Hi all, just looking for some advice on replacing the corroded monoshock on my 821 Stripe. - what are the main steps involved? I couldn’t find any guides online? - I’m a beginner mechanic so I can’t tell how big a job this is - I had a go at adjusting the front and rear suspension to the recommended settings in the manual and managed to do everything apart from adjust the ‘collars’ on the monoshock. I couldn’t get either of them to budge. The pics below are of the new one (I couldn’t get them to budge either). - do they turn clockwise or anti-clockwise to compress the spring?
The rings turn clockwise to compress the spring. They act as a pair of locknuts. You will have to loosen the lower one first to separate them. To change the shock you will need to support the bike with the rear wheel off the ground and suspension unloaded using an Abba stand or similar. Procedure for shock removal here: Refitting is the reverse. Grease the top and bottom bolts and torque to 42Nm.
No problem and, although I didn't mention it, you'll need to remove some of the body work below the seat to get access to that top shock bolt.
Thanks again, I’ll reply with the results once it’s done. My Termignoni exhaust arrived the other day so might as well get it all in one go. I’d never heard of an Abba stand until you mentioned it so I’ve been looking into that too!
I've been using an Abba stand since I bought it to work on my '95 900SS twenty years ago. Although initially expensive it's a brilliant piece of kit and by changing the adaptors it can be used with practically any bike. As well as the 900SS I've used mine for various Monsters, 748/916/996, MTS1200, 1098, 1199 Panigale, Scrambler and Supersport 939 as well as a few other bikes that I found I could support by mix and matching the various adapters I now have.
I’m so glad you mentioned it - looks an excellent piece of kit. I ordered an Abba stand last night so I’ll have a go at the monoshock and Termignoni when it arrives! I’ve done a couple of minor mods so I’ll share some pics once it’s all done. Thanks so much for the advice! I dare say I’ll have more questions when I hit a brick wall halfway through!
I’ve had a go at this today - Abba stand works a treat! I can’t get either of the shock bolts out. Neither is budging and I’ve snapped an Halfords Advanced socket extension in the process! I think the problem is that the suspension isn’t unloaded (what’s the best way to do this?). The rear (lower bolt) looks a bit damaged and I’m struggling to get an 8mm Allen bit in. Even with the exhaust removed, it’s still pretty awkward. I’m beginning to think this one might be beyond me....
If you're not comfortable with it you are probably right. These bolts can be a bugger to get out and you don't want to end up damaging them. If the bike is on an Abbastand then the suspension is unloaded. It simply means that the rear wheel is off the ground with no weight on it nor any load on the suspension. Pit stands usually fit into or under the swinging arm, so although the wheel is off the ground the bike's weight is still carried by the suspension. If you took the shock out the bike would collapse.
Thanks so much for the explanation! I didn’t give up but I did have to wait for a long hex bit to arrive. Managed to get the top bolt out but sheared the head off the hex bit on the lower bolt... I’ve got another hex bit (from the kit that arrived today) but I’m afraid of shearing it as well. I’ve used loads of WD40 but also saw that using heat can be effective. I’ll take the mudguard off but is it likely that putting heat onto it would damage the paint? I’ll have a look around the forums to see if there’s any mention of this.
Another question - is it possible the lower (rear) bolt is a left hand thread? It did take a lot of force on a breaker bar and didn’t budge!
Yes, it's a right hand thread. I had the same problem, as others have had, with the lower rear shock on the 1200 Multi I had and ended up having to cut through the bolt on either side of the bolt (details here). I hope you don't have to go down that route. I now have a Supersport 939 which uses the same chassis, swinging arm and frame as your Monster. The first time I had the rear wheel out I undid the bottom shock bolt and greased it. It seems to be a different arrangement from the MTS but I suspect corrosion between the head of the bolt and swinging arm could still be an issue.
