Fitting a rear shock ?

[greatmoorred]

Just had my new ( to me ) rear shock delivered to work, so im having a look at it. Its set to 6 which i assume will be its hardest setting, is this good ?
Also i am going to stick it on myself. Can i do this without a paddock stand, and will the rear wheel have to come off ?

[Banditmax]

You cant do it whilst on a paddock stand.

[r_outsider]

You can change it with the bike on its centerstand. Technically a paddock stand wouldn't help much, because it rests on the swingarm. As soon as you took the old shock out, the back end of the bike would drop. I don't know if you can change a Bandits shock without removing the rear wheel specifically, from my previous experience with other motorcycles I can tell you that it's possible, but much easier to just take the rear wheel off and get it out of the way.

[Herr Tod]

You can use the centerstand or even the sidestand. Take off the airbox and you can simply replace it from the top.

[greatmoorred]

Yeah, ive had a look at it now. I reckon its the original unit that is on so i am spraying it the nuts with wd40 to try and get it to loosen up a little. But it looks pretty straightforward if i can get them off.

[r_outsider]

Check and grease all your linkage bearings while you're in there anyway. Knock the swingarm off and grease those bearings as well.

[Forde]

so how hard is it to replace the rear shock?  i have one to go into my bike too.  Is it just a case of sticking the bike on the centre stand and unbolting the old one and bolting in the new one?  sounds simple enough if thats the case.

how hard is it to remove the swingarm and grease the bearings?  is there much involved in that? 

 

[greatmoorred]

It wasnt really that hard 
Take the tank off, dont do what i did though, which was to put 16L of fuel in it last week, it weighed a bloody ton!! and my petcock valve doesnt have on "off" position so i was also getting covered in petrol for a while.
Take off the side panels and airbox. Then you can get to the top nut from above ( 14mm and 11mm spanners)
The bottom nut is a slightly different story as it has had 15 years worth of crud thrown at it. I resorted to using a grinder to shear the bolt off and then hammered it through.
Then simply pull the old unit out and pop your new one in. You might need a mate to hold the rear wheel at this point, so you can line up the bottom pin. I didnt bother with the swingarm bearings as it was getting dark, but while you are there im sure it is worth looking into.
A pretty straightforward job, if youve got the tools and a bit of patience.

[canyonbreeze]

I know this is an old thread but wanted to comment.  I replaced the rear shock on my B400 without removing anything but the shock itself.  Put the bike on the centerstand and use a long pry bar to jack up the rear wheel when needed.  A universal joint is needed with your socket wrench to get the top nut off.  The shock can be pulled out through the bottom with a little working back and forth.  No need to remove tank, airbox, etc.