Listen thank you SO MUCH for posting this vid, run an RRW Blade and same symptoms. No pressure whatsoever in the reservoir, drilled and installed schrader valve with a flex extender adapter. Got it to estimate 110 psi and WOW! New shock again. Not cheap items so again thank you so much for the fix 👍👍👍👍😁😁😁😁
Interesting. I'm a little late to the party. What you could do is to drill and tap the hole for the schrader valve. Use a rubberised crush washer (for brake banjos) and half nut on both sides to seal that hole. The fitment of the end-cap is awkward I think - could be JB-Weld (or Marine-Tex GRAY!!)?? (Never to be taken apart again in one piece though) Thouroughly clean and roughen up the surfaces first though. I've 2 of hese OEM shocks in excellent condition. This video does emphasise the poor product that Honda put on one of their best street bikes. I now have Nitrons. I tried to put on a Hagon shock (it did fit and was the recommended shock) but the ride height was raised by close to an inch (25mm) - and no height adjustment. uuuugggghhhh! Hope you enjoy your Hornet. Now you just gotta get the front shocks sorted. Matris do a really, really nice cartridge kit for them.
Is yours leaking? I haven't gotten into the main body yet. My 919 has been great since I got the reservoir recharged, haven't needed to mess with it since. Maybe this summer I'll do part 2.
@@prabhadesignscustomautomot1450 none of these do. I installed a schrader valve in the reservoir end cap to allow the reservoir to be charged. Been working as well as it did new.
Nice video, I have cbr 900rr fireblade that has thee same shock. Needs a service but I will try this first. Going to rebuild the shock in the winter but this should get be by these last couple of weeks.
I bought a spare shock to rebuild for mine but as well as its been working with the charge I haven't bothered to mess with it. If yours isn't leaking I bet it doesn't need a whole teardown.
Don't spend your money on oem shock.. It will start to leak soon and bike handling not so good when you push it hard. I've just installed YSS on my 900RR and it's completely new bike. Much more stable and comfortable over the bumps. Wish I installed it before... I've been struggling with original one for two years, it just not worth it...
I just bought the exact same bike and I’m having the same issue w the shock. I’ve decided to just buy a YSS shock for it and heavies springs for the front.
Thanks for the valuable info! Question, so you think that a tubeless wheel valve stem would be a viable alternative/substitution for the Schrader valve? I need to do this mod to the canister because I am experiencing the same issue with my 2003 CB 919. Great explanation on Video BTW!
If it's an all metal stem it will be suitable. A rubber stem will not hold the required pressure. 150 psi would blow that puppy right out. Look for a high pressure, bolt in valve stem and seal it in with something like JB Weld.
what pressure did you end up using? I just did this mod and can notice a difference in it bottoming out. I've got it at about 120psi right now, but now sure how to "tune" it for my weight. Also the bike shock pump is a must have putting air in.
120 should be alright, just check it once in a while and keep it topped off. Reservoir pressure determines the threshold of cavitation, based on the rate the piston moves through the fluid in the shock body. These shocks see pretty high velocity since Honda didn't use linkage but I bet they work pretty well down to about 60 or 70 psi. Once you get below whatever minimum pressure is, there won't be enough pressure to counteract the pressure generated by the valving and oil will begin to push into the reservoir rather than go through the valving.
I rebuilt many shocks in my day and I have never seen the bladder contain the oil. If as you say that the shock had air in it then that also means the oil escaped. How would you bleed the air out from the piston? I would guess around 150-175 psi for charging. It sure would have been nice to see the internals on video.
I will eventually modify a spring compressor to get the rest of the shock apart. I'm sure the piston setup is a lot like any other shock. It's anybodys guess on how these are built at the factory. Definitely unconventional. I've had two apart, this one and the one that's on the bike. Both had the bladder oriented with the oil inside and the air on the outside.
@@TurbodanNM I made a simple spring compressor and I would be interested to compare to what you came up with. It would be fun to try modifying the reservoir setup with most of the parts that exist. It wouldn't be crazy to switch the bladder to hold the nitrogen/air.
Hello mate, I'm having the same kind of problems with the rear shock as you described, i want to try rebuild reservoir same way as you did it, please advise how did you popped up the cap? Cheers
To disassemble the reservoir you push the end cap into the shock body and remove the snap ring that retains it. If your shock is as dead as mine was there will be very little pressure and once the cap breaks free it will push in without much difficulty.
When you want to charge shock with nitrogen, without rebuilding the complete shock is it necessary to remove the spring, compress the shaft all the way in and then start to charge it or it doesn't matter? Tnx
The shock must be charged at full extension. Same procedure for a full rebuild or just a recharge. I just opened up the reservoir, installed a valve in the end cap, put it back together and charged it up.
I have the same problem with Showa shock on my CBR 900 RR.. Really how the hell did they fill the shock with the Nitrogen in the factory.... I have rebuild mine and after let say one month pressure drops from 12 bar to 9... Aftermarket ones are just too expensive for this old bike.
Same thing with the piggyback reservoir MX shocks. They lose a significant portion of the charge before the oil even gets dirty. At least those have a base valve to help build pressure and control fluid displacement. Best I can tell from how far I've gotten into the street bike shock, there is nothing but the charge in the reservoir to control cavitation. It works well as long as it's charged up.
I got a Hagon monoshock very inexpensively and it's brilliant on the bike. It has a custom progressive spring(very important for linkageless bikes like the 919) as part of the package based on my weight and it ties the compression and rebound dampening together well for street use. A vast improvement over the OEM for under $400. Not an Ohlins, but the bike and it's use doesn't need it....really, the frame starts to flex at the limit once you get a good monoshock and uprated front springs anyway. (I upped the fork oil weight slightly too, made a huge difference) So getting anything at Ohlins level cost doesn't gain you much anyway.
@@nickb3968 you should try the stocker with a proper gas charge in it. Not bad at all. Anything is going to be better than a 20 year old stock shock with 2.5 psi left in it.
hey Dan I would gladly pay you to do the Mod for my stocker if you would be willing, I am mechanically challenged 😂 I’m in Utah and our roads here suck as well! LMK THANKS
I usually push a screwdriver between the snap ring and the body of the reservoir. These are surprisingly low tension rings so they can be displaced pretty easily.
I use a mountain bike shock pump. If all you have is a compressor and standard air chuck that will work well enough. It won't last as long as a full pressure charge though.
If you have to go that far I would suggest taking measurements and looking through the KYB catalog. For a given shaft diameter and tube diameter you can probably source seal heads from KYB. I am not aware of any resource for Showa parts. I already found a suitable bladder and cap from KYB to convert the reservoir into a more serviceable design which can be bled and filled easily. There's a good chance you can find suitable replacement parts for the rest of the internals too as long as Showa didn't do anything unusual with dimensions.
@@erikdanielczyk7666 the original bladder in the one I have apart is approximately 80mm. Anything 70-80mm would fit just fine as long as the diameter is correct. I do not know if a KYB bladder will properly fit the stock showa cap, if not you would need to order a KYB end cap as well and flip the bladder around so it is pressurized internally and the body of the reservoir is holding oil. In this case you would only need to seal the end cap where the oil line screws in, as this sealing is completed by the bladder in the original design. I was planning on trimming off most of the bladder and using only the bottom ring where it seals between the cap and reservoir in the event that I proceeded further with the rebuild and it was necessary to convert the reservoir for the purpose of bleeding and filling the shock.
