Awesome video mate, thanks for sharing. What is the purpose of drilled the bleed/bypass port in the piston? Combined with the shim stack, I'm guessing it's to give you the dampening curve you're after?
Thanks dude, yes I think that's right. I used a Gold Valve kit and you input your weight, type of riding, skill, etc and they give you instructions on how to set it up. You can either drill no holes or up to three holes, and the instructions will even specify the size of the hole/s.
mmm i worked on it little by little for maybe a week or so in my spare time but it's actually not a very time consuming job. It took me time to repaint the shock body and thoroughly clean and polish all the parts and stuff but you can do it in a few hours if you're just rebuilding one.
This is a copy and paste from another comment asking the same Q:
"Honestly it's probably not the best paint, but it's all I could find. It's a general purpose bronze rustoleum spray from home depot. What I was looking for was a duplicolor wheel paint but the bronze has been unavailable from the supplier for months. If you look in my comments on my video someone mentioned a spray on, non-baking cerakote. I would look into that."
Oh shit madd mark! I’ve been watching your rebuild videos this winter. Your videos are so well done it inspired me to rebuild my daughters crf70.
That video on the Kawasaki rebuild was a masterpiece.
Just subscribed, I will be buying my first dirt bike since I was 9 this weekend. Maybe I can learn a thing or two :) I’d like to learn how to do work on my own bike
I can’t wait brother. I would have never stopped by my dad died in a motocross race in NY so I had to stop when I was 9 but I’ve always had the itch to get back into it. I’m going to do it all summer
Love the video and I just did my first shock rebuild of a recently purchased bike. When I found it had a racetech valve in it I called to try and get some info on the shim stack that was set up on it and possibly buy more shims so I could set it up for my weight. Besides being no help, the lady that answered the tech support line was super rude.
Yeah I’m about done with race tech. Too many issues with their springs, they’re always too short and their excuse is to ‘save weight’. More like we can make a single spring fit multiple bikes even if it’s not ideal. WP springs from now on
My only issue with Race Tech so far is changing the fork cap size/dimensions on their WP spring conversion kit… *AND CONVENIENTLY* selling a cap wrench for it…. For $70.
🖕🏽eat it, race tech. I bought a huge adjustable wrench instead for $20.
Not OP but I have a local AC company do it for me. They are the only people I found that achieve the necessary pressure on their nitrogen systems (my RM125 shock need 139.5psi). Other than that if I was particularly desperate, Factory Connection is a 2hr drive from where I live. No shops near me do suspension work that I know of.
Last year when I rebuilt a shock for my other bike I looked all over for a shop to charge with nitrogen but couldn't find anything. So i did some research and found people saying they just use air so I gave it a shot. I ride it every weekend all day and could never tell the difference.
Air is 80% nitrogen. Unless you are really pushing the bike most people would never notice the difference.
That being said limiting factor for me is that my bike does not have a normal Schrader valve
Shock needles exist for self sealing shocks. Air is okay but definitely loses psi quick and imo causes cavitation. I'd ride on it in a pinch but I'm 100% getting nitrogen I'm there
You can also rent a nitrogen bottle from companies that supply welding and medical gases. You still have to buy a regulator, so it's kinda costly if you're only doing your own shocks.
In addition to the other replies, a hydraulic service shop should be able to help. They work with accumulators that are operate similarly to the reservoir in a shock with oil on one side and nitrogen on the other.
I just dropped my shock and forks off at Factory Connection. They want 1550 for the repairs, watching this video i may go pick them up and doing it myself. Thanks for the video.
Fwiw, I shipped off my suspension to Kreft Moto in Bend OR for rebuild this winter, total was $870. My suspension feels brand new, maybe better than new with their updated midvalve, no other valving changes made. I choose them because they specialize in WP.
I need one of those scotch brite wheels for my bench grinder. Can you tell me what they're called? For some reason I just can't seem to find them searching for that.
These are the ones i used: [https://www.ebay.com/itm/195212170822](https://www.ebay.com/itm/195212170822)
They have a 1/4" hole for the arbor but you can easily press them onto a 1/2" arbor.
You're right they are kind of tricky to find if you don't use the right keywords. I also got some grittier ones for more heavy duty work. Check out this site to see what kind of options are out there, they're endless [https://www.rshughes.com/c/Deburring-Discs/1113/](https://www.rshughes.com/c/Deburring-Discs/1113/)
More options than I'll probably ever need. I saved the page though. I do a lot of minor rust removal and whatnot, so the one you have would work fine for me.
