Good Rear Shock for heavy riders

[Drewgrace]

Hello all, I would like to know what is a good rear shock for heavy riders, besides Ohlins, for they are out of my price range at the moment. My bike is an 08 GSXR1000.

[Chippertheripper]

If you order a Penske or an Elka, or an ohlins, or a k-tech, it should come sprung for your weight.
Your local suspension guru MIGHT be able to re-spring your stock shock.
There are a few suspension dudes in the area. Not many, but definitely more than one.

[Rada]

What he said..
Any shock with the right spring. You can get a stiffer spring for you stock shock.

[OreoGaborio]

Yup. Could probably get away with just a respring (and a re-fresh while you're at it).
How heavy we talkin? If we're straying too far from the stock spring rate it may be a good idea to get a revalve as well.

[Drewgrace]

Would anyone here know a local MA, or NH Suspension Guru Shop location?

[OreoGaborio]

Well, if you're lookin for a true guru, I've been working with Peter Kates of GMD Computrack down in Bellingham since '04.
"GMDBoston" here on NESR. Not gonna get much guru-ish than that. lol.
If it's too far to drive & you've got the tools you can always ship it the shock to him.

[Drewgrace]

THnx folks for your input.

[Stromper]

Racetech will rebuild, revalve, respring a stock shock for about $400

[Chippertheripper]

Advanced traction in ct is excellent as well.

Edit: c-cycle in ct has gotten all of my dirty suspension business. Not just gotten, but earned.
A shock is a shock (for the most part) so it might be worth a call to see if he'd be interested in the work, although he mostly does off-road stuff.

[scottieducati]

Was about to chime in about straying too far from stock springs and the impact on valving but Oreo beat me to it.... LOTS of folks have been having luck w/ the K-tech stuff, but just about anything aftermarket with valving and spring setup for your weight and bike will be a vast improvement!

[Tunertype]

Racetech will rebuild, revalve, respring a stock shock for about $400

This is a great option. If you look at what you'll net out of an aftermarket shock it's about the same. A new aftermarket will cost about $1000. Used aftermarket will cost about $600 and $400 to get the right spring and rebuild. Then when you sell the bike you might be able to get $600 for the shock of you part it or an additional $200-$300 for the bike having an aftermarket shock. Total out of pocket long run is about the same or a bit more for the aftermarket shock, but having the stock shock fully built and customized costs $600 less in the short term. Having the built shock won't add any value to the bike, but since it was cheaper to begin with it doesn't matter.