Rear shock died

[James]

When I took advantage of the Wilburs group buy earlier this year, I remember someone saying the rear shock wore out ~24,000 miles or so. Well, last week I noticed a drip under the bike (seemed to be under the rearmost overflow hose). In less than 30 miles I had no shock, just the spring! Complete failure at 21,875. Fortunatly, I had the Wilbur to swap in. Anyone else's stock shock die so quickly? Or so completely? Just wondering...

 

[Bounce]

Not me. ~25,000 miles on the OEM shock. But then I don't do stoppies.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Funny you should mention it. My bike just turned 15,300 this evening. The wife and I rode up to Competition Accessories this evening to pick up some little blind-spot mirrors I ordered for the FJR. On the way home (nice twisty little route I know), I was thinking to myself 'man, this rear shock feels like a freakin pogo stick'. I reached down to confirm the "preload adjuster" was on the hard setting...it was. And I know the rebound damping is almost at max, because I just dialed it up the other day. So I think my shock too has taken a dookie. I was just complaining on the 'other forum' about how my front springs are shot too. I have the preload adjusters cranked in all the way and there's still way too much static sag. While I would love to get in on the group buy on the Wilburs shock, and get my forks done over the winter by one of the big shock gurus, I'm just not sure I can afford it right now. I'm thinking to maybe try and get some use out of ye old YES contract. If the shock is not rebuildable, they'd have to replace it as a unit, and the fork springs are clearly sacked out. I have to believe that some fresh factory pieces would at least help for a little while. I've got plenty of time to think about it, but it's pretty likely I'll go that route for now, since I can probably do so for free.

 

[madmike2]

Unless they consider the springs a "wear" item. Does the Y.E.S. specifically disclude normal wear on shocks?

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Unless they consider the springs a "wear" item.  Does the Y.E.S. specifically disclude normal wear on shocks?

I don't have a physical copy of the contract, and they don't show it online. I used to be the service manager at a Kaw/Suz dealer...brake pads, clutch plates, spark plugs, air filters, those are wear items. Suspension components (other than the fork oil which is supposed to be changed as routine maintenance) are not wear items. Having worked in car and bike dealerships for the last couple decades, I know all too well that some things are "gray areas". But I believe if you keep your expectations realistic, you shouldn't be disappointed. Steering head bearings would be a perfect example of one of those gray areas, since they call for re-packing with grease periodically. Wheel bearings on the other hand are sealed and not serviceable, so they should be covered. It's all a game...you just have to know how to play it. I've had the benefit of being on the factory side of it, so I'm pretty good at it. The hardest part (at least around here) is finding a dealer that doesn't suffer from recto-cranial inversion syndrome. :angry: :angry:

 

[ian]

My rear shock puked and leaked oil all over the garage floor about a year ago. The 04 had 10,000 miles on it and the YES covered it. If not, I'd have bought an aftermarket model. Ian, Iowa

 

[Claymore]

:haha:

 

[petey]

I had my shock go south at about 10,000 miles on the clock. In my case there was no leak, but it made a bad scraping noise. The Y.E.S. covered it.

 

[deano]

Oem shock leaked at 3000mi, replaced under warranty, 280lbs, wilbers group buy solved my problem. bike never handled better.

 

[James]

Took the old shock to the dealer 2 weeks ago, the replacement showed up yesterday & I got it today- so I'll have it to swap out when I need the wilburs rebuilt.

James

 

[james1300]

Cool! Thanks for the follow-up post!