imported post
wing nut wrote:
i have 86 1200 i the rear shocks seems to be bottom out on rough roads there is air in theshocks is there a way to rebuild or should i replace the the whole shock, and how long should the last the bike has only 86000 on it....
wing nut, while rebuilding them (rear shocks) might not be a bad idea I doubt that will help your bottoming out verymuch. As a rule oldermotorcycle shocks have very little compression dampening. So shock wise adding new internals or thicker oil won't help that much. Most compressioncontrol is done with the air pressure as that is the actual spring. Adding thicker oil or newer internal valving will help the rebound dampening but your bottoming problem is in the compression direction.
You probably just need to add more air pressure to the rear shocks or remove some of the stuff from the rear bags that you have accumulated over the years.
I know on my personal 1200 if I run the front with too much air pressureit forces the rear to work harder so maybe look at the front air pressure also.
If those rear shocks are leaking air/or oil, oryou have beat the jounce bumper out of them then they will need a rebuild. I know you can re-seal them pretty easily but as far as internal valving replacement, I don't know what's available.
Twisty