Can I refurb a shock?

[JRB]

Hi All,

I am going on a RTW trip. My bike is more or less brand new (2007 R1200GS with 2000 miles on it).

After seeing long way down - and the number of shocks they went through, I thought it would be wise to take a spare shock.

I bought one on ebay from a 2004 model.

My questions are:
- It looks like its in really good condition (it had 18000 on the bike when it was taken off)
- Should I refurbish it?
- Where can I refurbish it, and whats the cost?

Thanks for your help

 

[John Armstrong]

There's adverts on ebay for £85 shock refurbs.

With 18K miles I'd refurb it, especially if it only costs £85 to get it done. Peace of mind then that there's one less thing that should go wrong.

 

[JRB]

Anyone ever used the ebay service (http://brooksuspension.co.uk/)???

At £30 for the shock + £85 for the refurm = £125

Or should I just buy a new one as a spare?

 

[Mav]

A new one is over £400!

 

[JRB]

I appreciate that - but £400 new (with peace of mind)

Or £125 with a refurbed shock that may be just as unreliable?

Can I rely on those guys?

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

There's been a couple of threads in the 1200 section very recently covering just this topic and;

Here's one of them

HTH
Andres

 

[JRB]

Thanks Outtomunch

That was a good read - however, it doesn't actually give my any insight as to how reliable refurbed shocks are.

Does anyone have any experiences they can impart on me?

Cheers,

JB

 

[motobiker]

Surely a refurb is just that. the shock returned to its original state when new. if not improved due to the use of better parts and materials that the constraints of mass market manufacture can't manage.

me? I would be in touch with Every accessory/revs racing (the wilbers importer) who are also shock absorber rebuild/refurb specialists.

http://www.revsracing.co.uk/offroad.php

 

[RickG]

Can't see much point in worrying about refurbing a shock with only 18,000 miles on it, especially if they are on-road miles. I did 100,000 on the original on my 11,000, about the same on 2x1150's, and now 50k+ on my 1200, again with no hint of shock problems (yes this was all on nice Euro tarmac). I'm sure a RTW on rough roads will eventually hammer any shock into submission but I reckon that there's next to no difference if you start with a refurb' shock, a 2000 miler and a 18,000 miler in terms of predicting when it may fail in the future once the going gets tough as they are all practically new