-revalve. Is their any easy and quick method of removing the shock, or do I have to take the linkage, exhaust and sub-frame off before?

 

[eff]

There was a post about that last year about this time. You should be able to search for it.

 

[jostby]

seems someone recently posted to remove the top shock mount bolt and then you can drop the rear low enough (or raise it?) to remove the bottom bolt without removing all the linkage.

 

[gasgasman]

I just did mine yesterday.

1) remove pipe and silencer.
2) remove rear wheel
3) remove front pull rod bolt and swing pull rods down
4) remove shock bolts
5) raise swing arm all the way up, move shock bottom over to the left of the linkage and remove out the right side of bike.

 

[GMP]

Girard,

Do you think you could get away with removing the silencer and not the pipe? Pipe stinger still in the way? Reason is I have the Hyde and that would have to come off. I never tried it, and would like to do a quick spring swap tonight and still have time for a quick ride to evaluate.

 

[gasgasman]

Glenn.

I really did not eye ball it that close. But, I think you can get by with just pulling the silencer. Removing the pipe bolts may allow you to push the pipe down enough to clear the shock.

 

[GG27]

Thanks for the help, I'll follow your instructions, without taking front pipe off and keep you posted.

 

[Boomhauer]

I was taught how to pull the entire rear shock off without removing anything off of the bike. It takes a bit to get use to doing it but man when you get the hang of it it is really pretty easy.

Billy Burn's taught me how to do it last year.

 

[Skidad]

I was taught how to pull the entire rear shock off without removing anything off of the bike. It takes a bit to get use to doing it but man when you get the hang of it it is really pretty easy.

Billy Burn's taught me how to do it last year.

Really nice, how to leave us hanging

Please do tell...I think I took half the bike apart doing this my first time

 

[GMP]

It's a matter of positioning the swingarm/linkage correctly from what I can tell by looking at it.

 

[gasgasman]

Yup.
Raising the swing arm leaves a huge opening to lower the shock through, then you pivot the top of the shock out and extract.

 

[GMP]

This would be a good tech sticky. My digi cam went belly up a few months back, too bad.

 

[Boomhauer]

Well since the bike is collecting dust and the boat is getting more use. I will bust out the camera and do a tech with pictures when I come back from my vacation.

I will say the first time will have you cussing & throwing wrenches across the floor. Please don't ask me how I know. LOL

Like I said it is pretty easy and requires less time. Plus you don't have to strip the ass end of your bike off.

 

[GMP]

Robby,

I'm going to try and figure it out tonight, what parts MUST be removed besides the bolts? It has to be simple a matter of positioning everything correctly, while staying sane. Like Rubik's cube.

 

[GMP]

Well, I fought with that for over an hour tonight, and no way is it coming out without removing the pipe. I had the pipe and silencer mounts off, and the pipe pushed down till it hit the cases. The top of the shock was still a few mm short of beaing able to clear the mount.

 

[Boomhauer]

Glenn you have to turn the shock a bit and hold your tongue just right and the shock should come out thru the bottom of the swing arm. I did not have to remove anything but the linkage bolts.

 

[GMP]

OK, both success and failure. There is no way, on my bike anyway, that the Sachs shock will come out the bottom. I tried every position possible. If the swingarm was just a mm or so deeper in the front it would go. I suspect a tolerance issue and this working on some bikes and not others, or maybe with an Ohlins shock. It will definately come out the right side if I remove the pipe (Girards method).

What I was able to do was remove and replace the spring through the bottom, which was my goal. (FWIW, the shock would not come out even without the spring.) I see this as acceptable because its relatively easy for a spring swap, and if the shock has to come out for service, you probably should do a linkage/swingarm service as well. You can remove the swingarm and linkage to service it without striping the bike (I do this) and then the shock will come out easy. This is all based on easy access to the top shock bolt from the side of the bike. Older bikes, (pre '02?) I think, had higher shock mounts and longer shocks that may make this impossible. You could still do a linkage service on an older bike without removing the shock though, which saves a lot of time.

 

[Nick]

It could be because the resevoir on the Sachs is a bit longer than the Ohlins. I havent tried removing a Sachs yet.

 

[bergerhag]

removed the shock on my 2010 ec300 yesterday:

• Remove seat
• Remove the screws that hold shrouds to tank, flip shrouds forward
• Remove tank
• remove frame guards
• remove lower rear frame mounting bolts
• loosen upper rear frame bolts
• loosen hose clamp on carb boot
• flip up the whole rear frame, lock in upper position by tigthening upper rear frame bolt
• remove upper shock bolt, pry out the shcok from the bracket
• raise rear wheel approx 30 cm, to get access to lower bolt, support under wheel.
• remove lower shock bolt, and remove the shock

No need to remove pipe/silcencer, or any linkages.

the list is long, but it was very quick/easy.

 

[GMP]

Yes, thats the standard way to do it, but its still a PIA just for an experimental spring change even after owning these bike for 10 years. On my bike the damper and tower have to go to remove the tank, and then you have to make sure everything is clean and aligned when the carb boot goes back on. I'm real anal about this and take my time because the boot does not just slip on the carb bell in perfect alignment, it must be held in position while being tightened.

If your doing a linkage/swingarm/shock service on a post '02 bike, this is not neccessary, on earlier bikes the tank must be removed to access the top shock bolt. For a spring swap, you can remove the lower mount and pull rod to the swingarm, and drop the spring out through the bottom.

I havn't been able to duplicate Robby's method unless the pipe is removed, but then that means R&R of the Hyde on my bike which is more fun.