[soderholmd]

I'm not sure which way to go with this........

I've done the Ricor front end on the Wee and now really realize how squishy and poor the rear end is - I have 24k on my Wee BTW and weigh about 200lbs. I'm going to get a replacement soon.

If you have a replacement shock (or sasquatch) on your Wee, chime in!

1. Shock
2. Cost
3. Ride report
4. Would you buy the same one again.

I'm really intrigued at the low price of the progressive 465 non hydraulic pre load shock - really crazy low price.......:fineprint:

ANYWAY.........please use the format 1-4 above and share your vast knowledge with this peep!

 

[greywolf]

I got the Elka shock from Blair at SVRacingparts.com for $815. It's a definite improvement over stock. I have nothing else to compare it to. I would go for a new shock over a Sasquatch rebuild only because so-called half measures have always left me wondering if I should have gone higher end. No matter what is done in a stock Wee shock rebuild, it will still have a marginally sized rod, an oil emulsion contained in the small shock body instead of separate gas and oil with an outboard reservoir, have only rebound damping and spring preload adjustability and be a fixed length. I could buy an Elka again but would investigate other brands if I got a new bike too.

 

[jokermtb]

Rider magazine reviewed that 465 shock a little while ago - seemed to think it was pretty nice too. However, I really like the Sasquatch stock shock revalve option - new valving stack/oil and you get to keep the swanky stock hydro preload adjuster....

Meh - access isn't too bad to turn the rings - anyway - how many times are you really gonna do THIS? Then again, why would you want to, kinda a PITA. Which is why the hydro preload adjuster is so incredibly nice.

The costs between the two are pretty comparable too.

FYI:
Progressive Suspension 465 Series Shock

Suspensions by Sasquatch
Suspensions By Sasquatch - Boise, Idaho

Murphs.com is selling those 465's at ridiculously low prices, but for a hundred or so more, you get a somewhat "custom valved" shock, and keep the nice hydro preload adj with the Sasquatch....food for thought!

 

[soderholmd]

good info -

anyone use other options of theor wee?

 

[OhioPT]

I posted a lot of info about aftermarket shocks in another thread:
http://www.stromtrooper.com/681418-post24.html

Here is a review of the Progressive shock with the remote preload. The standard 465 shock is the same minus the adjuster.
http://www.stromtrooper.com/v-strom-modifications-performance/63681-progressive-465-remote-preload-adjuster.html

 

[soderholmd]

Thanks Ohio!:thumbup:

 

[KevinP]

I have an Ohlins SU823 that I put on at about 24,000 miles on my 2007 DL650. I purchased the Ohlins for just under $700 :thumbup: from Dan Kyle, owner of Kyle Racing [email protected] or (831) 394-1330. Build time was two weeks. No stories, no hard sales tactic just results. Kyle Racing is said to be the World's largest Ohlin's dealer. That price was more than $200 cheaper than some other very popular vendors who pretend to be "Ohlins" dealers but tried to sell me Elka. For the basic price the Ohlins shock is built to order with the exact spring firmness for your weight and riding style. Dan is expert at helping with this. This unit has a remote pre-load adjuster.

Ride review:
My Ohlins shock is hands down better than my forks which have been upgraded carefully with Race Tech .95 springs, Gold valve emulators. Before doing the shock the upgraded forks made the OEM rear mushy. Now if I hit a hard bump I may feel and hear a slight thump from the forks but the rear is eerily silent and smooth. Off road it does not bottom. Just a great ride now with no need to fuss with the settings as Dan nailed the spring rate.

Installation instructions were excellent. Hardest part of any shock install is removing the dog bones which are notoriously challenging. Whole install took me 45-60 minutes. Quality is unsurpassed, nicer than anything else on the bike.

Comparisons: I considered the more expensive Elka and Wilburs which are both nice. I considered Sasquatch but the price was only 1/3 cheaper, I had to give up my shock for a little bit, and now I can sell my OEM shock for probably $100. Going back a couple of years you can read a few horror stories about Elka shocks taking much longer to deliver than quoted on mopre than one occasion ... but I'm sure that has improved. :headbang: Didn't consider the Progressive shock as I like remote pre-load, which is a neat feature on the V-Strom that I didn't care to lose. If money were more an issue, the Progressive is a great deal and in truth I only adjust pre-load if 2-up. Also I am not sure if Progressive and Wilburs uses custom spring rates, which Ohlins and Elka each allow for no fee.

