From Spring, 2005. This installation was for a Wilbers shock, but the procedure is pretty much the same for any aftermarket shock.
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After you place the bike on the centerstand, you'll want to use a block of wood and a scissors-jack to lift the swingarm
just enough to relieve the tension on the upper shock bolt:
With the fuel tank removed, now you can remove that nasty old factory shock. The locknut (far side wrench) is 17mm, the bolt head (near side wrench) is a 14mm:
It seems to take forever to unthread the top-bolt, it goes on and on and on....
Here's the crusty old Showa next to the shiny new Wilbers. The Wilbers is 5mm longer, eyelet-to-eyelet:
Here is the initial test-fit of the new Wilbers . I ended up rotating the shock 180-degrees so that the remote reservoir and remote pre-load are affixed to the right-hand-side of the bike:
Here's the remote reservoir installed:
Job complete! Here's the Remote Preload Adjustment Knob in its final orientation:
Now to set static sag, and dial in the rear shock. Pretty tasty hardware, is it not?