seekig clarification on difficulty of SV650 shock swap

[raylarrabee]

I'm a big guy, and the rear shock seems worn (I'm 6'6", 220, and the bike nearly bottoms out just by sitting on it, lol), so I think a swap is in order.  Already ordered the progressive springs, and those are going in first.

I've been combing the old posts, Pantablo's site, and others to investigate a rear shock swap on my 92 GS.  I put in a bid on an SV650 shock on ebay, but I have gotten some conflicting reports from various posts.

Please let me know if this is accurate:  as long as the 2" rise in seat height is acceptable, the SV650 shock is a direct bolt-on.

Due to my height and   weight, I think the 2" rise will be just fine; I just want to make sure I don't have to do any grinding/welding to get it on there.  Also, will I have to extend the kickstand?

[The Buddha]

SV shock swap requires drilling into the clevise of the shock and making a linkage bolt hole and making sure it will let the linkage move about wihtout hitting the shock body. Usually the SV swap is done if the SV shock is like free or very very very cheap. The SV shock is stiffer, and the back end does get up quite a bit cos its almost an inch longer even after the drilling ... Better option is Kat shock... they actually dont sell for too much off ebay. $15-$25 is common, and that is a bolt in fit and raises the back end a little, but when sitting on it, it doesn't droop to nothing, and it responds quicker and has rebound adjustment. Much better shock IMHO. RF 6/9, kat 6/7, GSXR 7/11 and assorted other will work on it, the remote reservoir types end up for more $$$ and are sorta not neccesary. If you buy a remote reservoir type, make sure the thing comes with the reservoir... and its never been removed... cos that makes the shock useless unless you re fit it and have it nitrogen charged...
Cool.
Srinath.

[raylarrabee]

that's what I am confused about.  Pantablo's site said it was a direct bolt-on, unless you wanted to eliminae most of the rise resulting from the longer clevice.  Is that the drilling you're talking about, or would I have to drill it to put it on at all?

Sorry, it's just a bit confusing, and I don't want to buy a shock that I'll have to grind/drill to fit on the bike, since I am not the best wrencher in the world.

[pantablo]

I dont think anyone has actually tried leaving it full length. It raises the rear to unacceptable levels for most. I think I would be more concernned, in your case, about how it would affect the bike's handling since a 2" rise changes things dramatically.

The other point is that the sv shock, while leaving the rear up higher, isnt necessarily a better shock than the gs shock. That means it'll drop more with a heavier rider. The sv's are undersprung just like the gs bikes so I agree with Srinath about the Kat shock.

The Katana shock raises the rear about 1" give or take. Swap the rear tire out for a 140/80 to add another 1/2-1" and there you go, without seriously affecting the suspension dynamics.

The sv shock that was done on my site (by someone else) was done mostly for looks (yellow spring) and because they hapened to have it laying around. Not a performance minded change in my mind.

Hope this helps.

[raylarrabee]

Thanks for all the help.  This  site is an amazing resource.  I'll look for the Kat shock.

[glenn9171]

From what I have read on here, the SV shock was barely an improvement over the stock GS one.  I had a Katana 600 shock on mine and the difference was night and day.

[raylarrabee]

thankfully, I got  outbid on th SV shock.  Now I'll just have to be en ebay stalker and try to nab a Kat shock.  

Thanks for all the help.