well im a bigger guy(220) and every time i get on the bike i heard the tire rub, now is thare anthing out there to raise of stiffing up the rear...befor it eats throught the plastic. ..

Katana 600 rear shock, bolt in, takes 5 minutes.

so that will stiffin it and will be no rubbing? or will it raise it? or both

Something wrong there, did someone put lowering links or a way oversize tire on it?  Or both?  Broken spring?

I've been 240-250# since I got my first GS and put 80k miles on the 97 and 58k miles on the 02 without bottoming out the rear suspensions.

Check the preload setting on the rear spring and crank it up a bit.  Load capacity of your bike is over 400# with the preload cranked up.

hummmmmm how would i do that....like spin a a knob o sothing on the shock...sorry for the neb questions im new 

i think there is a youtube of it...i am searching

Quote from: leedutcher on April 22, 2008, 07:27:05 PM
so that will stiffin it and will be no rubbing? or will it raise it? or both

Both!  very worthwile upgrade.  check ebay!

I would also check for lowering links.  buy some stockers and make sure that yours hasnt been lowerd

is this the movie....http://youtube.com/watch?v=6VHKrV7kIGM  mines a 92 will it still work like this and will this fit my bike http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SUZUKI-KATANA-REAR-SHOCK-GSX-600-1998-2002_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35592QQihZ006QQitemZ160231319812QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

yes! buy it or I will!   thats a deal.

just bought it

sweet!  its a really easy fix, but i would make sure that you dont have lowering links in there too

Quote from: leedutcher on April 22, 2008, 08:19:03 PM
just bought it

you did redrill and cut the end of that Katana shock before installing right ? (see wiki for explanations)

[10.09 am and coffee intake ] sorry confused with sv650 shock there...

Katana shock, no drilling required.
Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: The Buddha on April 23, 2008, 04:25:17 AM
Katana shock, no drilling required.
Cool.
Buddha.

+1 direct bolt in and maybe a 1/4" bump in height , love the one i put in changes the bike totaly

Is it worth it to wait to get upgraded front forks as well?  Or is the katana rear shock good enough on it's own?

In other words, having an upgraded rear and the stock soft front will still lead to an improvment in handling?

If you upgrade the rear without doing the front, I think it would make the front seem even worse. The stiffer shock would raise up the rear and put more weight on the front. I would at least throw some progressives in there for $60 when you do the kat swap.

get the progressives or race tec's and mybe a fork brace , have done all that  to mine and now its rock solid

I am 200 pounds here was my set up with the GS front end.Progressive fork springs and 15w fork oil and95 Katana rear shock settings 2 on the dial and 5 on the spring preload.I am currently setting up a 95 Katana frontend and a 97 Katana shock.Katana front end has 20w fork oil.I think that's what dgyver and I put in mine.Maybe 7w. 

Quote from: bucks1605 on April 23, 2008, 10:26:53 AM
If you upgrade the rear without doing the front, I think it would make the front seem even worse. The stiffer shock would raise up the rear and put more weight on the front. I would at least throw some progressives in there for $60 when you do the kat swap.

I agree with that.  But the Kat swap will improve handeling considerably. 

Its like this, the front is crap, you dont feel it only cos the rear is equally bad. You improve one and the other will show ... a lot, like ... jet your left carb for K&N and pipe and leave your right carb stock and fit a K&N and pipe  ... yea like that. Or OK not like that ... but you get the idea.
Cool.
Buddha.