Aftermarket Rear Shock

I posted this at another sandbox, but am interested in gathering as much info as I can. I spent a half-hour searching previous thread here on the subject as well, so flame as you will, I still believe this thread is unique.

My bike just crossed 50K and the rear shock is quickly turning into a pogo stick.

I'm weighing options, got questions, and would like your opinions. What are you running? Why did you pick that one?

1. Penske: What's the difference between inline double adjust, remote double adjust, and remote double adjust with banjo hose?

2. Ohlins: First, the website doesn't show a shock for a Gen 3 FJR - would a Gen 2 shock fit my bike? Also, besides price, what's the difference between the YA-053 and YA-707

3. I looked at the Traxxion Dynamics website - they offer the Penske shock, but don't seem to offer their own suspension components for my bike. Is that what you understand?

4. GP Suspension doesn't appear to have a rear shock for the FJR. Just a fork re-valve kit?

5. Wilbers: These people have several shock choices - anybody ever tried one of these?

6. Hyperpro: Found one of these on E-bay. Never heard of it. thoughts?

7. Hagon: Their USA website doesn't show this listing, but I could call them and inquire. 2-year guarantee - how does that compare to the "premium" brands? Fully adjustable (incl. hydraulic pre-load), can be sprung for the rider, and rebuildable. $549.00 American. Not sure I've ever bought anything from England - would have to look into that.

Also, considering just buying another stock shock and go with that, although that is my least desirable option now - I'd like a little more spring rate.

Can anyone confirm that the shock from a Gen 2 fits a Gen 3 bike - exact match?

My head is spinning - admittedly, that didn't take much....

I'm not totally opposed to spending $1,000.00 on a $6,000.00 motorcycle, but before I do it, I need more research.

Your thoughts?
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I have a Wilbers that I like; they hold up really well. Got it from Ted Porter's Beemer shop. https://www.beemershop.com/Ted_Porters_BeemerShop_Motorcycle_Suspension_Specialists_All_Brands_Sales_Service_Installation.html

*EDIT* There's an Olhins down in the for sale section, that looks good. Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, butt, I'm purdie sure shocks are interchangeable through out the different generations?

Have you done anything with the front end? If you drop the money for a rear shock, you will soon want to fix the front.

I bought my bike used with over 50k on it. Nothing had been done to the suspension. Prior to the upgrades the bike was pogoing, and I had limited trust in the set up.

After owning it a couple of months and a couple of thousand miles I pulled the trigger and dropped the cash for suspension.

I had Go race (www.go-race.com) do the traxxion treatment (ak20s front and penske rear) to my bike. Traxxion does not make their own rear shock, they sell other brands shocks.

The bike was amazing as soon as I picked it up. There was no adjustments needed to the setup. Traxxion had the penske set up for my weight.

The bike really sticks to the road now. It hurt the wallet, but really creates smiles inside the helmet!!! I am really glad I did it!!

Matt

I have a Wilburs shock that I picked up gently used. It is the 3-way adjustable (rebound, high-speed compression, and low-speed compression) with a hydraulic preload adjuster. Once I adjusted everything how I like it, I haven't needed to touch anything except preload when carrying a passenger/full luggage. If you get a non-adjustable (other than preload) model, make sure you have it set up by a shop just the way you like it.

I have had an Ohlins on another bike that only had rebound and preload adjustment, and it worked so much better than stock.

You will notice the shortcomings of the front once you put on a better shock. I though the FJR was the best suspended bike I'd ever been on, but my previous experience was all bikes with basic, budget suspension. Now I am itching to respring/revalve the front to match the rear.

Another Choice EPM in NJ has a YSS shock.

Adjustable rebound damping, threaded pre-load and length adjustment pf +/- 5 mm at $ 429.00

this was a while back so the cost might have come up. i plan to go down this path or the hypro package deal they sell for 650 for front added in.

No personal experience, My 06 i got last year had 5k miles and now sits at 15k . i starting drag my crash bars on turns even hanging off which is a sign the shock is going.

as i paid 3800 for the bike i cringe spending 1k plus for suspension.

