xracer771
01-02-2007, 12:38 PM
I had a few questions about rebuilding the shock on my 200x and could not find the answers I was looking for, so I bought a shock from ebay and tore into it myself. It was not a difficult process at all.
I started with a shock that did not leak, because I have not found a place to get new seals. I took my shock to a shop eariler and they told me it was sealed and could not be rebuilt, well what they were telling me was a sealed cover was just a dirt cover and when I put a vice grips on it I was able to take it right off. This revealed a valve, I released the pressure from the valve, making it safe to disassemble.
There is a retaining ring holding the valve in place, so you need to push down on both sides of the base of the recharging valve, take it down about a half an inch and you can pop out the retaining ring and pull the valve out and dispose of the old oil.
After taking the oil out of the resivor put the shock in the vice and remove the cap on the top of the shock body. It looks like it cannot be removed, but I just took a vice grips and spun it around and lifted on it until it came off. After the cap is off there is a retaining ring similar to the one in the resivor that will need to be removed. I used an angled needle nose pliers spread out around the shock shaft and tapped down on it with a hammer to reveal the retaining ring. This part is the hardest, because you have to let the shock come down a little and still hold the cap up while getting the base to tap down, when you have revealed the retaining ring you need to remove it, then pull the shaft completely out of the shock body. Dispose of the oil in the shock body and wipe out the body and the resivor to remove all old oil.
This is where I stopped, but you can remove the nut on the bottom of the shock shaft and take apart the valving, but be sure to put it together exactly the way it came apart. I did not do this, I just wanted to see what fresh oil and a good nitrogen charge would do for me.
To reassemble, fill up shock body with oil, I used Amsoil light shock therapy suspension fluid, wrap a towel or rag around the body to catch the excess when you put the shaft back in. Work the shaft back and forth to remove all air when oil starts to come to the top of the valving replace the retaining ring and cap on the shock. Fill up resivor half way and work shock up and down until all air is removed from the system, put bladder back into the resivor, replace retaining ring and pull valve stem tight against ring, then take to local motorsports shop for nitrogen charge, 284 psi is what it says in manual. After charging tap on dirt cover and install on bike.
Another tip I got fro the manual is to replace your spring if it is less than 7.7 inches, the shock I got off of ebay was slightly longer than mine so I replaced it but I think I will be looking for another spring soon, but as soon as I left the garage I could tell this was a definate improvement so if a works shock is not in your budget it may be worth a shot, the shock oil was $11 per quart and they charged me $13 to recharge it and I ended up with a noticable improvement.
I started with a shock that did not leak, because I have not found a place to get new seals. I took my shock to a shop eariler and they told me it was sealed and could not be rebuilt, well what they were telling me was a sealed cover was just a dirt cover and when I put a vice grips on it I was able to take it right off. This revealed a valve, I released the pressure from the valve, making it safe to disassemble.
There is a retaining ring holding the valve in place, so you need to push down on both sides of the base of the recharging valve, take it down about a half an inch and you can pop out the retaining ring and pull the valve out and dispose of the old oil.
After taking the oil out of the resivor put the shock in the vice and remove the cap on the top of the shock body. It looks like it cannot be removed, but I just took a vice grips and spun it around and lifted on it until it came off. After the cap is off there is a retaining ring similar to the one in the resivor that will need to be removed. I used an angled needle nose pliers spread out around the shock shaft and tapped down on it with a hammer to reveal the retaining ring. This part is the hardest, because you have to let the shock come down a little and still hold the cap up while getting the base to tap down, when you have revealed the retaining ring you need to remove it, then pull the shaft completely out of the shock body. Dispose of the oil in the shock body and wipe out the body and the resivor to remove all old oil.
This is where I stopped, but you can remove the nut on the bottom of the shock shaft and take apart the valving, but be sure to put it together exactly the way it came apart. I did not do this, I just wanted to see what fresh oil and a good nitrogen charge would do for me.
To reassemble, fill up shock body with oil, I used Amsoil light shock therapy suspension fluid, wrap a towel or rag around the body to catch the excess when you put the shaft back in. Work the shaft back and forth to remove all air when oil starts to come to the top of the valving replace the retaining ring and cap on the shock. Fill up resivor half way and work shock up and down until all air is removed from the system, put bladder back into the resivor, replace retaining ring and pull valve stem tight against ring, then take to local motorsports shop for nitrogen charge, 284 psi is what it says in manual. After charging tap on dirt cover and install on bike.
Another tip I got fro the manual is to replace your spring if it is less than 7.7 inches, the shock I got off of ebay was slightly longer than mine so I replaced it but I think I will be looking for another spring soon, but as soon as I left the garage I could tell this was a definate improvement so if a works shock is not in your budget it may be worth a shot, the shock oil was $11 per quart and they charged me $13 to recharge it and I ended up with a noticable improvement.