Rebuilding the rear ST1300 shock

[dduelin]

Thanks for the reminder,, @Bmacleod , I recall stopping into Mission 4 or 5 years ago,, to discuss those upgrades with the owner. He explained that they ship the forks and shock off to Racetech in California for modification. Because it could take months to turn them around, he suggested I remove them from the bike and bring them to him. That would save me money,, and save him shop storage space. He could not give a firm price,,, an estimate only,, because he could not control RT or shipping, or exchange rates. In the end, I was happy to have a local rebuild with a simple preload mod and 5w fork oil. No changes to the rear shock, except I just set them on max preload now and leave it there. Back then,,, the fork mod cost me cost me $200, including full rebuild. The RT upgrades at Mission would have been several thousand,,, which was more than half what I had paid for the bike. Although I have read nothing but good things about gold valve upgrades,,, the RT rebuild of the rear shock seemed dicey, expensive and long turnaround. Although I love the sound of the gold valve forks and the wilburs rear shock,, I just cant' justify the Mission cost,,, as the existing oem (mostly) setups are working well enough for me, with 225k km's on one,,, and 88k km on them respectively. I also have the low mileage spare on the shelf,, in the event of failure, (although I might cycle it in this year). It cost me $100.cdn. According to the video's,,, both the shocks that I have in the bike should be toast. But all seems good,,, thx,,, cheers,,, CAt'

Cat, I recall the Racetech gold valve and rebuild of a ST1300 shock cost about $350 with shipping but it was a number of years ago. I’d say given the price increases over time a RT rebuild is still 1/4 to 1/3 the cost of an aftermarket higher spec shock. That differential is what I based my decision to rebuild vs replace.

 

[Jethro]

I thought, l do it for my torque wrench & vice grips.They are all like 40 years old…….& a bit of oil

 

[Catmandu2]

Cat, I recall the Racetech gold valve and rebuild of a ST1300 shock cost about $350 with shipping but it was a number of years ago. I’d say given the price increases over time a RT rebuild is still 1/4 to 1/3 the cost of an after higher grade shock. That differential is what I based my decision to rebuild vs replace.

Thanks for the input, Dave. @Bmacleod got in touch as well,,, to say that his RT/Mission experience was much better than mine. This is all good to know,, as I have a fork rebuild coming up on the 2012. Maybe it's time for another visit,,, cheers,,, CAt'

 

[Bmacleod]

What returning the preload to zero if the bike was going to sit a few days does for me is eliminate the need to ever service the preload adjuster again. Left under compression over time it takes more and more turns it begin working. I’ve proven this to myself with similar Showa preloaders on the ST, the Goldwing, and the RT.

... And I can support that claim as well now. When I went to back my preload off earlier today, it was "flat"... Half a turn of tension, then 8 or 9 turns of nothing, freewheeling. I will add that to the winter maintenance.

 

[Gus1300]

Haven't ever pulled the rear shock; is the bike supported while it's out, so that I can still move it back out of a work space to a parking space while the shock is being serviced? or is it stuck in place until the shock in reinstalled? Basically asking while it's out, what keeps the wheel from rubbing and will it still turn/move? Thanks! (haven't checked the manual yet, the computer was closer!)

 

[dduelin]

Haven't ever pulled the rear shock; is the bike supported while it's out, so that I can still move it back out of a work space to a parking space while the shock is being serviced? or is it stuck in place until the shock in reinstalled? Basically asking while it's out, what keeps the wheel from rubbing and will it still turn/move? Thanks! (haven't checked the manual yet, the computer was closer!)

Interesting question. Without a shock there is nothing to prevent the swing arm from moving beyond it's normal travel. I've only removed the shock on the center stand and a mounted tire drops onto the ground. I think if the wheel is removed then the brake disc would contact the floor. I always placed a block of wood under the disk contact point and supported the swing arm with a jack which makes it easy to align the lower bolt holes of shock and swing arm when replacing the shock. I think if the bike is taken off the center stand to move it and the shock is out the wheel will contact the inner fender. The bike could not be placed on the side stand or center stand without assistance.

 

[SMSW]

... to say that his RT/Mission experience was much better than mine.

Why would you would give your shock to Mission - or anyone else - to have them ship it to RaceTech when you can deal with RT directly? IIRC, when I did my rear it cost about $450 with a new spring (March, 2018). I told RT that I did not want to change the height of the bike, and that my weight w/ ATG was 169#. They strongly recommended a heavier than stock spring. The bike ended up a little taller - which was not what I wanted. The improvement over stock was noticeable but not as dramatic as the GV in the front forks.

Btw, I had them replace the preload hose as a prophylactic measure. Their banjo had a longer arm at the preload end that made fitting it a major pita without kinking the hose. Their hose was also much stiffer than the OEM and it took me three tries to get it installed properly. I became very good at removing and installing that shock. Were I to do it again, with that experience under my belt, I'd not change the spring or hose. My bike was only 8 or 9 years old when I did this, and since I'm now on a VStrom, i'll never rebuild an ST shock again.

 

[Catmandu2]

not as dramatic as the GV in the front forks.

Just curious,, in what major ways did the gold valves improve front fork performance, compared to stock ?? thx, CAt'

 

[SMSW]

Just curious,, in what major ways did the gold valves improve front fork performance, compared to stock ?? thx, CAt'

I'm not an aggressive rider, in fact I like to ride at my own pace and smell the daisies. I can keep up with the middle of the pack guys in the OH STOC group but that means I am studying the road and not the scenery and riding at what I think for me is 8 or 9/10ths. That said, the front gold valves 'stretched out' the bumps. The regular asphalt bumps due to expansion in the summer on the interstate no longer jarred my fillings, but seemed softer. They were still there, and going over RR tracks was easier for the front end but the back kicked my butt - until I got the gold valves in the rear shock. Then the impact of RR crossings was less severe. The bike also felt a bit more secure in curves at speed. Other guys here have said it feels more 'planted' - I just felt more confident without being able to tell you specifically why.

I think if you search for Gold Valves you will find my earlier discussion - questions to those who made the conversion and their evaluations afterwards. @mlheck was especially helpful to me.

 

[Larry Fine]

The main purpose of a firm but compliant suspension system is to push the tires back against the road surface as quickly as it can after going over road surface irregularities, while minimizing the suspension's tendency to move the bike and rider around.

That's where sprung-to-unsprung weight ratio comes into play. The more the spring-supported parts weigh compared to the parts that stay on the road, the more control the suspension has on those parts, and can better maintain traction and handling.