IMHO the Ohlins YA-707 is where you want to be. The 053 doesn't have the adjustable preload or compression dampening adjustments. It's a lot of money for a spring. I had an Ohlins setup on my previous BMW ride and now on my '07 FJR. The difference in handling is remarkable. The up side to Ohlins is that it's an established company and easy to find service when it's time for a rebuild. Yes, most performance shocks will need maintenance. Your research will likely find that shocks with similar features as the 707 cost the same or more. I'm not saying Ohlins are better than other shocks at this level but maybe easier to own. I hear good things about Hyperpro. I seem to remember the founder started with WP. Wilbers are popular with the BMW crowd. I considered them but passed when the U.S. distributor either changed hands or was out of business for a while, at least that was what I gleaned from forums. Wilber's seems to have stabilized since. I don't want to spread rumors. Again, service looked like it would be an issue. All that said, my first experience with Ohlins was pretty ...meh? After all the talk about how great Ohlins would make my bike handle I didn't feel it was much better than stock UNTIL my first rebuild. Turns out some valves were incorrectly assembled from the go. Once my local tech corrected the issue, I finally realized what everyone was talking about. I've never heard of anyone else having such an issue. Must have been a Friday or FNG day at the factory. You will absolutely want to give the front end some luvin' too. I did the full Race Tech springs and valves set up. I think heavier springs would have been enough. Whatever you choose, if you can wait for a used one to come up for sale, snap it up and have it rebuilt or serviced. You'll be very happy.

I have owned 5 aftermarket shocks and ridden at least a dozen others. My emphasis is on ride quality at speeds within 20 mph of the posted speed limits and my impressions are as follows:

Wilbers....high quality shock that comes very under sprung even for solo riders that requires way too much preload to achieve the desired sag and ride height. Can be fixed with an appropriate spring but then needs to be revalved to match the spring.

Ohlins....high quality shock but you pay a heavy price for the imitation gold plating. Damping is one size fits all and about half need to be revalved to get a quality ride. Good choice for a track bike, not so good for every day riding unless you revalve.

Penske...high quality shock that is custom made for the rider and seldom needs to be revalved. Very easy to rebuild and the owner can change the spring in his garage without a spring compressor...its even possible to change the spring without removing the shock. Lots of maunual preload adjustment if riding 2-up. The double adjustable with a remote reservoir is the most bang for the buck.

Hagon...owned by Wilbers but less expensive with lower build quality. Not recommended for a FJR when other options are available.

Yamaha GEN3 shock...definitely the most bang for the buck with a ride quality that is the equal of the Penske and cost that is less than a Hagon. Its not rebuildabe but for $400 who cares when a 10-20k rebuild on the others will normally cost at least $200. The only downside for the GEN3 shock is that the springs, even in the hard position, are a bit under sprung for 430 lb loads and there isnt any way to add preload.

I should mention that when I bought my 13A I also owned a 08 FJR wth a Wilbers shock that had been re-sprung and GP suspension front forks and a C14 with a Penske shock and fully adjustable ZX-14 forks. I felt both bikes were equal in ride quality to anything else I had ridden but the bone stock 13A was just as good, if not slightly better than either. It was a tough decision whether to sell the 08 with the aftermarket suspension or to transfer the aftermarket parts to the 13A. I decided not to transfer the parts but probably would have if the shock had been a Penske rather than the Wilbers (which really needed a revalve to better match the heavier spring I had installed).

MCRIDER007 said:

I have owned 5 aftermarket shocks and ridden at least a dozen others. My emphasis is on ride quality at speeds within 20 mph of the posted speed limits and my impressions are as follows:

Wilbers....high quality shock that comes very under sprung even for solo riders that requires way too much preload to achieve the desired sag and ride height. Can be fixed with an appropriate spring but then needs to be revalved to match the spring.

Ohlins....high quality shock but you pay a heavy price for the imitation gold plating. Damping is one size fits all and about half need to be revalved to get a quality ride. Good choice for a track bike, not so good for every day riding unless you revalve.

Penske...high quality shock that is custom made for the rider and seldom needs to be revalved. Very easy to rebuild and the owner can change the spring in his garage without a spring compressor...its even possible to change the spring without removing the shock. Lots of maunual preload adjustment if riding 2-up. The double adjustable with a remote reservoir is the most bang for the buck.

