Please forgive me as I am sure this topic has been discussed. If you know of a post, please point me to it. :smile: I have a 2000 VFR that I put 43K on. I am going to pull the forks and have them rebuilt (my brother is a WERA and AMA racer, so he will point me to the right shop, etc) Can I have the rear shock rebuilt? If not, does it make more sense to buy a new stock shock or an aftermarket shock? I don't want to spend $800+ on a aftermarket shock. I don't think its worth it on this bike with the high number of miles and I want to buy a 2nd bike this spring (like an R1 - and I will put those mods on that if I want to spend $$). I just want to keep this bike for sport touring, but I wanted it to be "refreshed."
First off - yes, the rear shocks can be rebuilt. It's not rocket science but you want someone to do it that's familiar with them. The biggest problem is that you need to let the nitrogen out to disassemble the shock. This also means you have to recharge them when you are finished. I normally drill a hole at the top (where the nitrogen chamber is) to release the pressure then weld or tap/thread a Schrader valve in place to recharge it. This is not something a local shop can likely do for you. I'd find someone who installs a lot of RaceTech Gold Valves. That's really up to you if you want to rebuild it or not. There are three reasons to rebuild a shock 1) it's leaking fluid or not holding nitrogen pressure 2) the performance has degraded or 3) you want to prevent #1 or #2 before they happen. The last one is sometimes tough to justify and #2 is not always obvious because it happens so slowly over time. #1 is easy because you'll see evidence of fluid leakage or the performance will be really bad. At 43k you are well into it's service life, that's for sure. If it's not been ridden really hard (i.e. lots of corners) then it might be ok. The shocks are good quality and don't often leak so it's up to you if you 'feel' it should be rebuilt. You should try doing the forks yourself. It's not that hard and doesn't take any special Honda tools. I only charge $50 for a rebuild plus parts if that tells you anything about it.
Yep you can send it in to like Race Tech for a rebuild, think it's like $350. Or buy Waldrms shock smart buy there IMO be hard to beat that deal if you're just wanting to keep it as it is, but with a newer feel. Also just doing fork oil would help, plus good time for a spring up grade while you're at it $109 at Race Tech, and you can get them to suit your riding style, so if you're handing with a wrench you could get both front and rear all nice for under $300
