Blew out my rear ES shock. What now?

Bokerfork

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3500 miles on the 2016 ES and after many many miles of nasty washboard, most recently in Death Valley, the rear shock took a dump.
Riding home I thought it seemed a little squishy but I was tired and just wanted to get home. Once home I put it up on the center stand and went about my business for a day or two. Come out to the garage and drop it off the center stand to get her ready for a good rinse off and she bounces like a yo yo. Looks like a possible oil leak around the shaft but not sure just yet. The real question is this. What now? Can she be rebuilt and if so, how hard is it to disassemble/reassemble the hydraulic lines and where would you suggest sending it for rebuild. Locally there's Dick's Racing Suspension, but anybody out there have another suggestion? If it can't be rebuilt, .....?

Thanks in advance.
 
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ballisticexchris

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Yes the ES shock is fully rebuildable. Dicks Racing will be able to handle it fine. If it's bouncing like a yo yo then the nitrogen has leaked out of it.
 
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ballisticexchris

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Give Norwest suspension a call. He rebuilt a non es shock for me that everybody said was non rebuildable.
When I first joined this forum I got a good laugh at all the members who stated the non es shock is not rebuildable. All it needs is a Nitrogen charge valve installed. Any decent suspension shop can service a "non serviceable" shock.
 

EricV

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When I first joined this forum I got a good laugh at all the members who stated the non es shock is not rebuildable. All it needs is a Nitrogen charge valve installed. Any decent suspension shop can service a "non serviceable" shock.
And yet, if you call around, many won't. A lot of shops won't machine a OEM shock. Some have zero issue doing that work.

Consider not saying some shop will be able to handle the work unless you have direct experience with them doing so for the application at hand. Please don't recommend a shop or business that you have no first hand experience with either. That helps no one. Just because they may have met certain standards is not a recommendation. It's fine to suggest that a well regarded shop is well regarded, or that their having techs that meet higher standard from the OEM suggests they would be a good place to check out. But you can't honestly offer that they are any good if you haven't actually used them yourself.

When I lived in St George I couldn't find any shop that would work on the Super Ten shock or even sell me an upgrade shock or re-spring my OEM shock. I had to ship the shock to CA. The local shops and even Las Vegas shops were only doing dirt bikes and a few racing oriented sport bike applications. None were interested in helping me with the S10. Hopefully Dick's will help the OP out, but they flat out told me no. They specialize in smaller dirt oriented bikes. It's not that they didn't have the general knowledge, it was clear that they didn't want to work on my Super Ten shock and didn't have specific knowledge in that.
 

Bokerfork

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Thanks everyone. And yes,Pogo is a bit more accurate. I do suspect the oil leaked out as a cursory inspection indicated as much. I'll call Dick's tomorrow but I suspect from their website that they are still mostly dirt oriented.

The YES warranty ran out in December, of course. Oh well, at least I have a couple of months before I really need it, so there's that.
 
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ballisticexchris

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It's all in the approach Eric. I've had direct experience with Dicks Racing long before they moved to the new facility (they used to be based in Auburn CA area) . It's nothing more than being able to communicate to the tuner. A shock is a shock. It does not require any "specific knowledge" for the super Tenere. As long as they know the weight of the bike and rider, it can be re-valved and sprung to specs. Unless something has changed in the way they do business, I'm pretty sure Mr Wilk will have no problem with rebuilding a Super Tenere shock. A lot has happened since is son Vaughn passed away just last year.


Thanks everyone. And yes,Pogo is a bit more accurate. I do suspect the oil leaked out as a cursory inspection indicated as much. I'll call Dick's tomorrow but I suspect from their website that they are still mostly dirt oriented.

The YES warranty ran out in December, of course. Oh well, at least I have a couple of months before I really need it, so there's that.
When you call, just be sure to tell them this is just a standard "remote reservoir" shock. I started to remove mine once. I think the easiest way would be to remove your rear wheel and linkage. Then snake it through the right side where the electronics are. If you are looking for a re-valve and spring they need to know the bike weight and rider weight with gear. It's even more helpful if you know the the bike wight front and rear unloaded and with rider on board in riding position.

If you have any issues with Dicks Racing, you can simply send the shock to the local Race Tech service center in Vegas or the main facility here in Corona, CA.
 

EricV

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It's all in the approach Eric. I've had direct experience with Dicks Racing long before they moved to the new facility (they used to be based in Auburn CA area) .
Yes, exactly my point. You have zero experience with Dick's in its current location with the current owner/employees. I reiterated everything you mention to no avail. Again, it's not that they can't, it's that they simply did not want to work on the S10 shock. When a business turns down work, well, I guess they are making plenty of money doing other work. Perhaps they will be hungry enough to handle the OP's needs?

I think the easiest way would be to remove your rear wheel and linkage. Then snake it through the right side where the electronics are. If you are looking for a re-valve and spring they need to know the bike weight and rider weight with gear. It's even more helpful if you know the the bike wight front and rear unloaded and with rider on board in riding position.

If you have any issues with Dicks Racing, you can simply send the shock to the local Race Tech service center in Vegas or the main facility here in Corona, CA.
I thought you had a Std model? On the Std model there is no need to remove the wheel to remove the shock. It's quite simple with only one bracket that needs to be removed besides the actual shock connections and it comes out the top/side. I do not know what more is involved with the ES shock, not having one or the FSM to reference at this time. Someone with a FSM is better suited to suggest or outline the process.

Local Race Tech service center in Vegas? Which shop would that be? None is listed. LINK My personal experience with Dick's and searching for shops in Vegas is dated. I was doing this in '16. I don't see any indications Dick's has branched out since then, but hopefully they are more open to working on street bikes. I was told flat out they would not work on street bikes. Not that they don't have the ability, just that they were choosing not to.
 

Bart

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I recently had my ES shock out to add a couple of preload shims, after reading on here about taking it out through the top or bottom I found it easier to go the top route. It is tricky the first time but like all things when you know how etc.

VIP Before the shock come out set the preload the to 1 helmet and damping soft 0.
 
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ballisticexchris

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LOL, that link you have is for the Race Tech chassis tuning centers. I have the ES model. I almost removed my shock for a spring change but decided against it until I get some miles on the bike. I always remove the wheel and disassemble the linkage when removing shock for servicing. IMO, that is the best and smartest procedure. That way you can inspect and service the linkage, driveshaft, rubber hub inserts, axle, etc.

Take a breather Eric. The current owner is the same man Dick Wilks. Nothing has changed other than the location, a few employees, and the tragic loss of his son Vaughn.

There is no reason to think that Dicks Racing will not service the mans suspension until he has talked with the shop. If they don't then there is a local Race Tech service center only 125 miles from St George in Las Vegas NV.

http://dynamicdirt.com/
 

EricV

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<sigh>, other than my actual first hand experience having them tell me they wouldn't do the job and were not interested in doing the job.

I never found a Race Tech service center in Vegas when I lived in St George. Or anyone else interested in working on street bike suspension. Perhaps if you provide the actual shop that is a Race Tech service center in Vegas it would help Bokerfork out. As I said, I ended up shipping mine to CA for a simple re-spring. At the time you couldn't get direct replacement springs for the S10 shocks. The shop had to make a custom spacer.
 
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ballisticexchris

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Dynamic Dirt suspension is an official Race Tech Service Center. And even if he has to send it to CA it's no big deal. I would still take a drive over to Dick's Racing and check it out.
 

EricV

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Dynamic Dirt suspension is an official Race Tech Service Center. And even if he has to send it to CA it's no big deal. I would still take a drive over to Dick's Racing and check it out.
I agree, he should call both places. I did. I hope he has different results than I did. It's not a big deal to ship it to CA, it's just annoying to have to do that and be w/o the shock for longer.
 

Bokerfork

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Okay, finally got the damn thing out. Length of time was due more to weather/Covid 19/ and general lack of desire, than mechanical ability. Yikes, way more trouble than it should have been. It wouldn't come out through the top the way I thought it should so I tore half the bike apart just to remove the lower link. (Sorry Chris, the exhaust has to be loosened to do this) So then it wouldn't drop out the bottom. Sure enough, once the lower link is out of the way, the shock can be tilted and pulled out from the top. No way near as easy as removing the old Gerlings from a 70's era 250 Husqvarna. Now to drive it over to Dick's Racing and see if he's interested in rebuilding. I'm hoping the economic slowdown will work in my favor.
 

Bokerfork

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Oh, and one more thing. Is there any reason I can't put the bolts for the lower linkage back together inserting them from the right? The main bolt has a keeper but even that might be better installed from the right. Would sure simplify future servicing.
 

EricV

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Oh, and one more thing. Is there any reason I can't put the bolts for the lower linkage back together inserting them from the right? The main bolt has a keeper but even that might be better installed from the right. Would sure simplify future servicing.
No reason at all. I did that on my '12. The only reason is why didn't Yamaha do it that way to begin with?
 
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