My mate has an '04 zx636r ninja (B1H) and his rear shock is solid (No static slag and the dampening screw only turns 1/2 a turn), so we are attempting to change it out (via ebay). Once the old one is out he may want to send it off to be refurbed so recommendations on good workshops to do this would be appreciated.
He was thinking of puting in the '05 zx636r rear shock (C1H) as Kwak decided to improve the build quality of the shock when they changed the bike to an underseat exhaust but we are not sure if it will slot in as a straight replacement. Photos attached to give insight or just oggle at
Please help us decide if its worth doing or avoiding.
The C1H shock went straight in and the only thing we had to change was the bushes which hold the nut/bolt that goes throught the rear linkage and the bottom of the shock. Good thing we got the rear linkage with the C1H shock otherwise we would’ve given up and had to put the orginal back.
On the B1H the bushes sit on the linkage and on the C1H they sit flush. After a quick swap round we got the extra 1.5mm clearance needed to slip the shock in, torqued up the two nut&bolts that hold it in place and taa-daa.
The tail end feels much better and gives more feedback on grip. Actually feels like you have suspension at the back instead of a rock.
Only took an hour with the Abba stand, not bad for our very first attempt.
So which bits of the linkage are needed?
And is the shock the same length and linkage the same dimensions?
Did you have any problems getting the ride height the same?
And finally what settings are you now using?
Sorry for all the questions, but I can see all sorts of possible changes that are not immediately obvious. Prompted by old ZX7s where NWS used to make an alternate linkage to deal with the same problem of a rock hard rear suspension.
[edited to add] Ah. Gone back and re-read your post. You didn’t change the linkage, just swapped the bushes over. Right? So the message is, if you pick up a C1H shock on eBay get a pair of bushes from your local spares stockist.