Hagon...owned by Wilbers but less expensive with lower build quality. Not recommended for a FJR when other options are available.

Yamaha GEN3 shock...definitely the most bang for the buck with a ride quality that is the equal of the Penske and cost that is less than a Hagon. Its not rebuildabe but for $400 who cares when a 10-20k rebuild on the others will normally cost at least $200. The only downside for the GEN3 shock is that the springs, even in the hard position, are a bit under sprung for 430 lb loads and there isnt any way to add preload.

I should mention that when I bought my 13A I also owned a 08 FJR wth a Wilbers shock that had been re-sprung and GP suspension front forks and a C14 with a Penske shock and fully adjustable ZX-14 forks. I felt both bikes were equal in ride quality to anything else I had ridden but the bone stock 13A was just as good, if not slightly better than either. It was a tough decision whether to sell the 08 with the aftermarket suspension or to transfer the aftermarket parts to the 13A. I decided not to transfer the parts but probably would have if the shock had been a Penske rather than the Wilbers (which really needed a revalve to better match the heavier spring I had installed).

Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing.

You forgot Racetech.

https://www.racetech.com/page/id/98

Wilbers is da muttz nuttz.....transformed the bike for the least bukz....only thing I wasn't happy with is after providing my weight, the way the spring was set up the preload was to small...took 3 turns on the collar to get it right..prolly needed a stiffer spring...ride and handling is now noticeably better than when the bike was new...

$800 w/o the hydraulic preload adjuster which I would never use..

I didn't see an answer to your question whether a Gen II shock will fit your bike. All generation shocks are interchangeable and another option is to buy the latest OEM shock which is pretty good if not rebuildable. I own a Penske 8983 and have had it rebuilt once. It makes an amazing difference. Never used Ohlins, but how can you go wrong with gold? Anything you put in will be better than a worn shock, and you can expect to rebuild it at a reasonable cost every couple/three years. In its own way a shock thread is kind of like an oil thread; they are all great until they wear out. Get one that is matched to you and your ride intentions, and you can't go wrong.

Aren't you less confused now ? Thanks to the wonders of the internet you know have a clear path !

Anyways, tominpa is right. All will be an improvement over what you have (which was done at about 30k).

The Penske 8983 is a good compromise. Reasonable price and easily serviced at many places. Not as sexy as they ohlins but I'm not that sexy myself so a gold shock is not gonna help.

Any of the others will also be an improvement but are lesser known etc etc etc.

You can get a Penske at most of the major suspension places so support and price are both good.

I got mine from GP but it really makes no difference where you get it. They all send the soecs to Penske who build and ship the shock.

At this point yours is so bad, anything you do will feel amazing.

Servacibility and price we're my criteria

YMMV.

Hey hppants, I revealed some time ago (2018, 2017?) on this forum that I've had a HyperPro rear shock for over 5 years now. Mine has an outboard compression adjuster knob, and both high & low speed fine adjust screws.

Cost me about $1199 US back then, and I've really enjoyed it now for over 50K miles in that time. The company I bought from (in New Jersey, but of course they're actually designed and manufactured Europe), used to offer a 5 year warranty cycle, and free rebuild within that time period. Like the Wilbers, Ohlins and other units out there, these are custom-assembled with your info on weight, and expected amount of use over the life of the shock by you and your passenger together.

Good luck in your own search!

Panman has an Ohlins for sale.

I have Penske 8983s on the FJR and Tenere, great shocks. The FJR includes the full meal deal with GP valving in the forks. It's a bit sporty empty, but loaded up and traveling it's the bees' knees! Regarding the remote preload option. Although Penske has a manual collar, it's not a big deal to adjust in place on the bike. Takes a few minutes and odds are once you have it set to your liking you'll rarely touch it.

Benefits of the Penske over other brands:
- Ride height adjustment allows tailoring the bike handling to your liking. I've set my FJR & Tenere ~3mm longer than stock and love the quicker turn-in and rear end height.
- For serious traveling and two-up duty I have a second, larger spring. The spring can be swapped with the shock in place on the FJR, in less than 30 minutes. So with full bags, trunk and pillion, I've got a properly sprung no compromises machine.
- Best of all...With a few tools/equipment, Penske's are simple to rebuild so the maintenance cost is minimal and you know it's done right.

