[Andy_man]

I'm looking at replacing the rear shock on my 2012. I weigh 175 without gear, I typically run both sadles and a top bag with a few pounds of extra crap so let's say about 195-200lb all in. 99% solo riding, pillion is 115, and rare. Riding is probably 80% commuting with aggressive street/backroads on occasion. I'm probably going to bump the front springs up to racetech, without the valves.
My understanding is that the 2013 OEM rear shock is a higher spring weight than the '12, and it can be had for less than $500 shipped to my door. For an extra $200 I can bump up to the basic STX 46. I really like the remote preload from the OEM, but it sounds like a lot of people just run it hard anyway, so it kind of defeats the purpose. I would really like to have a remote preload adjuster that was actually useful, but it looks like I'm going to have to jump up to about $1000 or more to get that, unless I'm missing something.
At this point, I would really like to hear from people who had a '13 or' 14 or who had that spring, and bumped up to the Stx46 or something similar. Is there a meaningful difference, is it worth the extra $200? Or am I going to need to plan on $1000+ to get what I'm looking for out of the rear shock? Also is it worth bumping up to have compression and rebou d for the type of riding I do, or should just rebound cover it?
Lastly, does anyone know what the actual spring rate for the rear shock on the 2012 vs the 2013 is? I did some Googleing, but I couldn't come up with numbers, just that 13 is harder than 12.
Thanks for the input.

 

[Little Joe]

Soft preload rear 651lb
Hard preload rear 976lb

I have very seldom ever used the H unless very heavy two up with full luggage on a glass smooth rd.
Otherwise S all the time


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[Andy_man]

Soft preload rear 651lb
Hard preload rear 976lb

I have very seldom ever used the H unless very heavy two up with full luggage on a glass smooth rd.
Otherwise S all the time


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks for the info, where did you find that? I have an owners manual and a shop manual and they just say one up =soft, 2 up =hard. Also, the bike weighs in at 668lbs wet, so by those numbers it's already over running the capacity of the rear shock if I'm understanding correctly, (which I might not be). Add a 190lbs of rider and gear and that puts things much closer to "hard", or am I misunderstanding this whole thing?

 

[Little Joe]

The whole bikes weight is shared between front and rear.
I am 200lb in gear with pillion about 120. Never need H setting, it is too stiff. Use rebound adj on rear to fine tune.


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[RaYzerman]

The OEM shock comprises 2 springs, the top one is locked out when put on Hard..... there is a formula for two springs in series (when on Soft). The numbers are in the service manual.
Hard - 2012 is 519.6, 2013 is 976
Soft - 2012 is 300, 2013 is 651 (note, these are calculations).
For a 175 lb. rider, I'd be OK with the Gen3 shock, you need a 750-800 lb..... I'm a 200 lb. rider, have 850 and adjustable preload.... just right.
With the OEM Gen3 shock, your rebound damping likely will be around 7 clicks out give or take. At 10 it will be bouncy.
If you want to talk aftermarket rear shocks, talk to Cogent Dynamics and they will steer you right.
I'd recommend the Traxxion fork spring kit, plug and play.... economical compared to the others, no calculations or spacer cutting required. Fork oil level 130mm.

 

[Andy_man]

The OEM shock comprises 2 springs, the top one is locked out when put on Hard..... there is a formula for two springs in series (when on Soft). The numbers are in the service manual.
Hard - 2012 is 519.6, 2013 is 976
Soft - 2012 is 300, 2013 is 651 (note, these are calculations).
For a 175 lb. rider, I'd be OK with the Gen3 shock, you need a 750-800 lb..... I'm a 200 lb. rider, have 850 and adjustable preload.... just right.
With the OEM Gen3 shock, your rebound damping likely will be around 7 clicks out give or take. At 10 it will be bouncy.
If you want to talk aftermarket rear shocks, talk to Cogent Dynamics and they will steer you right.
I'd recommend the Traxxion fork spring kit, plug and play.... economical compared to the others, no calculations or spacer cutting required. Fork oil level 130mm.

Thanks that helps. So by this, I'd fall some where in the middle on the preload with soft being a little smushy for my weight and hard being a tad stiff? Then again, the soft setting for the gen 3 looks to be stiffer than the hard setting for the 2, so that may be about what I'm looking for. I'll look at those companies as well and see what they have in comparison, but I think I'm leaning towards the OEM gen 3 shock based on these couple of responses.