RT - Digital Product Search It's a starting point anyway. Give some of the UK suspension people a call, some are unhelpful wankers who can't be arsed to look stuff up in detail if needed but others better on the right day. They'll tell you what Öhlins K-Tech whatever recommended plus the choices mentioned by @Desmoquattro . They all give slightly different numbers and some moan about the RaceTech numbers but they're all in the right ball park. You should be OK on you're own from here. Take a torch with you it get's dark out there.
See pics..... The one with the pair of shocks shows Showas..........the shorter one is from a carbed SS and the longer one is from an IE. The other photo shows a Sachs Boge shock......I never checked the length so it could have come from either a carbed or IE bike as it was fitted to both models at various stages. Also see the text and images........It is fairly obvious which shock should fit which swingarm. If you have a Sachs Boge shock in an aluminium swingarm, makes sure the eye of the shock cannot hit the mounting lugs on the swingarm as you twist it.
Thank you for all that info. It's really good of you to go to the trouble of posting all that lot. It does raise another couple of questions unfortunately. A quick recap to save anyone responding having to pick through the whole thread. My bike is a 98 ie. The shock now fitted has the grey reservoir without the knurled adjuster (Showa?). It is either knackered and/or, I suspect, as I was told it had been rebuilt, completely wrongly valved or sprung for my weight. It is extremely stiff - like "almost bite through your tongue over potholes stiff". Hence I wanted to try putting an unmolested OE shock in the bike as a cheap temporary fix while I save up the pennies for a brand new shock. I have bought the 2002 model shock I pictured in one of my earlier posts. The one with the bronze coloured resevoir and blue knurled adjuster. Your pic of the three shocks seems to show that the Sachs shock has a different twist to it compared to the Showas. Compare the bottom mountings of the topmost Showa and the Sachs (which are lying in the same position) and you can see that the bottom mounting eyes are oriented differently? I presume my bike has a steel swingarm but I don't know for certain as it has been powder coated and so I can't tell what material it is. So here is the question.... Will all shocks fit all both swingarms or are there some combinations that don't work? I'm shocked that that the Sachs shock I've bought might not fit. This has Showa'd me that I should be sheriously considering Saching the whole thing off and just biting the bullet and shelling out for a new one. Thanks in advance anyone and everyone
The Sachs Boge shock has the blue adjuster and a 'can' for a reservoir. The Showa shock has a reservoir which is part of the shock body casting. Either shock will fit a carbed SS or an IE. A carbed SS shock will make the IE sit lower at the rear end, which will make it steer slower. Most people with carbed SS fit an IE shock to raise the rear end and speed up the steering (I'm a shortarse so I did it the other way and dropped the front end). But if you have an aluminium swingarm you should check which shock is fitted as the Showa shocks have smaller diameter bottom mounting eyes which can hit the swingarm lugs if the shock twists on it's bearings (which it should do BTW).........a big bump and hard suspension could result in a broken swingarm lug....see photo. A steel swingarm should be OK with either shock fitted. Both the carbed SS shocks have 65mm travel. IIRC the IE have 71mm travel or 76mm travel, so as long as you get one of these you should be OK. Also IIRC, an IE Ohlins shock it should be 336mm standard overall length and adjustable by -4mm or +8mm.
Thanks again for your help. I knew about the length issue (early v late and slow v fast steering) but what was throwing me was the appearance of the shocks. I didn't know that rhe Showa came in two lengths but instead thought that the Showa was the short shock and the Sachs was the long one. What kept throwing me was that all over eBay and the web there were auctions and photos of the Showa shock but no consistency as to whether they were for carbies or fuelies. Your first photo, showing that Showa shocks came in two different lengths finally cleared up all that confusion, only for your comment about aluminium swingarms to start me off all over again! I knew some were steel and some were ali, but I hadn't considered that they may be built to take different types of shock. It seems therefore that I have a late Showa shock, in a swingarm of unknown material, but from the sound of it when I tap it with a screwdriver is probably steel, and I now have a very late model Sachs shock on its way to me. I guess I'll soon find out whether or not it fits! Thanks again for all your time and everyone else who has posted. It's very much appreciated as it has finally resolved a problem which has been bugging me for months and for which I just couldn't seem to find the right answer.
See Post No.2 photo of this thread/topic.........Clearly a steel swingarm on a 900SS IE. Parts Manuals appear to show both ally and steel for IE models. But the OP doesn't need a magnet..........you can tell just by looking at the damn things...... Steel is painted, aluminium is anodised. Steel has naff adjuster plates on the outside of the swingarm legs and adjuster bolts in the ends; aluminium have adjuster blocks and the adjuster bolts are forward of the axle. All the OP can do is hope he has the right one when he checks its against the one on his bike and the measurements (and that it doesn't leak when he gets it).
Oh....and the shape.............see mine below...........If yours is coated, I guess steel. Don't even ask about the purple spring...........
The two arms in those pics of yours look different. Is that intentional? Noted what you said about the adjuster blocks and on that basis I presume, in the absence of access to either the bike or a magnet at the moment, that mine is aluminium Probably easier if I post up a pic.....
It's aluminium, with the deeper brace (better brace). It also looks as though the shock mounting lugs have been reduced and rounded off........ .........I can't say whether that's an OEM modification or owner modified, but it might have been done so a Sachs Boge shock could be fitted.
