HELP....My rear shock has gone out...

[Obber]

Found the proverbial oil puddle under the shock. This will be the second shock I have replaced on this bike and haven't even hit 50,000 miles. Anyway, has anyone ever used a shock off a RSTD pre 1999? I see that these are not air shocks. Or, does anyone have one that came off an RSV and is in good working order that they would want to sell? Can't afford a new one or a Works shock. I have been watching ebay and the only one so far that comes up is used for $399. You can get a new one for another $60 including shipping. Thanks in advance for any help.

Charles

[Nemo]

Charles, I have one listed on e-bay right now with a starting bid of $204.00. Check it out out. Should be a very good buy for someone. Thanks, Owen.

[Obber]

Charles, I have one listed on e-bay right now with a starting bid of $204.00. Check it out out. Should be a very good buy for someone. Thanks, Owen.

How do you have it listed? Doesn't come up on any searches I put in.

[Obber]

Charles, I have one listed on e-bay right now with a starting bid of $204.00. Check it out out. Should be a very good buy for someone. Thanks, Owen.

OOOOPs.....Just found it. Thanks

[Obber]

Charles, I have one listed on e-bay right now with a starting bid of $204.00. Check it out out. Should be a very good buy for someone. Thanks, Owen.

Bids went out of my price range. Anyone else turning their RSV into a trike and won't need their rear shock?

[pofarm]

Hope you find one soon. I just bought a new-in-the-box rear shock for my 96 Royal Star off ebay for $79.99, plus shipping. I know these aren't as prone to going bad as the air shocks but, for the price, I couldn't let it pass. These things are around $600.00 from the stealer.

[RSTDdog]

if you are not hung up on air adjustment, The Hagon Shock is probably the best value. You can still adjust the spring preload, just manually. 399 shipped or 469 shipped with the Uprated HD spring. 2year unlimited mileage warranty. Rebuildable for about 150.00. Thats what I bought. Got it from Hagon LLC in California. http://www.hagonshocksusa.com/ There are a couple of threads in the 2nd gen forum and I posted some pictures of one.

 

I would n't buy a used RSV shock with more than 10,000 documented miles on it. My shock went at year 6 and 22k miles. I don't think the early royal star shocks will fit.

 

RSTDdog

[Red Rider]

Has ant one ever replaced the shock with an air bag? Can this be done? Or a full air system?

[OB-1]

Has ant one ever replaced the shock with an air bag? Can this be done? Or a full air system?

 

The typical failure mode of the shock is to lose the dampening effect via oil loss, not air, so you basically have an air bag. My bike rode like a pogo stick after all the oil leaked out.

[yamtom]

Hi, I hate to even mention this potential frankenfix, but there are zuki m109 shocks all over ebay for dirt cheap, the weight of the bike is a bit higher than the venture, the shock appears longer, and prolly with more travel by the look of it. It also has a fork on one end, but could it be adapted at all for these sad venture shocks. If my shock was out, I would be looking into that or maybe some other mono shock rather than forking over nearly a thou for a good yammie shock.. I own both bikes, and I can say, the m109 shock is no slacker in the firmness department. I love the ride of the big nine, with a passenger on the back so the venture is not likely to overmatch the spring.

[BigBoyinMS]

Hey Obber, you may want to check out GL1800 GoldWing shocks. They are going for about $200 as takeoff's on eBay. The guys at RoadStarClinic.com started modding them to fit the Road Star and so far so good. Add a switch and it's hydraulically adjustable from the handlebars. It's not a bolt on but it's a pretty easy mod. The GW shock bracket has enough length that it would probably work on the Venture and I'm sure you could get measurements from one of the guys on the Clinic. Here's a link to the 24 page post that should answer most questions. RoadWing (RoyalWing?) conversion

 

It may be worth a look.

[CantWin1]

Anyone know of someone who has done this on a Venture?

I'm needing a shock really bad on my 2005, might just have to jump in and be the guinea pig on this one. Don't know about the length, but otherwise it sure doesn't seem too complicated from reading ALL the threads on the link posted above. Anyone know if the lengths are off?

 

Mine's lowered, but there is a post on the above thread from someone who did it with a lowering kit and didn't have issues...but not on a Venture.

 

I was ready to pull the trigger on a Hagon tonight but thought I'd do some reading first...glad I did.

 

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[RSTDdog]

Anyone know of someone who has done this on a Venture?

I'm needing a shock really bad on my 2005, might just have to jump in and be the guinea pig on this one. Don't know about the length, but otherwise it sure doesn't seem too complicated from reading ALL the threads on the link posted above. Anyone know if the lengths are off?

 

Mine's lowered, but there is a post on the above thread from someone who did it with a lowering kit and didn't have issues...but not on a Venture.

 

I was ready to pull the trigger on a Hagon tonight but thought I'd do some reading first...glad I did.

 

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

I considered doing this a while back. From Works App Chart OAL Bolt center to bolt center on a Venture/RSTD is 10" The GL 1800 is 13" bolt center to center. Youcan make up some of the difference, maybe 3/4" re-drilling the bottom mount hole in the GW shock since it has a longer fork than the Yamaha. Still leaves an extra 2 1/4" of shock height to deal with. You would also have to modify the dog bone/leveling link geometry where the shock connects so you don't increase the ride height by 2+ inches. May be as simple as lengthening the level links but Its more engineering than I wanted to tackle.

 

GW shock take offs were going for between 80-125.00 when I was considering it.At 200+ they are getting now due to popularity your half way to a Hagon unless you get lucky and find a deal I wouldn't gamble 200 on it.

 

Not saying it can't be done, just don't think it would be easy to do.

 

RSTDdog

[CantWin1]

I was digging around trying to find the lengths, but no luck. Wow...3" would be a real pain to try and deal with.

 

Thanks for the info!

John

[creole]

Ok, I see this conversation pretty much is a sore spot with most folks about the rear shock failure rate, limited replacement options, and the outrageous cost from the dealers. I only am jumping in because.... mine went out last week, when we made our trip to Kentucky. Didn't think it would be a big deal, bounced on home and started digging up information. Don't really like the options thus far, and I think ive read about every post on the subject. However, here's my question ( as if there weren't enough already) I did find a used factory shock today, they wanted a $75 core for my old one, which makes me want to ask if someone out there is rebuilding them? If not why a core charge, especially 75 bucks. So has anyone ever tried to repair one? Is someone already doing this? I had considered using my old one as a test subject until the steep core price came into play.

 

Creole

[Freebird]

I've never seen a remanufactured OEM shock for these bikes nor have I ever heard of anybody rebuilding one. If somebody has figured it out, it is news to me.

[creole]

Ok well, I did come up with one for $150 today and no core charge. The plan at his point is to put the "new used" one on the bike. I plan on taking the old one to work and tearing it down to see what options there are for replacement parts. We rebuild our own rams and hydraulic / pneumatic tools regularly. I cant see this being all that complicated but might require fabricating a piece ot two on the lathe. Normally I wouldn't give a "shock absorber" a second thought because they're generally inexpensively made and supposed to be a throw away part. The absence of options for replacements at a reasonable cost, is worth looking into I suppose.

 

 

Creole

[22lyons]

i will be interested in hearing because my shock just began leaking a few months ago. let me know what you find out.

Larry

[billmac]

I'd ask where they were sending the shock too if they needed a core deposit.

[creole]

If I discover anything useful, I will certainly let everyone know.

[creole]

Well, So far....... the only thing I've discovered is the salvage yard didn't get my description / specification right and they sent me a shock from a Royal star tour deluxe. Meaning.....I have to send it back and I still have to find the one I need.

 

Creole

[eusa1]

I have taken three failed shocks apart, only to find out that the chrome plated dampening shaft is poorly plated and rubs through and takes out the oil seal. So the only way to fix it would no be cost effective.

This is. What i have found

[creole]

EUSA1

 

Thanks for the information. I was afraid something like that would be the case or the chrome would be so scarred up it would be impossible to polish for a seal that would last and make the entire project not worth the time. This might be exactly why nobody's trying to fix them. This just happens to be my first experience with them and I really didn't want to try and fix mine until I had it replaced in case it wasn't successful.

 

Creole

[creole]

I still haven't done anything with this rear shock business yet. Truthfully I'm waiting on Bonus money, then will order the rear shock and get started on a few things. I have noticed something peculiar though. In pricing rear shocks online, when I put the year in as 1999 (which it is) the part costs almost $100 more than when I put the year in as 2011 (found this by accident one day). The part numbers are very similar and have replaced the part number on 1999 year number as follows.

 

1999

4XY-22210-00-00 (Old Number)

99999-03500-00

 

2011

4XY-22210-10-00

 

I thought these were all the same through the years 99-current, and when I call the stealership, there significantly higher than purchase online.

 

If these are all the same I'll order the cheapest year model

 

Creole

[CaptainJoe]

I have taken three failed shocks apart, only to find out that the chrome plated dampening shaft is poorly plated and rubs through and takes out the oil seal. So the only way to fix it would no be cost effective.

This is. What i have found

 

 

Besides the chrome plating being piss poor, is the seal and dust seal replaceable?

 

If this shock can be torn apart there is a place down the road that specializes in hydraulics.

 

I have even had bent hydraulic rams fabricated and chrome plated, on my backhoe for a fraction of the cost mother deere would have wanted.