13-08-24, 04:15 PM (This post was last modified: 13-08-24, 04:27 PM by Jesu.)
Hi! I have recently bought my first bike, a FZS600 - 1998 and have been fixing it up a little while waiting for my permit to practice driving.
Since I'm very heavy (148 kg / 326 lbs) I'm looking to replace the rear shock spring, I have looked at ordering an Eibach Coilover Spring but I'm unsure of the dimensions. They're asking for the inner diameter and length, which I believe is 2.25" (~57 mm) and 9.0" (~229 mm) - does anybody know if those are the correct dimensions? They also want the spring rate, for which I've entered 575 lbs/in (10.27 kg/mm, 100 N/mm). Does that seem reasonable or should I go up to 600? I would rather it be a bit on the stiffer side than softer. I used Race Techs spring rate calculator to get that number but as they did not have the FZS600 to pick I used an YZF600R - 98 with a custom bike weight of 452 lbs / 205 kg which should be the wet weight of the Fazer, hopefully that's fine. EDIT: Is it possible to have the OEM rear shock absorber serviced and revalved?
The reason I'm only looking to replace the spring is I can't justify replacing the entire rear shock, I'm open to suggestions of other springs if you think there are ones better suited to my needs (please provide a link if possible, it would be greatly appreciated!).
I'm very new to all of this and will be learning more or less everything mechanical from scratch as I have zero experience or prior knowledge, hopefully I have asked you the right (dumb) questions. Thanks in advance for any help!
13-08-24, 07:54 PM (This post was last modified: 13-08-24, 07:56 PM by Jesu.)
(13-08-24, 07:25 PM)unfazed Wrote: Is it possible to have the OEM rear shock absorber serviced and revalved? NO
My advice, Buy a Hagon Shock
Spring info below
You're right. I'll set aside some money for two or three months and buy a complete shock. Are there any other brands than Hagon that you'd recommend, or is that the best bang for buck alternative?
Thank you very much for providing me with the helpful information! I am beyond excited to get going. So far I have put on new tires, cleaned & renovated the carburetor as it had parts that more or less fell apart, changed motor & brake oil, swapped a bad clutch cable and cleaned the brakes. Would you (or anyone) recommend me to look at something else before I'm ready to start driving?
Check the gearbox sprocket nut. When i had my 600, i fitted an xj900 diversion shock, that was lovely and firm. Prob a 2nd hand o.e. one cheap from ebay will still be up to the job.
(13-08-24, 09:11 PM)maxzer1500 Wrote: Check the gearbox sprocket nut. When i had my 600, i fitted an xj900 diversion shock, that was lovely and firm. Prob a 2nd hand o.e. one cheap from ebay will still be up to the job.
Which years of xj900 shock can be used and did it require any modifications to fit? Would be interesting to look into!
(13-08-24, 07:25 PM)unfazed Wrote: Is it possible to have the OEM rear shock absorber serviced and revalved? NO
My advice, Buy a Hagon Shock
Spring info below
You can get any shock rebuilt and revalved, the questions are, is straightforward and will it be worth it. In the case of a OE Fazer shock unless you really have some reason to want to keep it totally OE then don't bother. Go for a replacement after market such as suggested, quality ones will out perform OE and are designed to be rebuilt periodically.
14-08-24, 03:01 PM (This post was last modified: 14-08-24, 03:22 PM by unfazed.)
(14-08-24, 11:28 AM)Gnasher Wrote:
(13-08-24, 07:25 PM)unfazed Wrote: Is it possible to have the OEM rear shock absorber serviced and revalved? NO
My advice, Buy a Hagon Shock
Spring info below
You can get any shock rebuilt and revalved, the questions are, is straightforward and will it be worth it. In the case of a OE Fazer shock unless you really have some reason to want to keep it totally OE then don't bother. Go for a replacement after market such as suggested, quality ones will out perform OE and are designed to be rebuilt periodically.
Techncally yes, but no wants to do the FZS600 shock.
(13-08-24, 07:54 PM)Jesu Wrote:
(13-08-24, 07:25 PM)unfazed Wrote: Is it possible to have the OEM rear shock absorber serviced and revalved? NO
My advice, Buy a Hagon Shock
Spring info below
You're right. I'll set aside some money for two or three months and buy a complete shock. Are there any other brands than Hagon that you'd recommend, or is that the best bang for buck alternative?
