Early vs late rear shock?
 

Just discovering I'll need a new shock as well (spring was shortened/weakened by short previous owner) so to ebay I go. I see there was a new part number starting in '01, are these interchangeable? What, if any, are the differences?

If it's possible, you should reach out to Jamie D for an F4i retrofit. The stocker is only good for keeping your skiff in one place.
DMr Performance Suspension ? Performance Motorcycle Suspension and Chassis

Oh, I'm sure there are very high quality options, but I'm trying to get this going on a tight budget. OEM shocks are between $75 and $130 CAD after shipping, and I'd imagine anything custom or aftermarket is well over that. Plus, I'm no racer! I'm used to janky rides with 70's-80's tech :P

Jamie's the guy that makes the aftermarket shifter though too, isn't he? Hmmm...what do those cost I wonder...

Very high quality options are labeled Ohlins and Penskie etc. The F4i retrofit is a shock off a cbr600F4i with a custom link to make it work. Not too expensive imo.

Hmm, do you know offhand how much that costs, roughly? I might be able to squeeze another hundred to make it work...

VTR1000F - Custom Rear Shock

$420This shock is custom built from the ground up to be a direct replacement for the OEM unit. Dyno tested spring and valving setups guarantee better performance than anyone else in the industry for your SuperHawk!

Thanks E. I think his website was experiencing problems. I couldn't get to the actual page for the shock to supply the cost. Didn't realize it was that much either.

For less than $3 you can get an 80lb sack of concrete. Strap that on the pillion seat and voila, a better shock.
Installing a better shock is near or at the top of list of "best upgrades" for the SH. Be patient saves your money. You don't need to be Ricky Race to enjoy the benefits.
Don't know it the stocker can be resprung, but the money spent on that sort of "fix" is better saved for the real deal.

I've thrown away a 1/2 dozen stock VTR shocks over the years, Monday I'll check the scrap pile and see if one is still there.. Its been about a year since last scrap metal run, so you might get lucky.

I have at least one stock shock lying around in my basement.

Not fair, I was first in line to get rid of useless stuff...wait your turn

Gladly.

Heh, if you can get at me with a price, I might still be able to cancel the ebay order! Shipping's to Toronto area. Not damaged, I assume

EDIT: Bah, nope, too late, just shipped. Oh well.

And the saga continues -- it's a good thing I got that ebay shock, since it comes with the whole linkage (and pivots appear to be all in good shape), and the triple pivot piece bearings were dry as a bone, totally toast.

Not that the bearings are expensive though I guess, and the pivot collars are insanely cheap compared to what I'm used to -- my concours cost almost $300 to refurbish the shock linkage...bolts, which double as the inner races, were something like $40 each