Rear Shock

[threepot]

Seems my rear shock has had it. I'm noticing a 'slap' from the back end. Been like that for quite a while,but has got worse recently. Triumph want £571 for a replacement!! I've seen this make on eBay for £264. Anyone familiar with this make?

[JayDub]

(Mmm, you did have Sin on the back at Rhayader :icon_wink:) Have you checked the swingarm/suspension bearings?  I would be tempted to give it a wide berth TP, I found a seller on ebay who will completely rebuild the OEM one for £265ish... you can send him the old unit first, or instead he charges a deposit until he gets one back, I posted it somewhere on here, but can't find it now.

[Sin_Tiger]

I'd put money on that being an "Asian" budget item judging by the cylinder construction. For that money a Hagon is probably a better bet and they are pretty good with warranties as I can vouch for.

Also I'm less than 76kg straight out of the shower 

[BruKen]

(Mmm, you did have Sin on the back at Rhayader :icon_wink:) Have you checked the swingarm/suspension bearings?  I would be tempted to give it a wide berth TP, I found a seller on ebay who will completely rebuild the OEM one for £265ish... you can send him the old unit first, or instead he charges a deposit until he gets one back, I posted it somewhere on here, but can't find it now.

DIY. It's relatively straight forward. I posted a how too a few years back. It's somewhere in here (I'll go take a look)

EDIT. It's in the sticky

[fishnbiker]

Why not try the cheapest fix first? Recharge the Nitrogen reservoir to 100~125 PSI. Next, the suspension & swing arm needle bearings (& seals). You should renew them if putting in a new shock anyways.

[threepot]

Re charge with Nitrogen,specialist job??

[Sin_Tiger]

I wonder if Argon would work, know anyone with a TIG kit or a pub landlord?

[ram33]

I wonder if Argon would work, know anyone with a TIG kit or a pub landlord?

i think pubs use co2

[BruKen]

I wonder if Argon would work, know anyone with a TIG kit or a pub landlord?

You stirring the pot Sin?  You know good old moisture free air does the trick too. Too much faffing about with Nitrogen. What were the benefits of nitrogen  Doesn't expand on temp change or heat up under pressure? Something like that. Nitrogen also doesn't froth the oil. But as the nitrogen is in a bladder in the oil reserve I just pump in good old air to 9 instead of 10 bar and the job is a goodun. It's not like I enter the tigger to track day events and I've yet to discern any difference on the suspension which imho is never going to wow anybody on a stock steamer anyway.

[JayDub]

i think pubs use co2

And Nitrogen too - its prevents oxidisation but imitates traditional cask ale.
Or use nitrous oxide... then you'd be laughing! 

[threepot]

You stirring the pot Sin?  You know good old moisture free air does the trick too. Too much faffing about with Nitrogen. What were the benefits of nitrogen  Doesn't expand on temp change or heat up under pressure? Something like that. Nitrogen also doesn't froth the oil. But as the nitrogen is in a bladder in the oil reserve I just pump in good old air to 9 instead of 10 bar and the job is a goodun. It's not like I enter the tigger to track day events and I've yet to discern any difference on the suspension which imho is never going to wow anybody on a stock steamer anyway.

Nitrogen doesn't cause corrosion? Anyway,not had a look close up at existing shock,but can it be with air? Think I've seen that done on YouTube?

[Sin_Tiger]

You stirring the pot Sin? 

Nope, 9 bar of air has got to be better than 0 bar of N2 

[motoOzarks]

There's a thread on advrider started where guys are using bacon grease in their shocks.
They have been using forks with bacon for years.


First reports are if you can handle the sizzle and popping at first it makes the ride out smooooooth.

[Sasquatch]

When I am doing a bunch of testing on a shock, I use a small mountain bike hand pump and plain air.  The only benefits of N is the fact it is 100% dry and that it comes in a nice bottle with 2500psi in it that makes it really easy to fill shocks.  Air works just fine and no one will know the difference.  If you live somewhere very humid, having dry N is nice.

Yes, just recharging your shock will help the ride.  But I guarantee you that your shock oil is beyond dead by now.  Shock oil (and fork oil) has a limited life span.  It does a tremendous amount of work even while putting around town and there is not much in there to do it.  It needs to be changed regularly.  I tell my customers that if they want their suspensions to last a good long time service it at 2 year intervals or 25k miles.  I just did a 955i Tiger's forks that only had 12k miles on them and the fluid was horrible.  I service my forks yearly and my shock every other year.

[Sin_Tiger]

We get all paranoid about our engine oil. We should change the brake fluid at least every two years.

So that makes perfect sense to me