Rear shock absorber | GTAMotorcycle.com

Rear shock absorber

ALD

Well-known member
I need to remove my rear shock absorber on my 03 vstar 1100.
The bike is on a lift off the ground & the rear wheel is still on.
Do I have to only remove the bottom & top bolts from the shock assembly for this to come out or do I have to remove bolts from the swing arm as well.
 
Service manuals are wonderful. (y) every bike should have one.
 
Service manuals are wonderful. (y) every bike should have one.
And every manufacturer should make them easily available instead of coveting them and/or only releasing the data to factory authorized shops. Hell, I am ok with software type pricing where if you want it for commercial use it is hundreds of dollars, if you want it for personal use it is much cheaper. I don't mind paying, but some of the manuals are crazy expensive.
 
And every manufacturer should make them easily available instead of coveting them and/or only releasing the data to factory authorized shops.

I suspect part of the logic is to discourage shadetree mechanics, possibly for fear of potential liability for amateur work and definitely to protect the dealership service revenue.

This is one area where it's easy with Aprilia. AF1, the mega dealership in Austin, Texas who are the unofficial North American distributor for Piaggio, sells a digital download copy (with lifetime downloads) of the service manual for $8 USD. They'll also mail you a CD or USB drive for a nominal surcharge.

It's a little tougher for my RC51, though. Not sure if Honda even sells the paper copy anymore, but used copies are going for $180 on eBay. Fortunately, there are other options for a digital copy, but they don't make it easy...
 
I suspect part of the logic is to discourage shadetree mechanics, possibly for fear of potential liability for amateur work and definitely to protect the dealership service revenue.

This is one area where it's easy with Aprilia. AF1, the mega dealership in Austin, Texas who are the unofficial North American distributor for Piaggio, sells a digital download copy (with lifetime downloads) of the service manual for $8 USD. They'll also mail you a CD or USB drive for a nominal surcharge.

It's a little tougher for my RC51, though. Not sure if Honda even sells the paper copy anymore, but used copies are going for $180 on eBay. Fortunately, there are other options for a digital copy, but they don't make it easy...
I get it, but the issue is shadetree mechanics will poke around with or without the book. At least the book gives them a fighting chance. As for protecting dealer repair revenue, f them. If you want protected revenue, sell the bike with a 10 years service contract and then give me the service manual at the end as dealer mechanics are no good as a vehicle ages.
 
You bought the bike, they only warranty it for a short time, or not at all,
you should be entitled to the documentation that will be needed 25 years from now imho.

Montesa and MV Agusta are great with their documentation, BMW sucks at service documentation but their K bikes are so easy to work on **** em, just go for it ?
 
BMW sucks at service documentation but their K bikes are so easy to work on **** em, just go for it ?
Except when you have a floating ground at the computer, that is a prick to diagnose. I never could find the fault (ground floating ~3-5V above battery, leaving the computer with 7V effective). When the weather got really cold, I had a fuse that I would put in that would provide a separate ground to give it full power while starting the bike but then I would take it out again as I didn't like current randomly flowing around.
 
Don't get me wrong: I'm not defending the practice, but I could see why dealerships would discourage manufacturers from making it easy to get. It'd also be easier to bill 6 hours of labour to remove a shock on a VStar if the customer didn't know it was a grand total of about 14 bolts...
 
I suspect part of the logic is to discourage shadetree mechanics, possibly for fear of potential liability for amateur work and definitely to protect the dealership service revenue.

This is one area where it's easy with Aprilia. AF1, the mega dealership in Austin, Texas who are the unofficial North American distributor for Piaggio, sells a digital download copy (with lifetime downloads) of the service manual for $8 USD. They'll also mail you a CD or USB drive for a nominal surcharge.

It's a little tougher for my RC51, though. Not sure if Honda even sells the paper copy anymore, but used copies are going for $180 on eBay. Fortunately, there are other options for a digital copy, but they don't make it easy...

I snagged a factory manual for my 919 for $40 off eBay. Honestly, I was half expecting to receive something weirdly photocopied or printed, but a genuine manual showed up in the mail. It's good, too! There is the rare translation oddity, but it's so clear and straightforward it seems practically made for the shadetree mechanic. It even tells you how to improvise equivalents of some of the dealer tools.

This doesn't help anybody in the thread, I'm just proud that I have it
 
I suspect part of the logic is to discourage shadetree mechanics, possibly for fear of potential liability for amateur work and definitely to protect the dealership service revenue.

This is one area where it's easy with Aprilia. AF1, the mega dealership in Austin, Texas who are the unofficial North American distributor for Piaggio, sells a digital download copy (with lifetime downloads) of the service manual for $8 USD. They'll also mail you a CD or USB drive for a nominal surcharge.

It's a little tougher for my RC51, though. Not sure if Honda even sells the paper copy anymore, but used copies are going for $180 on eBay. Fortunately, there are other options for a digital copy, but they don't make it easy...

AF1 are great

I've got a big service coming due on the Capo in the spring, and some tires and other things
if the borders are open, I'm tossing around the idea of riding down there for it
Corsa are pretty good but they don't seem to know this bike very well
and no parts, a signal lens had to come from Italy
 
AF1 are great

I've got a big service coming due on the Capo in the spring, and some tires and other things
if the borders are open, I'm tossing around the idea of riding down there for it
Corsa are pretty good but they don't seem to know this bike very well
and no parts, a signal lens had to come from Italy
I'd go just for the spectacle. I think only Noale would be better as an Aprilia destination.

Austin is fun, but if it were me (admittedly a very small demographic), I'd do a southern American music tour, hitting Nashville, Muscle Shoals, Memphis and New Orleans on the way. St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit could round out a heck of a trip...
 
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