Okay, how about this one? It's from a 1997 Kat 600.
And is that thingie coming off the shock the line to an external reservoir?
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Any opinions on this kat shock? I'm thinking it may be too rusted and old to buy. But it supposedly compresses well.
the shocl itself isnt rusted all that much but a better shock of the shock itself and not the coil would be better but fom what you posted it looks fine you can sand the spring yoursefl and repaint and will look fine
I agree.I had a thread about disassembling a Kat shock for painting. http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=41239.0
If the chrome rod is rusted dont buy it, all else can be fixed. The body can be sanded and painted, the springs can be sanded and painted or be sand blasted and powdercoated, collars, retaining rings etc etc are all sand and paint or blast and coat. That chrome rod is reallt about the only one that cant be ...
Cool.
Buddha.
I agree.You can get a good shock that's rusted cheap,spend a rainy day cleaning and painting it.Cheap and good as a nice expensive used one.Rusty spring is why I painted mine.
Thanks for all the opinions and advice. You guys - and this forum - rock! :thumb:
Hmm, the photos were sent to me by the seller. I didn't actually see the thing for myself. :dunno_white:
From the side shot, the chrome rod (or what can be seen of it) looks pretty good. Any other feedback? I'll probably reply to the seller by lunch tomorrow (pacific time :icon_mrgreen: ).
The only other thing you might want to consider is if the shock is worth the 20 bucks plus the work of tearing it down and repainting when I've heard of others getting ones that don't need any work for almost the same amount of money. I know I only paid 30 bucks for mine off of a '98 and it looked brand new. Plus I was able to throw it right on the bike as soon as I got it and test it out, no worrying about taking it apart to repair rust. Something to consider I think, maybe try and get it for less. Otherwise there will alyways be others.
Thanks to everyone for the advice!
I ended up passing on it because I didn't want to deal with the cleaning/repainting. And I'm not in a big hurry to upgrade the rear. I'll see how things feel after I swap out the springs in the front.
If I could just figure out how to adjust the freaking collar on the stock shock...I've read the wiki and a ton of threads but the collar tool, long flat screwdriver (with and w/out hammer), etc haven't made it budge. :dunno_white:
And while I'm we're on the subject :laugh: where is the indicator for the current setting of the stock shock? Is there an arrow or something to show what it's set on? Showing my true n00b colors. :oops:
Quote from: pronator on June 16, 2008, 02:42:41 PM
Thanks to everyone for the advice!
I ended up passing on it because I didn't want to deal with the cleaning/repainting. And I'm not in a big hurry to upgrade the rear. I'll see how things feel after I swap out the springs in the front.
If I could just figure out how to adjust the freaking collar on the stock shock...I've read the wiki and a ton of threads but the collar tool, long flat screwdriver (with and w/out hammer), etc haven't made it budge. :dunno_white:
And while I'm we're on the subject :laugh: where is the indicator for the current setting of the stock shock? Is there an arrow or something to show what it's set on? Showing my true n00b colors. :oops:
It may help to spray the bottom of the spring and collar with a good penatrating oil.Suzuki is notorious for using metals that rust easily.
Something like WD-40?
Should work.
Thanks, Ben! :thumb:
That shock was in great shape ... the chrome damping rod I couldn't see, but the spring was not bad at all.
Cool.
Buddha.
Buddha, dude, seriously?!
You're killing me, man! :laugh:
bump - added another shock (in the original post) for you guys to examine. ;)
Cant see the rod, but it seems same as other one above.
And yea suzuki put a stupid cable adjusted rebound dial on some of them ... we toss it in the nearest dumpster ... or OK fine you fit what looks like a cigarette lighter under your butt and people will get all sorts of ideas.
I have a contraption that will let you spilt a shock in 2 seconds ... if you have the rest of it (either hydraulic or a mechanical leverage arm), I can send you the magic tool. Kat shocks literally fly apart, the clevise is on the reservoir with no delicate parts there. the GSXR shocks have the rebound dial and hence require more precaution. These are just drop in and press. And dude, a shock does not have to be pretty ... it should be nice and sealed and all the moving parts need to be in good order, but other than that ...
Having said that, to split open one and make it pretty is a common feeling.
Cool.
Buddha.
Okay, what do you mean by "split a shock"? And why would one do such a thing? (Beyond curiosity, of course!)
Or do you mean disassemble?
Speaking of which, does anyone have a photo of what a disassembled Kat shock looks like when you take it apart for repainting? ben2go had pics of his rig for disassembly but not the actual pieces you're left with.
And if I understood Buddha correctly, you can sand and paint everything except for the chrome rod?
Thanks! :cheers:
Quote from: pronator on June 18, 2008, 12:31:42 PM
Okay, what do you mean by "split a shock"? And why would one do such a thing? (Beyond curiosity, of course!)
Or do you mean disassemble?
Speaking of which, does anyone have a photo of what a disassembled Kat shock looks like when you take it apart for repainting? ben2go had pics of his rig for disassembly but not the actual pieces you're left with.
And if I understood Buddha correctly, you can sand and paint everything except for the chrome rod?
Thanks! :cheers:
Yea I didn't have a cam when I disassembled my shock. :cry: When you compress the spring,remove the 2 banana shaped split washer at the the top.Then the top collar comes off,next the spring and lower collar.When I reassembled mine, I used brake grease on the collars and bottom of the springs.Now my shock turns smoother.It's still not the easiest adjustment.
Yea compress it and take the interlocking pieces off and it comes apart.
