rear shock problem

[James England]

Maybe I'm not explaining it clearly, if you take the spring off the shock, there is no resistance when pushing down (compression) but there is resistance when pulling up (rebound). The spring itself is your only means of compression resistance/damping.

That's how it's supposed to be.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Phil,

Thanks for the correction. I was just going partly on my personal experience from my new 81SH back when I first got it new in 83 with 17 miles. Once I got it back to the USA and got it broken in, I remember feeling the bucking bronco feeling under strong throttle input! I had the dampening set to the highest level 4, but it didn't seem to make much difference, the rear end still rose up quite a bit, but it seemed to handle bumps okay. So I surmised that the expansion dampening wasn't happening, and that's why I described the single dampening action that way. But perhaps my OEM shocks that were just 2 years old with 17miles were already damaged or shot and not providing the proper expansion dampening and I got the bucking bronco feel!?

I do know that when I put on my cheap Monza shocks and got to ride my rebuilt bike...again after the topend breakin, I got on the throttle expecting the bucking bronco, and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't get the bucking bronco affect this time!

As I stated in the other thread, I usually learn something almost every time I visit here!

Mark, glad you were able to get the shocks fixed to your satisfaction and well within your budget!!

T.C.

[bikerphil]

TC, most aftermarket shocks have compression damping (ex. Monza, S&W, JCW, Progressive) and all shocks have some sort of rebound damping, othrewise there would be nothing to slow down the compressed spring. Shocks with compression damping are more for good handling and shocks with no compression damping are more for a comfortable ride. It would be nice to have a set that both reb. and comp. were adjustable like newer sportbike monoshocks.