I am not very impressed with my stock shocks on my '81 Seca 750. I am planning a long road trip for next summer (x-country) and was thinking about upgrading before then. I am planning on getting progressive springs for the front but I haven't found anything for the rear yet. Any suggestions of reasonably priced rear shocks?

Thefox try bikebandit.com they sell aftermarket Progressive Suspension stocks for the rear from from $400.73 to $53.58
http://www.bikebandit.com/partsbandit/prod...tion_Path~3.asp

I'm seconding the progressive shocks. The trick here is to decide how much you want to spend. Some people's weight/bikes might happen to match one of the cheaper ones, otherwise you'll find the more expensive ones easier to setup for you.

The first part is to measure the sag. Stand over the bike and hold it upright. Have a second person measure the distance from the axle nut to somewhere that doesn't move (bottom of the seatpan for example). Sit down and have them measure the distance. The difference should be 1 to 1.5 inches of sag.

Set the preload until you get the sag you wanted. Once that is done you can adjust the rebound until it is comfortable. Being really hard isn't sportier or more comfortable... you want the wheel to keep consistance contact (soft) but for the rebound to be hard enough not to wallow and shift the bike too much. That means that the correct rebound setting changes as the road changes so you have to pick a comfortable middle ground.

Finally - if you upgrade the rear of the bike you'll suddenly find the problems in the front end of the bike - such as old head bearings, worn springs, cupped front tire, and the buckhorn bars --- all things that were there bugging you before that got attributed to or masked by the rear suspension.

Cheers,
woot.

Well I will try the Progressive rear shocks. I found a set on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...TRK%3AMEWA%3AIT yeah they aren't exactly the ones for my bike but they are at least the same size :rolleyes: . I figure that for $45 I can't go wrong considering the cheapest complete shock setup new is about $200. Once I get them in I will try adjusting them like Woot said and try them out and go from there.

Woot, you mentioned that I may then notice a difference in the front end feel, I am planning on getting the progressive fork springs, I have new bars and the tire is good. The question is what would worn head bearings feel like? I replaced the front end with a good used one 3 years ago so that was the last time the bearings were greased.

Well - the idea with the head bearings is that they wear. When they wear they get worm in such a way as to prefer to be in one position than another. This is felt as notchyness.

I'm not very good at explaining this so I'll quote somebody else.

FROM: http://faq.f650.com/FAQs/Steering_Head_Bea...acement_FAQ.htm

The idea is that first you have to get the head tightened properly. Otherwise you can't tell - it is all loose. When it is properly tightened - then with no weight on the front end turn the bars slowly from side to side. If it isn't like butter - then they're not new ;).

I haven't replaced mine yet - however - I'll be checking them soon myself. Will post what I find. :)