Swapping rear shocks ..

[Nomak]

I ride fairly well and can hld my own in the mountains (goin up hill mostly ) The GS being a budget bike requires HUGE amount of concentrtion and real smooth input to be "swift" ... and the way I ride I am fairly "swiftly" in the twisties but the bike still feels like jello to me...I have the progressive spings in the forks and plan on using a heavier fork oil but something needs to be done about the rear shock ... I planed on replacing the shock with a n SV shock since I could have proly gotten it cheap but the SV has limited adjustbilty only preload ... I can also aquire a gixxer shock relatively cheaply but need to make sure that it wont mess up the geometry of the bike ... I wanna try to avoid extensive fabbing and dog bones, looking for mainly a diret bolt on with maybe a lil tinkering/grinding ...

so the question is will the gixxer shock mess up the GS geometry and do y'all have any alternative suggestions for my situation?

FYI also keep in mind that the GS is my main and only mode of transportation.


Thanks ...

[Dom]

davipu is a member here who has access to a machine shop.  He is making custom dogbones that will allow you to use late model gsxr shocks(I think mine is an '03) with the attached resevoir on top of the shock.  Once you acquire a shock and the pivot linkage from a gsxr it will be a bolt in process and the seat height will remain the same.

[Nomak]

davipu is a member here who has access to a machine shop.  He is making custom dogbones that will allow you to use late model gsxr shocks(I think mine is an '03) with the attached resevoir on top of the shock.  Once you acquire a shock and the pivot linkage from a gsxr it will be a bolt in process and the seat height will remain the same.

How much are the dog bones?

[Nomak]

Do any of you guys know what the spring rate is on the GS?

[Dom]

I don't know exactly how much davipu was charging but I do remember that is a very reasonable price...just under grand I think.

[Briggs]

I installed a katana shock last year. It is two way adjustable, and is a direct swap. Not to mention that the ride was dramatically more sporty. It hardly squats at all coming out of corners now. On a side note I also have progressives and 15wt oil.

[Nomak]

what is the sping rate on the stock gsrear shock spring? and can a SV1000 shock be put on? how would that affect the bike geometry?

[Nomak]

will a 636 shock fit the GS?

[The Buddha]

OK Kwak shocks were far too big, both in dia and length ... GSXR is great as long as you dont mind that extra bit of harshness on bumpy roads and that extra lean over isn't too bad  ... Remember its pre 96 750 and pre 98 1100 ... else Katana ... any year and model ... OK not 1100 ... but 750 or 600 and if they dont fit take your linkage and grind off a bit ...
Cool.
Srinath.

[Nomak]

OK Kwak shocks were far too big, both in dia and length ... GSXR is great as long as you dont mind that extra bit of harshness on bumpy roads and that extra lean over isn't too bad  ... Remember its pre 96 750 and pre 98 1100 ... else Katana ... any year and model ... OK not 1100 ... but 750 or 600 and if they dont fit take your linkage and grind off a bit ...
Cool.
Srinath.

will an 03 SV1000S shock do? and will it improve handling?

[Nomak]

BUMP ... I am ready to slap on a SV1000s Shock just need advice as to how high the rear will be raised? with the rear wheel have a tendency to brake lose after the swap and will the rear brake be les effective? anyone bolted on an SV1000s shock?