Had my OEM shock rebuilt

[bmidd]

I posted this on the other forum and wanted to share it here also.

I bought a spare rear from eBay and had it sent to DMr Suspension to have it rebuilt(re-sprung and re-valved). Jamie and his wife are the owners of Sonic Springs. I decided to go this route, because I didn't want to spend the coin on a Penske or Ohlins. I've had rear shocks from other brands rebuilt like this before(with Traxxion and Racetech) and have 95% of the benefit of an Ohlins or Penske.
I installed it this week and had a chance to put about 300 miles on it this weekend. As expected, it makes a world of difference, it is now properly sprung and valved, so I actually have some rebound control. As you know, the stock shock is under sprung and has virtually zero damping control. If I rode with hardly any preload, the bike wallowed and wiggled when ridden quickly and if I added preload to combat this, it turned into a rocket launcher and the seat rebounded uncontrollably over every bump. The stock shock doesn't even seem to have enough rebound damping for no preload, much less adding any. Tire wear indicates that, beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Needless to say, I'm happy with the rebuild, 300 miles pretty much cleaned up the rear tire and I'll address the front pretty soon. I have a set of ZX14 forks, but I'm undecided on those or getting a set of Cartridges from Jamie.
Jamie is popular on the VFR forums and I had his cartridges and shock on my 6th Gen and it transformed the bike, as any good kit would. I just wanted to share my experience and let you know there are others out there besides Traxxion, that do the same thing for less money. From my research here, the consensus seemed to indicate there was no use in rebuilding the OEM shock, maybe because of the lack of compression adjustment? I don't know.
I have my OEM shock sitting in the garage, if anyone else wants to go this route, I will be happy to ship my OEM shock to Jamie for $30 and you can work out the details with him, he has a worksheet you download, fill out and email back to him about what you weigh, how you ride etc.
The cost of the rebuild was $315 with shipping back to me.
Happy Riding!

[BruceR]

Interesting.  Nice to have another option.  I assume you checked every ox for the shock service?

Also, did you happen to enquire about the forks?  Looking for a ballpark for that as well.

Thanks!

[gPink]

contact info would be helpful or just google sonic springs ?

[bmidd]

contact info would be helpful or just google sonic springs ?

http://daughertymotorsports.com/

The website is kind of lacking.I usually just fill out the form http://daughertymotorsports.com/pdf/DMr%20Service%20Request.pdf
or send him an email and ask him to call you.

[bmidd]

Interesting.  Nice to have another option.  I assume you checked every ox for the shock service?

Also, did you happen to enquire about the forks?  Looking for a ballpark for that as well.

Thanks!

We talk on the phone about the service and then I sent him a completed form. When he gets to your order, he will email you an invoice, you pay it and about 10 days later a fresh shock shows up at your door.

I just sent him an inquiry about fork cartridges. I'm going to shoot you a PM.

[CDII]

Thanks for the heads up. He'll redo the rebound then?
 I've been debating doing this myself.

[bmidd]

Thanks for the heads up. He'll redo the rebound then?
 I've been debating doing this myself.

Yes he does, new re-valves the shock, and installs new spring.

[bmidd]

My rear shock is spoken for, no longer available.

[CDII]

That's a good deal. I'll be calling soon!