Baja DR125 Rear Shock

[simonw]

The xr80 shock wont work for sure. i also have a 85 xr80.
if your shock looks exactly like the one from weldngride on post 5 which is the very same shock that I have on my son's 125. both mounting ends are "male" meaning a solid piece of metal with holes drilled. The xr80 one end is like that but the other end is a"female", it shapes like a fork (2 flanges).
If your shock is anything like my son's, it is probably not blown or seize just has really stiff spring (very difficult to compress the shock).
the only adjustment on both shocks is preload. (pre compressing the spring)
I am just like you, I refuse to spend more than $100 on a shock or anything on a $600 bike.
how much does you son's weighs? which part of Canada are you in? contact Jon at http://www.topfueltoyscanada.com/
if you can confirm that your shock is exactly like the one picture that Weldngrind attached on post 5, i can do some leg work for you.

[OKrider]

Thanks SimonW,

My sons shock is like katorangers (one male and one female end) and not like the one Weldangrind posted (two male ends).

The suspension used to work just fine. My son now weighs about 150lbs. I don't know how long it has been siezed. I just tried his bike a couple of weeks ago and it felt like a hard tail. I can't compress it at all. So its either blown and bottomed out or siezed. I am suggesting it has siezed (maybe rusted over the winter?) because the back of the bike does not look low and it has about 30mm of chrome shaft showing. I would be hard pressed to get a shock longer than 11in in there.

Anything used off ebay is going to be over $100 once its shipped to Canada anyway.

Thanks

[OKrider]

Thought I would post an update on the shock.

Katoranger came thru for me (many thanks) I finally got the shock after delays due to the Canada Post strike. The two shocks are practically identical. See photo (if I did this right). The original is on the bottom.



The Honda XR80 (1990s vintage?) fit right in and now my sons Baja DR125 has suspension. Feels about the same to me but we won't know for sure until we get it out for a ride.



My son is very happy now . He's been bummed at not being able to ride for the past 6 weeks.

I wanted to share my experience with trying to source a Baja shock thru other avenues (maybe this part should be posted somewhere else by the moderator). Since there was no guarantee the XR80 shock would work I wanted a backup plan.

I tried purchase the Baja shock from Baja Canada but they don't sell directly to the public and only thru authorized dealers. OEM shock costs $112. I tried Canadian Tire (where I bought the dirt bike) but they don't stock or sell Baja parts and would not help me. They suggested I try China Parts Canada.

I contacted the China Parts Canada directly and spoke to the owners wife (they are based out of Vernon!). She suggested I send an email and her husband would get back to me. I sent an email as per their web-site instructions. I took pictures, dimensions and gave them the bike info. I never heard from the in 4 weeks. Twice I emailed them and even called and left a message. They never responded once. I am not impressed with this company and cannot recommend them. Maybe others at China Riders have had a more positive experience.

I tried to contact Baja Canada again to advise me who the closest authorized dealer was. They sent me to the local Polaris/Suzuki dealer who gave me a funny look and had nothing to do with Baja. They were polite since I have bought all my riding gear from them. I informed Baja Canada the contact info was incorrect and to suggest someone else....no response.

Several times I inquired on Ebay on shocks that looked similar (Yamaha TTR125 etc) to verify dimensions to see if they would work....no response from the sellers (usually business parting out bikes).

Finally, I did check with the local Honda dealer on the price of an XR80 shock (1992 model)...their price is $250...makes the $112 for a Baja OEM shock look pretty good. They look identical, granted there could be differences internally and the spring rates/quality could be different. However, if this one goes at least I know where to get a replacement.

Thanks to everyone for their help just wanted to share my experience so theirs is better.[/img]

[Weldangrind]

I fixed your pic for you.

The Langley for Baja is Phil at Adventure West Motorsports. He's a really good guy. http://www.adventurewest.net/

[katoranger]

Looks good. Hopefully its an improvement. I believe that parts for baja are available at tractor supply stores here in the US.

Weld, you box arrived in Sumas. :wink: