GL650 SHOCK

guzzijohn said:

I've read of the attempts to use sv650 shocks w/o success. After a bit of ebay surfing I'm wondering if anyone has looked into kawasaki Concourse or Vulcan units as they look about right and are for heavy shaft drive bikes.

GJ

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What's the actual eye to eye of the stock shock? I see that some venders give this dimension or even show a pix of the shock w a tape measure by it. I haven't removed mine yet and only guestimate it to be 11.5-12". One item that looks close is a Yammie XVS1100. Reading the sites for those they say that XVS1100 shocks come w various spring rates and some writeups say they're too soft(bottom)and others too harsh(crowhop). Seeing that it is a cruiser that is heavier than our bike and cruisers are generally softly sprung I think it might have merit.GJ

AlexLemond said:

(bump)



I just bought this:

2007 Vulcan VN900 rear shock



which the seller told me when I asked was 12 3/4" bolt hole center to bolt hole center. I haven't taken apart my bike yet but just eyeballing it with a yardstick held next to the air shock, it looks pretty darn close. Guess I'll be the guinea pig on this one. I believe that model Vulcan is significantly heavier than the GL500, and the shock is also click-adjustable for preload as well, so I am optimistic.

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The only problem is the reduced unsprung weight of the belt drive. I've been looking at shafties only as the sv650 shock's problem seemed to be the unsprung issue. There must be more of us out there fiddling with the shock issue. I'll be watching to see how your's works out.GJ

After finding the shock chart I bought the XVS1100 unit. We'll see how the various ones work out. I think all I need to do is widen or swap the clevis.GJ