Rear shocks question yss or hagons?

[sam61]

As a few may know ive recently bought my gsx with a few niggley problems. Sorted out what i thought was it other than the seized left rear shock preload.i have a trip to go on in 3 weeks time so thought i would break into my savings even more and get some cheap aftermarket shocks with the idea of rebuilding the originals over time.
As money is scarce ive opted for either hagon 2810 or yss rz362. Has anyone used or have any of these on their bikes and are they ok to see me through this year at least? £357 for the yss and £264 +extras from hagon so about same price. Cant stretch anymore in my budget

[Hooli]

I've known a few 14 owners with Hagons & they've said they were fine, never tried them myself.

[grog]

Same story as Hooli. Know nought personally. All i know is Mate put YSS on xjr 1300, work good for him. Bloke on here, Fast 14? He gives good review. Have a search for it. At $850 in Oz, not bargain basement stuff.

[sam61]

Cheers guys 
Just spoke to hagon £276 delivered adjusted to my weight, pillion and luggage. That'll do me 

[grog]

Well done Sam, theyll be good. Prob a better idea than me keep rebuilding my old stockers. Dont really know.

[sam61]

Will be a couple of weeks turnaround  so not sure if i get them for my trip on the 15th . Would be a good test for them but we'll see

[t4underc4t]

I bought my first 1400 a few months ago with Hagons on the back, overall the quality feels fine, it only has 3 preload settings and in the middle preload setting it feels best for solo riding. It really needs the harder preload setting for two up when the suns out, you can feel it bottoming out when riding with spirit catching a bump on a corner.

On full hard preload, there is zero static sag and I really struggle to get the bike on and off the centre stand. I believe Hagon would have supplied a spring for the purchaser, I've no idea who that was, but if it was the guy I bought it from he was about 6 inches taller than me and a good few stone heavier! I think Hagon's would be better for me with a more suitable spring as there is nothing else that can be adjusted.

At the moment I'm enjoying riding it as it is, might look into some upgrades in the winter but enjoy it as it is for now.   

I had tried a 1400 on YSS shocks before buying the one I've got now. It was never a problem getting that on the centre stand.

[Andre]

I had tried a 1400 on YSS shocks before buying the one I've got now. It was never a problem getting that on the centre stand.

My YSS shocks (RG362-335TRCL-07-X) can be length-adjusted (330-340mm). If setting to max length, I'd say there will be problems getting it on the center stand (especially with a new rear tire). The 355-365mm models (see below) would certainly leave the center stand mostly useless.

GSX1400 certified shocks in their current catalogue:

RG362-335TRCL-07 and RZ362-335TRL-07 330-340mm

RG362-360TRCL-29 and RZ362-360TRL-29 355-365mm

One of the nice things about the YSS shocks is that different rated springs (black or chrome) are readily available at very reasonable prices.

I had saved up for Wilbers shocks (Typ 633 Competition S Blackline). Ohlins were a no-go for me because I don't like their color scheme  Price were very much the same. Emphasis is on were because now, 2 years later, the Wilbers are 325 € (1800€) more than Ohlins.

When I was ready to buy I started looking at YSS shocks (RG362-335TRCL-07-X). I really liked the easy availability of all parts necessary for a rebuild. Just 2 services and I got the money (525€) back I paid for them, nitrogen setup, and rebuild kits (even though it is not necessary to rebuild them every service). Made a couple calls to their R&D Europe for some technical questions. Experience was pleasant. They were very forthcoming with information.

Final decision to go the less expensive route was helped by the posts of a former Superbike mechanic (1990 - 1993 with Honda, 1994 - 2000 Suzuki). He claimed that he knows a bit how a suspension ought to function. His take was that the YSS build quality is surprisingly high and the shocks respond very well to the various settings.

He says that the Wilbers and Ohlins are likely better than the YSS and if you want to spend the money on them you are doing the right thing. However, his riding ability and the charakteristics of the GSX1400 on public roads preclude taking advantage of Wilbers and Ohlins.

He also used the same fork springs (Wilbers progressive) and fork oil viscosity as myself. He also had the same rider weight as me. So I copied his settings for fork and YSS-shocks.

I made 3 modifications to the shocks:

1. heavy duty bearings (imo more suitable for the bike/rider weight class).
2. higher rated springs (30+ € a pair). Now the same rate as the offically (Germany) certified ones for the 14.
3. covered the piggies with 3M wrap film (glossy black) as to not offend my eyes and cater my unwillingness to advertise.

I paid particular attention to the proper (imo) alignment of the shocks.

I never had a near perfect (imo) tire wear as now.

I don't know anything about the Hagon shocks. Above is intended to show that less expensive shocks can be a more than adequate alternative to Ohlins and Wilbers.

https://gsx1400owners.org/forum/index.php?topic=7554.msg100900#msg100900

[Andre]

While lying on the garage floor giving some tlc to the chain, I remembered another reason why you might have a problem getting the bike on/off the stand. Btw it has nothing to do with the shocks.

https://gsx1400owners.org/forum/index.php?topic=191.15

Post#15 onward may show the problem you have.