Thank you very much for providing me with the helpful information! I am beyond excited to get going. So far I have put on new tires, cleaned & renovated the carburetor as it had parts that more or less fell apart, changed motor & brake oil, swapped a bad clutch cable and cleaned the brakes. Would you (or anyone) recommend me to look at something else before I'm ready to start driving?
There are numerous in order of price from low to high Yss would be similiar in price of Hagon and are sold by Brooks suspension YSS, Biturbo, Nitron, K-Tech, Ohlin are a few. Hagon are good value and have an excelent reputation. Very much depands on what you want to spend
(13-08-24, 07:25 PM)unfazed Wrote: Is it possible to have the OEM rear shock absorber serviced and revalved? NO
My advice, Buy a Hagon Shock
Spring info below
You can get any shock rebuilt and revalved, the questions are, is straightforward and will it be worth it. In the case of a OE Fazer shock unless you really have some reason to want to keep it totally OE then don't bother. Go for a replacement after market such as suggested, quality ones will out perform OE and are designed to be rebuilt periodically.
Techncally yes, but no wants to do the FZS600 shock.
(13-08-24, 07:54 PM)Jesu Wrote:
(13-08-24, 07:25 PM)unfazed Wrote: Is it possible to have the OEM rear shock absorber serviced and revalved? NO
My advice, Buy a Hagon Shock
Spring info below
You're right. I'll set aside some money for two or three months and buy a complete shock. Are there any other brands than Hagon that you'd recommend, or is that the best bang for buck alternative?
Thank you very much for providing me with the helpful information! I am beyond excited to get going. So far I have put on new tires, cleaned & renovated the carburetor as it had parts that more or less fell apart, changed motor & brake oil, swapped a bad clutch cable and cleaned the brakes. Would you (or anyone) recommend me to look at something else before I'm ready to start driving?
There are numerous in order of price from low to high Yss would be similiar in price of Hagon and are sold by Brooks suspension YSS, Biturbo, Nitron, K-Tech, Ohlin are a few. Hagon are good value and have an excelent reputation. Very much depands on what you want to spend
Thank you! I tried finding YSS and K-Tech shocks for the bike on their sites but they didn't return any results. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong?
I've also seen people buying R6 shocks and fitting them on the bike, would doing that and buying a new spring with the correct spring rate be a good alternative as well? Although I'm not sure if that'll lower the sitting height of the bike or if that is fixable in that case, I'm already pushing it as I am 203cm / 6'8"
Most suspension information I get now is from a friend who deals in Wilbers suspension which are made in Germany
Would be expensive to import to the UK now
Out of those the Hagon ones seems like the best alternative since I'd like them matched to my weight. However I just checked what the whole ordeal would cost me as I live in an EU country, with VAT and shipping I'm looking at about £460 which I can't justify. I'll have to look for second-hand alternatives and buying a spring separately somewhere.
I appreciate all the help and information you've given me
15-08-24, 01:55 AM (This post was last modified: 15-08-24, 09:10 PM by Jesu.)
(14-08-24, 09:33 PM)BBROWN1664 Wrote: if you are in the EU then the Wilbers ones may be worthwhile to look at as you wont pay the import duty like we do in the UK
Thanks for the suggestion, they were out of my price range unfortunately but I have just now possibly found a shop in the EU that seem to have Hagon shocks for sale at ~420 euro (360 GBP) incl. shipping cost to Sweden. I'm going to check that out more tomorrow and if it's all good I'm ordering those.
EDIT: I ordered them and it ended up costing me 414 euro, success!
(13-08-24, 09:11 PM)maxzer1500 Wrote: Check the gearbox sprocket nut. When i had my 600, i fitted an xj900 diversion shock, that was lovely and firm. Prob a 2nd hand o.e. one cheap from ebay will still be up to the job.
Which years of xj900 shock can be used and did it require any modifications to fit? Would be interesting to look into!
I did see this a while back but didn’t reply as Jesu had already splashed out. Xj900s diversion shock is a straight fit, so an aftermarket one for that model should also. Only if wanted heavy duty as the spring rate is high. It was an exact fit but slightly touched the coolant bottle. I simply used a washer or 2 to space the bottle away slightly. May still be of use to someone else.
![[Image: gUjopgf.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/gUjopgf.jpeg)