 

[Scarlett Harlot]

Yanked the stocker out of mine yesterday and shipped it to Sasquatch this afternoon.(Thanks Firedog)

The thought of a shock and spring matched for my size, girlfriend, and a bucket of Kentucky Fried leaves me wet with anticipation.

 

[OhioPT]

Wilbers chooses the correct spring for your weight, just like Elka. Ohlins can be bought "off the shelf" with only one spring rate, so be careful. Dan Kyle is able to provide custom springs for the Ohlins since he deals with so many shock orders. Just a heads up.

 

[OhioPT]

BTW, I read somewhere that Sasquatch installs a floating piston in the DL650 shock when he "reworks" it. If so, that alone is a nice upgrade to the 650 shock, since it would separate the oil and gas. If you contact him ask to double check.

 

[jokermtb]

Yanked the stocker out of mine yesterday and shipped it to Sasquatch this afternoon.(Thanks Firedog)

The thought of a shock and spring matched for my size, girlfriend, and a bucket of Kentucky Fried leaves me wet with anticipation.

Kentucky Fried?

Aren't there just a ton of Lee's Famous in Ohio....? MMMmmmm...Lee's! So good!

 

[Bazooka Joe]

I have the Sasquatch Shock mod. It works pretty darn good IMO, considering that it is an emulsion steel body shock. However, if you ride the bike on the street, it is plenty good enough.

The Sasquatch shock revalved dampening is about spot on. Note that the OEM shock's rebound adjustment actually does affect both rebound and dampening. The rebound adjuster is a needle valve which controls the free flow past the piston and it works in both flow directions. It just doesn't control compression dampening as significantly as would a separate compression only adjustment.

The stiffer spring is a HUGE improvement if you ride two up or weigh more than probably 200 lbs or haul a bunch of cargo. One important thing to note, is that the overall length of the new spring is quite important on the OEM shock. If the shock spring is couple of mms too long or short, that will be a significant difference- too long and the bike will have zero unladen sag. Too short and you can't get enough preload with the adjuster. Too short is better because you can add a spacer. Too long, and you get out the grinder or send it back.

 

[ST114ME]

I had my shock rebuilt by Sasquatch last fall. I will say that with the combo of emulators & sonic .90 the shock works very well.

 

[Scarlett Harlot]

Kentucky Fried?

Aren't there just a ton of Lee's Famous in Ohio....? MMMmmmm...Lee's! So good!

Yes there are many Lee's Famous in Ohio. We use it as a laxative.

 

[marku]

Sasquatch upgrade

Intiminators first and was improvement. Followed Sasquatch in combination even better improvement. Bumps less jarring and bike feels more stable and planted for handling. Maybe per above more $$ shock would have been better. I am 200 lbs and ride dual and loaded a lot. Sasquatch/Jay is good guy to deal with.

That being said Bazooka Joe brings up good point about spring. I wanted my Hyperpro progressive with added spacer on reworked Sasquatch but Jay said risk of bottoming spring with 7/16” spacers I had and would not warranty that. Decided to try his spring (+$100 reasonable). Note - Hyperpro progressive would be perfect range for me (2” inch sag solo no bags) if they made the spring about 7/16” longer – as is too much sag IMO without spacer - but l like the increased rate dual riding the more you load it (even better than Sasquatch single rate IMO for that). Sasquatch heavier spring per my weight and use works fine 2-up – but with only about 1” sag solo after settling in seems stiff and sort of negates my ¾” lowering links – it does handle real sporty.

I did measurements on the attached spreadsheet to check the issue of Hyperpro with spacers bottoming. Shows just happening with 7/16” spacers right about the rubber bumper. Paint wear on spring coils showed closer wound progressing coils rubbing but no sign of that on remaining coils and I never felt it bottom. I am still thinking of trying the Hyperpro on the rebuilt shock but I am not sure if that is risky given measurements show spring bottoming if it gets into the rubber bumper. Probably best to use his spring and deal with the low sag solo setup – still debating.

