Common wisdom is that the stock shock is not rebuild-able. While technically this is true the only thing that makes it not rebuild-able is that there is no way to recharge with nitrogen after reassembly. Fortunately I have a friend who is a RaceTech trained suspension technician and given that mine was pretty soft but not leaking I figured that it was worth a try. The worst that could happen is that I'd have search for a Fox or buy a Hagon.

RaceTech makes a small device that looks like an M5 socket head screw. However the center of it is drilled out and has a seal that allows a needle to be inserted to recharge the shock.

On Sunday I went over to his place and we took a crack at it. I drilled and tapped the very top of the shock. Mine had very little pressure in it so there was no drama when the drill broke through. I wore safety glasses, a face shield, gloves, and a chemical apron just in case.

The shaft seal is just a press fit in the body so it came out very easily. My bike only has 12K miles on it so the fluid actually looked pretty good. One thing we discovered is that the factory left a little bit of adjustment on the table. If you look at the adjustment **** there is a small set screw that serves the dual purpose of holding the adjust **** on and since it sticks out a little it limits the rotation of the **** but interfering with the small spring/ball detent mechanism. When we had everything apart we discovered that the needle won't come out even if the adjuster is backed all the off. We shorted the small set screw so it would not limit the rotation of the adjuster and I filed more little detents in the ****. I now have about 1.5 revolutions of adjustment versus the stock 3/4 revolution.

After a through cleaning we reassembled with fresh RaceTech shock fluid (3W?) and recharged with nitrogen. The shock now feels nice and smooth and the shaft returns smartly after compressing it.

I just put it back on the bike but have not had a chance to ride it yet as the weather here in Oregon is pretty wet. It remains to be seen if the shock will hold its charge but I'm optimistic that it will.

I'm not sure if my friend wants any more business as he is semi-retired and keeps pretty busy with KTM suspension work. It's not clear if we have a source for replacement shaft seals but if you have a shock that is not leaking he may be up for doing more. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

Ken

 

Good job man, as parts are getting harder and harder to find it's good to know people still do this kind of stuff too. Almost feels what once was the normal method for any backwoods town mechanic is now the trade of the few and service like this is getting more and more expensive so normal people just opt for the cheap china crap which speeds the wheel even more...

 

What was the thickness (depth) of the top of the shock material? A few mm to take a tap well? Also, what pressure (in PSIG) did you charge to?

 

I'd guess the top was 3-4 mm thick. Plenty of meat to tap into.

I recall talking about the charge pressure but I don't remember what the gauge was actually set at when he did it. It's in the 150 to 200 psi range. I think the lower end of that range is for street bikes and the higher end for dirt bikes. It's not critical as it's not really contributing to spring rate but only to prevent cavitation.

BTW, this shock is a DeCarbon (floating piston) type and not an emulsion shock. For some reason I was under the impression it was a low performance emulsion type and was pleasantly surprised that it had a floating piston.

Ken