Rear Shock Options

[AresROC]

Originally Posted by ChipToothy

Which shock did you order? I’ve got 6,000+ miles on the Nitro eBay one and it’s a total turkey on the highway.

Nitro, Keogh, etc I am sure they are all the same. The OEM shock soon leaked bad and me and my friends decided it's not worth it to work on the OEM shock. I got this shock because it already has the air valve and adjustable rebound. If it fails we can try to rebuild it.

[Red Hawk]

Well the new shock blew up and it was oil filled goodness all over. Went through a whoop section and I hear a funny crack/pop come from the backend.. It was all pogo stick after that. A fun 25 mile ride home hopping and fingers crossed the chain didn’t pop off every time you hit a bridge crossing.

I’ll post a dissection of the guts when I get a chance.

Ended up with a $59 Amazon thing with no rebound adjustment and it’s not bad. And I punished it hard last weekend with a 45mile strip mine test. Its a dirty birdy now, It’s a keeper. The 1st one was plush a little to soft for the woods. This new version keeps the rear planted better. There’s metal parts floating around the inside of the old one so I’m thinking it’s toast.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Red Hawk]

Ride height is stock no change. So the kick stand still works. The ends are swapped. Top is 40mm bottom is 30mm. I have a tool and die shop here so it was a quick fix in the mill. Others posted on the Amazon review section it was a drop in don’t know if they just welded the ends on wrong. if you can get past this it’s a good shock, good stock ride height, Big ride quality improvement. Great on the road. And $59 backed up by Amazon returns.

[AresROC]

Originally Posted by Red Hawk

Well the new shock blew up and it was oil filled goodness all over. Went through a whoop section and I hear a funny crack/pop come from the backend.. It was all pogo stick after that. A fun 25 mile ride home hopping and fingers crossed the chain didn’t pop off every time you hit a bridge crossing.

Well, I took the shock out for first ride and it is already bust. Click settings have shifted on its own. It was damping at first. No click setting would provide rebound damping now. Back to pogosticking.

I have had it with this. I spend 1 day riding 3 days fixin'. Fixed 1 thing finds out 3 more items to do. Seems there is no end in sight...

Contacting shock seller will see what he says... Based on past correspondence with him I am not expecting anything good.

[Musictrek]

Originally Posted by Red Hawk

Ride height is stock no change. So the kick stand still works. The ends are swapped. Top is 40mm bottom is 30mm. I have a tool and die shop here so it was a quick fix in the mill. Others posted on the Amazon review section it was a drop in don’t know if they just welded the ends on wrong. if you can get past this it’s a good shock, good stock ride height, Big ride quality improvement. Great on the road. And $59 backed up by Amazon returns.

the pic now on amazon shows the top at 30mm.

[SecondHandHawk]

Yep.
Looks identical as you stated.
The shock on my hawk did not have the adjustment colors and the shock was worn out before i bought the bike.
So for longevity of this new "Stock" shock I have enough time to order the 1200 lb. And by the time it gets here I will need to install it anyways....lol.

[AresROC]

After that one ride shock lost damping, bike has been in garage while I work on the frontend. (Alignment, wheel/stem bearing, fork, etc)
Finished the frontend and noticed there were some oil drips on the floor. Turns out the shock had some shocking surprise for me! (See Pic)
AliExpress, out of whatever cool-aid they were drinking during the October national celebration, denied my return request.

Just lucky I wasn't out riding I guess when this happened...

[OneLeggedRider]

Yeesh.. I haven't had a bit of trouble with the shock I got from Amazon, the ride and handling are amazing.
Also why would you fool with Aliexpress, to save maybe a couple dollars? Amazon has basically a no questions asked return policy and they send a truck to your door to pick up the item.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by OneLeggedRider

Yeesh.. I haven't had a bit of trouble with the shock I got from Amazon, the ride and handling are amazing.
Also why would you fool with Aliexpress, to save maybe a couple dollars? Amazon has basically a no questions asked return policy and they send a truck to your door to pick up the item.

Because if you want anything longer than 300mm you don't really have a choice.

[AresROC]

Originally Posted by Megadan

Because if you want anything longer than 300mm you don't really have a choice.

That is basically what it was. This amazon shock is upside down on the ends and lacks rebound damping adjustment. The TT250 shock is a bit pricey (for China shock) at $189 but if I can get some specs on it I would get it.

For now I will put the stock shock back on it and do an autopsy on this fake "Keoghs" shock. More projects! (－‸ლ)

[AresROC]

Sorry if I am posting too much! I feel like I am just spamming this forum! There is just so much work to be done

Got the shock apart myself. There were exactly zero drop of oil inside the shock. Apparently I bought an air shock without realizing it.

Pulled the oil piston, popped the gas float piston out with compressed air, cleaned the shock. I used the oil piston to push gas float piston back into the shock, leave as much air space as possible, and topped off with oil (10w ATF).

Thing is, I don't know if I should leave the air chamber as large as possible, leave no space and fill with more oil, or somewhere in the middle. Before I took the shock apart it has ~50psi of pressure, and a large air chamber. Any advice appreciated! I need the shock to be soft and compliant for off-road riding.

This YT Vid does it pretty well. Cheers!

[Bulldogg1984]

With the help of the group I figured out how to install the back shock. Im 6' and 195-200. Once I got the shock on Im now on my toes hahaha. I assume this may break in and sit down further......hopefully?

[MINTY DLX]

Originally Posted by ChipToothy

Does anyone know if we can air these shocks up with a bicycle floor pump or gas station hose? I'm not trying to pay the KTM place for anything I don't have to

Not sure if you every got your answer but mountain bike shocks had a special pump. Been years since I've needed one but i think it had a basketball style fill nozel. This were for down hill bikes not sure if normal mid west bike shops would have the pump.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Bulldogg1984

With the help of the group I figured out how to install the back shock. Im 6' and 195-200. Once I got the shock on Im now on my toes hahaha. I assume this may break in and sit down further......hopefully?

If you got one of the 1200lb rate spring shocks like we did, you are probably going to need to dial out some preload on that rear shock. I weigh a good 70lbs more than you and I had to actually dial back the preload as it was set from the factory it came from to get my rider sag right. That should help a little with the tippy toe situation.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by MINTY DLX

Not sure if you every got your answer but mountain bike shocks had a special pump. Been years since I've needed one but i think it had a basketball style fill nozel. This were for down hill bikes not sure if normal mid west bike shops would have the pump.

Something like this? https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/pro...hoCauwQAvD_BwE