I am not that I have shock travel measurements as accurate as I could measuring with spring on and whether the rubber bumper is to be considered in the shock travel - so if someone has a solid number to use on that handy I would appreciate it.

 

[PTRider]

Very satisfied with my Elka. I'm glad I got the one with separate low velocity and high velocity compression damping...the test riding and setting the three damping rates was interesting, and I like the result.

Does the Öhlins SU 823 have compression damping adjustments? The brochure seems to show only rebound damping and preload. Lack of adjustable compression damping might be a problem for some riders, as well as the lack of choice of springs unless the vendor can supply the correct spring. To get a shock without adjustable compression damping, I think I'd go to Sasquatch.
http://www.ohlins.com/Products/MountingInstructions/MI_SU823.pdf

Isn't the shock linkage giving the shock proportional action? A proportional spring isn't needed in that case.

 

[marku]

progressive spring

Yes PT - I think action does provide progressive rate on the rear shock with singe rate spring. I know veiws of mixed on progressive springs and most don't like them. I just decided to try the progressive spring at advice of vendor who was concerned the single rate that would work well for dual loaded would be too hard solo.

I did find that the progressive rate in addition to that of lever action you point out provided good stability loaded up real heavy. Best case I can remember was my trip through death valley loaded up to GVW limit there was a series of high speed roller coaster type hills and I was just amazed at how stable the ride (noted the BMWs that happened to be in front of me seemed to be bouncing). I found that the progressive spring gives good flexibility between solo and dual riding needs. Now I just wish the spring length and preload for that Hyperpor spring were better for my setup (hence try at spacer).

 

[KevinP]

Very satisfied with my Elka. I'm glad I got the one with separate low velocity and high velocity compression damping...the test riding and setting the three damping rates was interesting, and I like the result.

Does the Öhlins SU 823 have compression damping adjustments? The brochure seems to show only rebound damping and preload. Lack of adjustable compression damping might be a problem for some riders, as well as the lack of choice of springs unless the vendor can supply the correct spring. To get a shock without adjustable compression damping, I think I'd go to Sasquatch.
http://www.ohlins.com/Products/MountingInstructions/MI_SU823.pdf

Isn't the shock linkage giving the shock proportional action? A proportional spring isn't needed in that case.

At under $700 the Ohlins SU 823 does not have adjust compression damping. When ordering from Ohlin's world's largest dealer, Kyle Racing, the owner Dan was very helpful in spring rate selection and I'd say he nailed it and did not charge for having it built with custom spring rate. For my use it is awesome.

If you really know how to adjust shocks a 3-way adjust may have advantages but the extra $400 bought me GSXR 750 front brakes, fork springs, gold valves, and some change. I couldn't justify spending $1200 for a 3-way shock on a used bike that I paid $4000 for.

 

[Scorch]

I'm not sure which way to go with this........

I've done the Ricor front end on the Wee and now really realize how squishy and poor the rear end is - I have 24k on my Wee BTW and weigh about 200lbs. I'm going to get a replacement soon.

If you have a replacement shock (or sasquatch) on your Wee, chime in!

1. Shock
2. Cost
3. Ride report
4. Would you buy the same one again.

I'm really intrigued at the low price of the progressive 465 non hydraulic pre load shock - really crazy low price.......:fineprint:

ANYWAY.........please use the format 1-4 above and share your vast knowledge with this peep!

Really? I've thought the suspension on the V-Strom is pretty good. Squishy?

$500 :jawdrop:

 

[KevinP]

Really? I've thought the suspension on the V-Strom is pretty good. Squishy?

$500 :jawdrop:

Well, it depends. The V-Stroms do have pretty good stock suspensions that soak up plenty of bumps on rough roads and handle nicely when new. At around 25,000 miles they may show some wear. It is at that time that upgrades made sense to me. I did the forks at a time I was replacing blown out fork seals after hard off road. The shock went on as the new front can make the old shock more noticeable.