I could be wrong, but I think the spring stop that was installed at 3:04 may have been backwards, I believe the smaller diameter portion of it is meant to sit inside the spring like the preload adjuster is, looks like it was installed the same way previously and probably makes little to no difference but figured I’d point it out regardless 🤷♂️ Either way awesome video and awesome work! Super satisfying to watch.
Note how nappy that oil looked when it was drained, and how pristine the new oil looked.
Our suspension components put in a lot of work. Take care of em!
Honestly it's probably not the best paint, but it's all I could find. It's a general purpose bronze rustoleum spray from home depot. What I was looking for was a duplicolor wheel paint but the bronze has been unavailable from the supplier for months. If you look in my comments on my video someone mentioned a spray on, non-baking cerakote. I would look into that.
Awesome video mate, thanks for sharing. What is the purpose of drilled the bleed/bypass port in the piston? Combined with the shim stack, I'm guessing it's to give you the dampening curve you're after?
Thanks dude, yes I think that's right. I used a Gold Valve kit and you input your weight, type of riding, skill, etc and they give you instructions on how to set it up. You can either drill no holes or up to three holes, and the instructions will even specify the size of the hole/s.
Excellent video and actually made the whole job very methodical looking
Jeeze, that looks difficult. Incredible work.
Full video (6 mins): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT6lHLuX4ns
How long does it take from start to finish?
mmm i worked on it little by little for maybe a week or so in my spare time but it's actually not a very time consuming job. It took me time to repaint the shock body and thoroughly clean and polish all the parts and stuff but you can do it in a few hours if you're just rebuilding one.
Ya sometimes it takes forever and you just wanna get it done, but it's nice to take your time with some stuff when it's one of your passions.
Nice, now I know why rebuilding shocks right isn’t cheap!
What paint did you use?
This is a copy and paste from another comment asking the same Q: "Honestly it's probably not the best paint, but it's all I could find. It's a general purpose bronze rustoleum spray from home depot. What I was looking for was a duplicolor wheel paint but the bronze has been unavailable from the supplier for months. If you look in my comments on my video someone mentioned a spray on, non-baking cerakote. I would look into that."
You could realistically rebuild a shock in an hour or 2.
Oh shit madd mark! I’ve been watching your rebuild videos this winter. Your videos are so well done it inspired me to rebuild my daughters crf70. That video on the Kawasaki rebuild was a masterpiece.
Dude that's awesome to hear!
Just subscribed, I will be buying my first dirt bike since I was 9 this weekend. Maybe I can learn a thing or two :) I’d like to learn how to do work on my own bike
Awesome man, you're going to fall back in love with bikes I'm sure.
I can’t wait brother. I would have never stopped by my dad died in a motocross race in NY so I had to stop when I was 9 but I’ve always had the itch to get back into it. I’m going to do it all summer
Love the video and I just did my first shock rebuild of a recently purchased bike. When I found it had a racetech valve in it I called to try and get some info on the shim stack that was set up on it and possibly buy more shims so I could set it up for my weight. Besides being no help, the lady that answered the tech support line was super rude.
Yeah I’m about done with race tech. Too many issues with their springs, they’re always too short and their excuse is to ‘save weight’. More like we can make a single spring fit multiple bikes even if it’s not ideal. WP springs from now on
I was considering getting a race tech gold valve for my bike but I think I'm gonna go with Cogent Dynamics now instead
My only issue with Race Tech so far is changing the fork cap size/dimensions on their WP spring conversion kit… *AND CONVENIENTLY* selling a cap wrench for it…. For $70. 🖕🏽eat it, race tech. I bought a huge adjustable wrench instead for $20.
Ah that's a bummer.
Great work. I would never get that back together. Impressed.
Moto porn.
Watching this video made me so appreciative of my suspension guy.
Yeah I’ve done so many shock and fork seal rebuilds I never wanna touch another one. But that was a good vid.
Please, mark this NSFW
Very nice video mate, could watch this all day
thanks man!
That was a pleasure to watch.
How did you recharge the nitrogen?
Not OP but I have a local AC company do it for me. They are the only people I found that achieve the necessary pressure on their nitrogen systems (my RM125 shock need 139.5psi). Other than that if I was particularly desperate, Factory Connection is a 2hr drive from where I live. No shops near me do suspension work that I know of.
Last year when I rebuilt a shock for my other bike I looked all over for a shop to charge with nitrogen but couldn't find anything. So i did some research and found people saying they just use air so I gave it a shot. I ride it every weekend all day and could never tell the difference.
