The other night, the wife and I were riding the 650, and in a corner we hit a bump and drug the center stand. I have seen many times that woot has talked about setting the sag via the shocks, and with me and the wife (combined 400#) I adjust the shocks to the stiffest setting and get about 2.5" to 3 " of sag. I have seen here that ideal is 1.5".
The owners manual says that max load is 500# (somewhere close to that), and with that being the case, should less than max load have me able to drag my center stand?
The entire ride was not bad, but not great either. It seemed to have bottomed shocks out numerous times, and handling wasn't great either.
I guess I really have 2 questions
First: Do my shocks sound like they are ready to be replaced?
Second: If they do need to be replaced, if I were to get a heavier shock, like off of a 750 or something like that, would that enable a slightly larger load to be hauled? (just need about 550# to cover me, wife, and all gear for some 3-4 day touring excursions)
I know some of these questions are probably answered on the xj cd, but I haven't recieved it yet.
Thanks in advance for any help.

If it sags more than it should when you're parked just with a certain amount of weight on it, then it's the springs rather than the shocks.
Jim

Can just the springs be replaced, or is it better to replace the spring and shock as an assembly. It seems to ride fine with just myself, or me and my son.

New gear works better than old gear.

Personally if I had the 600 bucks I'd get the top of the line jobs. As I don't the $300 options look pretty good - a shock that was better than the stock shock was new...

bottoming out is not uncommon with these bikes with old shocks - hard riding, bumpy roads or two up and it will happen.

There are a few brands out there - the one most quoted is the progressive line...

If money is an issue you can try your hand at used parts - although in this catagory I'm not sure what you'd find... most likely more old parts that should be replaced.

I replaced the stock shocks on my 750 seca this fall with a set of used progressive shocks. With the old shocks it I hit a good sized bump I would bottom on the center stand if it was set on anything less then the firmest setting even though the sag was ok, that is ride with just me, 175lbs. The progressives are much better, I have yet to bottom I think they are set on the second notch.

I took a chance and bought a used part on ebay though so I think I spent $45 total. The problem with buying used is you don't know how used they are, I lucked out.

I would install Progressive rear shocks 13 inches tall. Use their heavy duty progressive springs and you'll like it.

Does anyone have any experience with the shocks through JC Whitney? They are considerably cheaper than the progressives, but I am wondering if "you get what you pay for" might apply. The information that they have written about them sounds good, but I would like to have some first hand information before I make a purchase. I would hate to buy them, and then turn around in a few months and have to get a set of progressives. I am not trying to sound cheap, I just want the best value for my money.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.