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TrophyHunter

DR650 Shock Rebuild

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I will start this by saying if I knew it was only $100 to have a professional at Race Tech or Procycle rebuild a shock, I would've seriously entertained that. I'm glad I didn't. I learned a lot about hydraulics and patience.

To start with, I purchased a Shock Solution Kit from Procycle after discussing my (lack of) riding style and the fact my height was too short for my weight. After the last ride where I pushed the DR hard and bottomed out the rear (hearing "kachunk" yelled on the radio from my chase Slut) about 10 times....it was time for some upgrades. The DR is well known for being softly sprung, pretty much set up for a 170 pounder with a mild riding style.

The Race Tech instructions along with the Procycle Installation Guide helped as I muddled along. Both Procycle and Race Tech support lines were very willing to help and had top knotch customer service.

After watching the hour long video included with the Gold Valve, I got started.

Stock shock removed

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Leaving an empty center section after taking out the airbox, carb intake, etc.

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Took a variety of photos to document the order of the parts as they were removed.

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After bleeding off the 175 PSI of nitrogen from the bladder, I made a special tool called for by Race Tech. Didn't price theirs, but mine was in a bucket in my garage. Put a cap on the bladder air valve to protect the threads. Push it down (using the PVC if needed) & take out the clip ring. Grab the air valve with some pliers and pull it out. (thx Bruce for this additional step)

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After removing the bladder and popping the cap off of the main shock tube, I used the tool to depress the seal head into the tube far enough to access the clip ring.

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Note: I should have cut the PVC in half as to not have so much length pushing into the tube - made it hard to remove the tool to access the snap ring. I cut it - now I have two!

The nitro bladder, shaft with stock valve, seal head, etc & the body.

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IMPORTANT: Race Tech warns (and for good reason) about taking the nut off of the shaft. It has internal and external peening (smashed onto the shaft) and will not come off without breaking something unless you follow specific steps to properly grind off the peening. With the DR it's not as critical because there isn't an adjustable rebound valve in the center of the shaft. Mess up this step and buy a new center shaft. I'd vote for if you have adjustable rebound damping on your shock, have a pro grind the nut because the internal peening holds the damper valve in the shaft.

Sooooooooooooooooo, my new center shaft arrived.... kidding. I did mess it up a little but was able to recover with a 12mm x 1.75 die. Race Tech provides you with a replacement nut for either a 1.25 or 1.50 pitch, but not the 1.75. Procycle said they've never heard of a 1.75 being on there but I took the nut to two hardware stores to check the pitch prior to buying a die and replacement nut.

Put the guts on a bolt in the order removed so I could keep everything straight.

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Race Tech provides you with a one time access code to their valving computer online. Go to their site, enter bike, slow fat old guy (in my case) and it spits out the valve stacks for High/Low Speed Compression and Rebound damping. Also provides spring rate, compression adjustment and fork set up in case you buy their emulators.

Broke out the caliper and bought a digital micrometer and got to work on the valve shims. Race Tech provides you with some popular stacks pre-bagged. No such luck. Dump 'em out and start measuring.

Organized the shims by outside diameter and thickness and got the stacking order from the recommended settings.

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Built my stacks for the Gold Valve and drilled the required 5/64" hole in the valve per instructions.

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Intructions say to "surface" the base washer using 320 grit sandpaper and a piece of plate glass (since it's flat). Home depot has small panes pre-packaged for under $2.

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After filling the bladder tube with SHOCK FLUID, I pushed the bladder in and installed the snap ring. Fluid is supposed to spill over to prevent air from getting in, hence the cat litter box. Zap it with 40 PSI to seat the bladder and fill the main tube. The newly built main shaft with shim stacks and Gold Valve are cycled to get air bubbles out. Special tool used again to push seal head down as you release the bladder pressure. Snap ring, zap the bladder with 20 PSI to seat the seal head and reassemble the remaining parts.

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Brent (BC330) at MotoWorld got me right in for a recharge on the nitro and back in the bike it went. Lubed all the pivot points and cleaned everything I could access prior to install.

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If your just changing the fluid, which IS a maintenance item, this is a pretty simple task. My shock fluid was milky and a bit foamy (probably from all of the water crossings) so it was good I took this on.

CAUTIONS: Race Tech tells you in the instructions to buy some RED loctite for the nut re-install. They also mention lubing the seal head and shaft as you install new pieces. Shock fluid in the kit is RED and provides a ready lube. Even though RT tells you to go buy some loctite, they actually provide a small vial (unmarked) with the kit...see where this is going? DO NOT use their little red vial of possible shock fluid to lube anything.

As I slid the seal head (lubed - I thought) onto the shaft, followed by the base washer and shims, valve, etc......my fingers were getting sticky.

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Test ride?

After getting the proper sag set, then the forks first...kit in garage. I can't imagine how out of balance the bike would feel with the beefy shock and stock forks.

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I replaced a stock 4.8 spring with a 5.6. My bike feels great now that it's set for my weight. but I may need to go a tad (.48 to .50) stiffer in the front.

Only one way to find out.

Does the DR have air adjustable forks? The XRL can take up to 6psi in the forks. I put ~5 psi in mine and it helped some.

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No adjustable forks. Some toss some washers in there or a piece of PVC to up the preload. I went with the emulators and .50 straight rate Eibachs.

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I've done both shocks and forks on two Kawasaki's of mine using Racetech Gold Valve kits. When you buy one of their kits, there is an access code in the package which you use when you go online to the Racetech website to get your valving codes for your year model, weight and type of riding that you will be doing. I love the results and would have done the TE too, if they had made a kit with a valving chart for the shock on that year model.

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I love the results.....

Well I'd call that a great testimonial so I'm anxious to do a ride.

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Nice write-up! As a DR650 rider, I really appreciate your taking the time to document this procedure. Thanks Ken!

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Last time I took a shock apart, it wasn't pretty! :P

Oh well, I got it right the second time around. Thank goodness for second chances, life sometimes works that way. :P

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I'm planning on doing the Emulators when I replace my leaking/blown fork seals. I think I'll pay them to do the "heart transplant" after reading your post.

Thanks for posting the process, I'm looking forward to riding with you.

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The shaft nut is really the only tricky spot, the rest is just breathing exercises and focus.

If you're gonna pay.....pay Dirt Dame.....

Lookin' forward to that ride!

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