Regardless of which aftermarket shock chosen, it'll be an improvement over stock.

Just my $.02

~G

Another option is Nitron. They have a US website and sell in USD. (They used to only sell out of the UK) $699.00 for the entry level shock.

I have one on my 09 and have been really happy with it.

https://www.nitronracingshocks.com/

I'm not ignoring your replies - I've read every one and am using what you offer as input for my research.

For those with Penske's, can anyone answer my question listed as #1 in the OP? The Penske website doesn't offer much technical info.

Got a few more questions, I'll look into that more this weekend and pop back in then.

In the meantime, I wanted to offer my thanks to everyone that has replied, and to encourage anyone else who has something to offer but has not replied to please do so.

hppants said:

I'm not ignoring your replies - I've read every one and am using what you offer as input for my research.
For those with Penske's, can anyone answer my question listed as #1 in the OP? The Penske website doesn't offer much technical info.

Got a few more questions, I'll look into that more this weekend and pop back in then.

In the meantime, I wanted to offer my thanks to everyone that has replied, and to encourage anyone else who has something to offer but has not replied to please do so.

Click to expand...

• The inline double adjust has the compression adjuster and compression damping knob at the top of the shock. Hard to get to on an FJR (and it probably wouldn't fit anyway with all of the ABS stuff up there)
• The remote double adjust has the compression adjuster and compression damping knob on each end of the remote canister that you mount on to the side of the bike
• The banjo is an additional interconnect for older model FJR's. My understanding from talking to the tech @ Penske is that the banjo is no longer necessary on newer model FJR's.

You can call Penske direct and talk to an actual tech that builds the shocks. Very nice folks.

Dan

dcumpian said:

hppants said:

I'm not ignoring your replies - I've read every one and am using what you offer as input for my research.
For those with Penske's, can anyone answer my question listed as #1 in the OP? The Penske website doesn't offer much technical info.

Got a few more questions, I'll look into that more this weekend and pop back in then.

In the meantime, I wanted to offer my thanks to everyone that has replied, and to encourage anyone else who has something to offer but has not replied to please do so.

Click to expand...

• The inline double adjust has the compression adjuster and compression damping knob at the top of the shock. Hard to get to on an FJR (and it probably wouldn't fit anyway with all of the ABS stuff up there)
• The remote double adjust has the compression adjuster and compression damping knob on each end of the remote canister that you mount on to the side of the bike
• The banjo is an additional interconnect for older model FJR's. My understanding from talking to the tech @ Penske is that the banjo is no longer necessary on newer model FJR's.

You can call Penske direct and talk to an actual tech that builds the shocks. Very nice folks.

Dan

Click to expand...

^^^^^^ What dcumpain said. Before ordering I called, I had questions on their chart as well as asked about the clevis issue. Didn't know it but I called during their prime time season and he wasn't rushing me to get me off the phone. Very nice, answered the questions I had, even expanded on a couple things I didn't think of. I also called back a week later with a few more questions, every bit as nice then too. Ordered off their website, didn't go through a local dealer/re-seller.

If you go with a Penske April is the start of their busy season, people wanting stuff come spring time. If you go with them order in the February or March, ordered mine in April and had to wait about 6-7 weeks for delivery. Not that I was riding then but I was as excited as a little kid at Christmas and couldn't wait to get it in my hands.

'pants: Penske: What's the difference between inline double adjust, remote double adjust, and remote double adjust with banjo hose?

Click to expand...

Penske shocks for FJRs are typically equipped with the remote reservoir (containing final compression adjustment). As Dan mentions, there's limited real-estate on the FJR for the reservoir to be integral with the shock. The rebound adjustment is at the bottom of the main body just like the OE shock.

Most of the Penske FJR shocks I've worked on have a hydraulic hose with 1/8" NPT ends connecting the shock and remote reservoir. The "banjo" hose is an upgrade. Think of the ends on brake hoses - same style fittings.

~G

Edit to add - inline double adjust is the 8975 series w/o the remote reservoir. Has separate compression / rebound adjustments less the extra oil capacity with remote reservoir. IMO it's a great buy.