Rear Shocks on an 80 550E

[salty_monk]

The 550 I have has stock shocks on it but they are on their highest preload setting & feel pretty soft even with my 165lb on them...

The guy I'm putting the bike together for has to be at least 200lb, maybe more as he's 6'+ so they'll be useless for him.

They are "eye to eye" shocks rather than eye to clevis.

We're trying to do this on the cheap for him so here's some of the options I thought about:

1. Get a set of higher rated springs for the old shocks (I have compressors so no issue to take them off but they are very dirty, possible they are leaking) - only springs I know of are progressive for $70ish)
2. Get a set of MDI shock for $80 - would these work on a 550?
3. Get a set of progressives for my 1000G (Good excuse to upgrade) & fit the old 1000G shocks to the 550 (should make a good upgrade for the 550 in poundage if they will fit...)

Anyone tried any of the above on a 550?

I guess for option 3 I need to measure open & closed length of the shocks as well as the diameter (although I expect I can shim them out slightly from the frame to fit if they are fatter).

Only other option is a good 2nd hand set... if such a thing exists, anyone got a line on any?

Cheers,

Dan

[Mark M]

1) This still leaves you with tired shocks that have little to no damping left, and with stronger springs to control, at that.

2) Best choice if they fit, at least they will start out new.

3) Probably better than option #1, but they are still tired and likely well short of damping.

Mark

[salty_monk]

The G's shocks are in pretty good shape & the damping is adjustable.... Anyone who followed me fully loaded on the way to Bruce's last week would probably testify to that

Wonder if anyone has fitted the MDI's he's tall so the slight extra length I read about wouldn't be an issue & he's big so the stiff springs should work out ok too...

Dan