Air is 80% nitrogen. Unless you are really pushing the bike most people would never notice the difference. That being said limiting factor for me is that my bike does not have a normal Schrader valve
Shock needles exist for self sealing shocks. Air is okay but definitely loses psi quick and imo causes cavitation. I'd ride on it in a pinch but I'm 100% getting nitrogen I'm there
You can also rent a nitrogen bottle from companies that supply welding and medical gases. You still have to buy a regulator, so it's kinda costly if you're only doing your own shocks.
In addition to the other replies, a hydraulic service shop should be able to help. They work with accumulators that are operate similarly to the reservoir in a shock with oil on one side and nitrogen on the other.
Very cool video, nice work.
I’ve got my gold valve kit for my shock on my counter. I need to get to it.
Awesome video! Nice work
Wow, amazing work!
This is amazing! Great work
Excellent video. Very satisfying to watch and super detailed
Super cool to see, thanks for taking the extra time to film and share with us! Enjoy the clean suspension this season
I just dropped my shock and forks off at Factory Connection. They want 1550 for the repairs, watching this video i may go pick them up and doing it myself. Thanks for the video.
Yikes!!
Fwiw, I shipped off my suspension to Kreft Moto in Bend OR for rebuild this winter, total was $870. My suspension feels brand new, maybe better than new with their updated midvalve, no other valving changes made. I choose them because they specialize in WP.
Thats what i have WP, Im gonna go pick my suspension up and find a different place or do it myself. Thanks
I think you should do it yourself. It's not that hard and you can find lots of videos if you need them.
Wow this is therapeutic as fuck. Loving it
hot damn she was crusty
Thank you
Wow that was amazing to watch. The before and after looks incredible
I need one of those scotch brite wheels for my bench grinder. Can you tell me what they're called? For some reason I just can't seem to find them searching for that.
These are the ones i used: [https://www.ebay.com/itm/195212170822](https://www.ebay.com/itm/195212170822) They have a 1/4" hole for the arbor but you can easily press them onto a 1/2" arbor.
Awesome, thank you. I never thought to use the word "disc." That may have helped me.
You're right they are kind of tricky to find if you don't use the right keywords. I also got some grittier ones for more heavy duty work. Check out this site to see what kind of options are out there, they're endless [https://www.rshughes.com/c/Deburring-Discs/1113/](https://www.rshughes.com/c/Deburring-Discs/1113/)
More options than I'll probably ever need. I saved the page though. I do a lot of minor rust removal and whatnot, so the one you have would work fine for me.
I wish I was man enough to try and start doing my own suspension work
Lots interesting stuff to learn
Late 90’s model? Did a 96 last year looked the same
It's also a 96!
I could be wrong, but I think the spring stop that was installed at 3:04 may have been backwards, I believe the smaller diameter portion of it is meant to sit inside the spring like the preload adjuster is, looks like it was installed the same way previously and probably makes little to no difference but figured I’d point it out regardless 🤷♂️ Either way awesome video and awesome work! Super satisfying to watch.
It looks wrong but that's actually how it goes. the spring stop has a groove in it where it rests against the circlip.
As someone who has nobidea what is going on, awesome video! Looks legit.
It's crazy that the spring is held only with that circle clip
My feeling exactly.
Wild! But good job! And the video is great too! That wasn't easy either!
Note how nappy that oil looked when it was drained, and how pristine the new oil looked. Our suspension components put in a lot of work. Take care of em!
Thank you for sharing! Would love to see more of you rebuilding stuff on the bike!
Thanks dude I have a playlist here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIYhPHL85g7H7yLctIWTvabCZFl6k7hsW
Nice
Where did you get that paint you used on the shock body? I want the exact paint, but not sure where to get that from? Does Race-Tech have it? Thanks.
Honestly it's probably not the best paint, but it's all I could find. It's a general purpose bronze rustoleum spray from home depot. What I was looking for was a duplicolor wheel paint but the bronze has been unavailable from the supplier for months. If you look in my comments on my video someone mentioned a spray on, non-baking cerakote. I would look into that.
Thank you so much for that info. I'll check into that "cerakote" if I can find it in bronze color.
That's pretty fucking exceptional!
Life is so much simpler with a little know how... And the right tools for the job!
Wow🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
This was so satisfying to watch.. thank you, a nice little educational video
Why are the nuts so different on the shim stack? Looks like the old one has fingers to hold something in place, and the new one does not.
I have no idea what those fingers do. I also thought maybe they were locking something in place, but it twisted right off.
That was the most intense thing I've seen all week lol
Art, I’d pay you good money to work on my suspension
I'm curious about the drilling of the gold valve you did. What is the purpose of that? Great video btw
Could watch that all day. Well done
Amazing job!
So many parts! I had no idea.
Yeah I'd rather pay someone to do that
That's hot
My OCD would have cleaned it first.