BTW I have sliced open more than 1 shock ... as in cut open the fluid and damping part. I cut them open to help me learn what makes it work and how to mod/rebuild it.
The chrome rod if has rust pits in it, will tear the seal and your shock will leak. Its not a cosmetic issue then.
BTW does this mean you're not interested in my blue, completely powdercoated katana shock ???
Cool.
Buddha.
Thanks for the explanation, guys. I'm sure it'll all make much more sense when I have a shock in my hands. I'm a very visual person and 3D is better than two. :)
Buddha, I didn't know you had a blue shock. :o I only knew that you had a yellow powdercoated kat shock for $50. And it was very, very tempting because I have a yellow GS. But finances got the better of me and I'll probably end up buying something cheap and ugly - but functional - to repaint. I wonder how much powdercoating would cost around here...
Blue ... :laugh: :laugh:
The powderguy called me with a bunch of stuff done. He said he had a blue batch running in the next 1-2 days and my fenders etc will be done. I asked about the yellow, and he said they dont know when, so I decided to do in blue instead of yellow. So blue shock is the new yellow shock.
BTW I have several I popped open, I can do em in any color, I plan on doing silver under candy blue on one shock body (yes fluid capsule) and doing springs and stuff in black for that. A negative shock, this bike is black and silver+candy blue all over.
Cool.
Buddha.
:laugh: :laugh:
You know what I'm going to ask, right? :icon_mrgreen:
What for it....wait for it....upload some photos, man! :laugh: :laugh:
Seriously, I'd love to see this candy blue. And what would it cost to send you a shock to get powdercoated...when the next batch of yellow is done?
It will cost you $10-20 depending on what ... Spring alone in 1 color prolly $10, collars and cuff and what not, prolly $1-2 each. Blasting is included and he has a blaster that will tear anything off ... excellent for cleaning stuff and he aint afraid to use it. Like I said, he does industrial stuff, like whole 2 storey spiral staircases, car bodies, trailer frames, kitchen hoodies etc etc etc ...
I aint making a run to drop or pick up the stuff unless its added to a batch of my stuff or I am running there anyway, cos its 38 miles to my door from there, 1 way by the shortest route.
Now candy blue is transparent blue. The thing makes sense only if its put on a base color, and I put it on a very speckled silver which has flakes of mylar in it. It totally catches the sun and reflects like the facets in a diamond ... I been doing a lot of silver under candy blue, this shock spring however is a regular blue, shocks usually never catch the sun much, and I wasn't waiting for yellow and can live with this or sell this shock or fit it on my non wild colored bike.
Anyway, I can ask them next week when they do yellow next.
Cool.
Buddha.
BTW if you need a shock done, send it to me, I'll split it and get it coated and refit it back and send it to you. However I dont control 90% of the time (powdercoating) and dont ask for matching this or for "chartreuse" type BS ... powder coat and a color that is 1 word in english is all I can ask him to do. Blue is OK, not electric blue and definitely not chartreuse.
Splitting and refitting will take me 2 mins, so I'd pretty much do it for what they charge me. But dont say you need it by the 6th thursday of may or BS OK.
Now with a small reservation ... I can slice a fluid column open and re seal, and refit the shock ... but it will cost you over $100 Or close to. When that is open it can also be powdercoated, but again single word english etc etc ... shock body can be 1 color and spring can be another ... like a black and silver to sorta match a black and silver bike.
All remote reservoir shocks are equipped with fluid columns you can unscrew. Those can be rebuilt/resealed etc for $10 or less, which is also why they command a premium. I can reseal them too.
Cool.
Buddha.
Wait, does that mean that getting the coil in Gamboge or Alizarin is out? :laugh: :laugh:
I'm feeling pretty dense here but when you say you can split it and get the shock body and spring powdercoated different colors, that's the easy job right? Meaning you'd just charge what the powder guys charge and the two colors would break down like the picture below?
The $100 would be if you opened up and then resealed the fluid column.
And I had such high hopes for a spring that looked like this. Damn. :laugh:
(http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/pronator_photos/colorfulspring.jpg)
Gamba what ... sorry my ghey to english translation isn't that good ... Oh ... green you say ... OK I could do green, but I wont ... :mad:
Now I can remove the springs, collars, end plates etc etc and powdercoat all the metal that isn't filled with fluid.
The fluid capsule, the chrome rod and the end fittings cant be powdercoated, they can only be painted. That operation needs a good fluid capsule and seal set, and then its doable easy. Pay for powder and paint and its good.
The next step - cutting open the fluid column and replacing seals. That will cost ya, I have just completed one of these, and this will be 100+ Now here I can powdercoat anything ...
In a remote reservoir shock like I am selling (katana 600/750 88-98 shock is not remote reservoir) the opening and rebuilding part is very easy, they have screwed on end caps in teh fluid column. You pop the shock open, then just go on and unscrew the end cap with a spanner, measure and buy the seals and O rings in there and fit it back on. This is likely to cost $10 or so ...
How often do the shocks blow ... I blew one in 03 after 7-8 years of regular use, it also is a upside down design compared to the katana (fluid column is up and chrome rod is down) ...so it helped the seals stay soft IMHO. A bike that sat can lose stuff like this faster than one that was used. the chrome rod is just about all that cannot be replaced IMHO. It gets rust pits and its adios.
Cool.
Buddha.
Oh I forgot, remote reservoir shocks have 300 Psi nitrogen in the reservoir. I have to bleed it first before opening it. Refilling it may be 20-30 bucks.
Cool.
Buddha.
Buddha, thanks for breaking it down. :thumb: