Great ride... but blown shock?

[Motogeek33]

Awesome ride today, but partway through the day I noticed red fluid draining out of my rear shock and the rubber bumper is totally gone. My kit is a 2012 ST -- are problems with these shocks common? I'm pretty careful when I'm riding and I don't do anything crazy like getting big air or anything like that, so I was surprised that the bottom seal on the rear shock blew out. Is there a fix other than replacing the shock with a new one? Can they be rebuilt?

 

[Mtn. Muncher]

We will cover the shock no problem. Just need to call the shop and the guys will take care of you. 208-255-5644 Talk to Jason or Brett.

Allen from Timbersled

 

[Frostbite]

Great pictures Alphageek!

It looks like we need some fresh snow!

What year is your bike? It's a WR450, right?

Do you have handwarmers?

 

[teal_210]

We will cover the shock no problem. Just need to call the shop and the guys will take care of you. 208-255-5644 Talk to Jason or Brett.

Allen from Timbersled

As-usuall, unreal service by Timbersled. Way to go guys!

 

[Adobe-Al]

Brett at Timbersled-had me a new shock in two days and I was able to have a great weekend. The product service with this company is crazy good!

 

[Motogeek33]

Great pictures Alphageek!

It looks like we need some fresh snow!

What year is your bike? It's a WR450, right?

Do you have handwarmers?

The bike is an 05 WR450, so it's the graying, middle-aged guy of the snowbikes, which is a good match for the guy riding it.

Yes, I have heated grips. They're just the cheapo under-the-grip heating element type, and they really only warm up when I've been riding at a fairly high RPM for a few minutes, which mostly happens only when I'm riding down the road. But I'm not complaining considering they only cost me 20 bucks. I actually like them a lot and have even enjoyed having them when I'm dirtbiking and dualsporting with the WR.

 

[Motogeek33]

Just got off the phone with Brett. He's shipping out a new shock right away so I can be back in action this weekend. I can't express how impressed I am with Allen and Timbersled and their commitment to keeping their customers on the snow and happy.

 

[yukondood]

spray in some spray foam urethane insulation into the bars. They will heat up quicker and maintain heat!!

As for timbersled service this is awesome. On my second kit 2011 and now a new 2014 and yet to have to call them for their service so I have to say their reliability is out of the world also

 

[Motogeek33]

Yeah, I read about filling the bars to help the heaters and cut down on vibration, so I pumped them full of silicone. So I guess I gave my bars a boob job.

My optimistic side tells me it made a difference, but I'm not really sure it helped that much. Maybe silicone doesn't work as well as the other stuff, but from what I've read, the job of filling the bars is a lot less messy. All in all, though, I'm happy with the grip heaters.

 

[Motogeek33]

Got my new shock today (thanks Timbersled!)... I'm working on getting the old shock off and I'm having trouble with the shock's top mount. The bolt is hitting one of the idler wheels and it won't back out far enough to get the shock out. Does anyone have any tips that might help?

 

[1dn5up]

I had to take the idler wheels off when I did mine. its I think 4 bolts to remove the whole rear suspension, then one snap ring to get the one idler off.

to put back together if your by yourself use a ratchet strap to compress things

 

[Motogeek33]

Yep, I took the rear part of the suspension out, but I can't get the one idler wheel to move so I can get the shock upper mount bolt out. I've taken out both of the snap rings and it still won't move. It looks like the idler wheel's bearing probably needs to slide down the shaft, so maybe it needs heat? I'm just a little afraid of melting the idler wheel.

 

[whistlerhawk]

Drill hole in idler wheel

I have the mountain horse rear suspension on my snowhawk. I drilled a hole in the idler wheel so that the shock bolt can back out through the idler wheel hole. The exit shock i have on the hawk is inverted so everytime i needed to change the spring on the shock, i had to undo the top shock mount to slide the spring off the shock. Drilling the hole is easy and takes about 30 seconds with a 9/16 if i remember right. Just size up the bolt nut and drill the right size hole in the appropriate place in the idler wheel. This avoids having to take the top shaft off. Idler snap ring, idler wheel etc...no strength loss in the idler wheel. Easy plastic to drill through...

 

[1dn5up]

once the snap ring was out I just had to tap it a little with the rachet to get it to slide down the shaft. but I like the hole idea.

 

[Motogeek33]

That's exactly what I was thinking about doing, but I wasn't sure if it would weaken the wheel. Now that I know that it's been done before, I feel pretty good about it.

Thanks whistlerhawk!

 

[Motogeek33]

Wow, what a pain in the butt! LOL. The ratchet strap tip helped a lot, but it was still a pain to get the holes lined up and the bolts started. Maybe I'll just haul it to Timbersled next time.

Thanks again everyone... now I can get the butt tractor back on the snow on Saturday!