gxr 1000 07-08 shock fitment to a bandit

First topic message reminder :

Shock arrived from the states in 2 weeks (e-bay) at a total cost $130 .Shock was $50 rest
del . cost .
Looked as good as new , I think it nearly was ,no marks or adjustment screw burring .
Fitted straight in(non ABS ) looked like it was made for it .
With standard dog bones back end was 25 mm LOWER than standard due to the different
length of the gxr shock .
I cut the standard dog bones in half and ground off 5mm (center) , then got them welded back together. THe total length of the bones (not eye to eye )needs to be 208 mm
Standard is 213 mm

This makes the bandit the standard height with a gsx 1000 shock fitted .

My old shock had 55,000 kls on it and was giving me a rough ride not soft as I was expecting.
Total cost was $150 . Bargain.
Difficulty 1\10
0\10 if you remember the overall length of the dog bones needs to be 208 mm.

 Cutting the bones in half and re welding was WAY more easier than re drilling holes.
I have done it that way but never again

mine says 41 inches to 41 1/8 inches depending on where in the shed I measure it

If that's the case i'm 15mm higher than standard .I'm ok with that . Angle of bike on side stand backs that up . Thanks Paul

320 from centre eye to centre eye standard bandit shock . (10mm holes )

Best way to work out is put standard bike on centre stand .Measure gap under back wheel .Write it down .This is the gap you want to return it to standard .

Fit new shock and standard dog bones .Now measure gap again . It will be larger ,so when bike comes off centerstand bike will be lower .

Lets say the gap is 15mm MORe THAN STANDARD so the bike has been raised 15mm.

1mm change in dog bone length = 5mm at the rear end .

So in this case dog bone need to be 3mm  SHORTER . (the eyes closer together ) Shorter dog bones HIGHER the lift .

Now for the bad news (maybe ) if you weigh over 95 kg you are going to need a heavier spring .
 I'm 90kg so I had to wind the spring down all the way possible to give me a rider sag
of 35mm  (non sports road bike ) If you look at previous pics of spring setting that was giving me a sag of 50mm (too soft ) .
I had to double the amount of thread showing .

crimsondawn wrote:I suppose the trick is to get a relatively unused one then? Having done 21000 on mine now, it must be nearing it's use-by date.

you may have missed my reply, you have to check your static sag to understand where your at in relation to spring rate.

one spring will not fit the purpose of every bike

geometry and weight bias is totally different between the two bikes as well

you can try the manual way like I suggested, or go to a GOOD suspension joint, and he will have access on his computer, every known bike to man kind ,the weight plus what ever a rider weighs and potential going to carry, and will work out the correct spring needed for your situation

I used to have this exact shock on mine, 2 years ago, and had it on for 2years, I had it reworked for MY application, which was to have me at 85kg + an extra 30kg in luggage, and the standard spring was to soft. I also had gold valves put through out it , compression and rebound(this all cost a lot of money, but I wanted the most out of this shock for MY application) and shimmed to suit, then setting the correct ride height for your application, which this took me along time as I made a total of 4 different dog bones to get what I wanted...

or you can just put it on and ride it, and be totally oblivious to what I have mentioned

Just wind the shock fully tight like this ,you might sneak it in .

With the shock that I bought it did not require a spacer.there may be some variations with different year shocks though

Yes I did .I'm 90 kg and allowed for 30 mm sag with me on bike .The spring was wound down 70% to achieve this .
I'm guessing you could be 105 kg and have 35mm sag on the standard spring with it fully wound down but you will not want to pack too much gear on the back or get a new heavier spring . Still worth it .
I just ordered some new d\bones with a 20mm lift . Should make bike close to standard .

There was no way my shock had ever been adjusted . All the settings were stock and no marks on the adjusting collars .
There is now though ,because I had to screw  them down which marked them and removed some yellow paint from the spring .

I will probably do the same so I have more adjustment available when touring .What did it cost (spring)

I probably should have stepped up and offered mine for sale, I don`t "think" I will ever use it again...although nice to have a back up,

up graded spring with both compression and rebound gold valves, and shimmed to suit, which all up after rebuild was close to just over $600, I`d never get my money back on it, and would never consider trying.