rear shock what year

[knowles]

What year katana shock would.work for a 89, and is this the best for street riding, I weigh about 185-200

[adidasguy]

Why a Kat shock? I know it seems to be a fad to do that. Many people feel the rear shock is OK - just adjust it a little stiffer.
I'm 170. Had a Kat shock - removed it and gave it away. Too stiff and it raised the rear up a couple inches (which I did not like).
If you want to improve the ride and handling, first change the front springs. Those everyone will say are really weak. Do that first. Then deal with the rear - which you then may find is OK.

I have 0.85's in my forks for 2 bikes and progressives in the third. You might want 0.90 springs. Do that - you'll be glad you did. Changing to a rear Kat will not do anything if you still have the original bad front fork springs.

[Dr.McNinja]

Why a Kat shock? I know it seems to be a fad to do that. Many people feel the rear shock is OK - just adjust it a little stiffer.
I'm 170. Had a Kat shock - removed it and gave it away. Too stiff and it raised the rear up a couple inches (which I did not like).
If you want to improve the ride and handling, first change the front springs. Those everyone will say are really weak. Do that first. Then deal with the rear - which you then may find is OK.

I have 0.85's in my forks for 2 bikes and progressives in the third. You might want 0.90 springs. Do that - you'll be glad you did. Changing to a rear Kat will not do anything if you still have the original bad front fork springs.

This. Even though the rear shock is still budget garbage a Katana shock is only slightly better budget garbage (and that goes the same for the SV650 as well). You really don't see awesome suspensions until you get into race replicas, supersports, and touring bikes. Touring bikes having the best suspension for commuting by far. You'd think with the GS500F being somewhere in between a sportsbike and a sports touring bike they would've upgraded the suspension a bit - but this isn't true at all.

The front suspension is terrible however. The SV650 front suspension is at least something you have to try moderately hard to bottom out and the same goes for the Katana. Suzuki was kind enough to give us front fork springs you can bottom out going over a driveway bump if you try hard enough.

If you notice you're rear is bottoming out do the upgrade to a Kat/SV650/R6 shock. You'll see marked improvement in braking and cornering safety and consistency with front spring upgrades.

[knowles]

I am going to replace the front shocks, I also have to replace the oil and dust seals. My question is am I better going with progressive or race tec springs. And what kind of oil should I use?  How do I get the old seals off? Any help will be much appreciated.