Hagon Rear Shock-Finally

[capt42104]

Hey all,

So after my soft resto on my '85 E2 a year or so back I was faced with the OEM shock leaking badly. I guess even though it only had 1300 miles on it, the 33 years was enough. Well, after a year of resto I was in a hurry to ride my recently completed project. So with my very limited budget, I settled for the quick fix. Armed with a wealth of information sourced from here, I bought a 2003 ZR7S shock in real good condition off ebay along with a Polaris bushing and a few washers, I was riding!

Now after 6 months and a scant 1500 miles on the E2 and the ZR7 shock I began to accept my E2 was really handling like crap. I decided it was time to get serious and move up to a Hagon. After a few emails back forth across the pond to Mother England and visa # and 2 weeks, a beautiful piece of British Engineering arrived in California. I just installed the Hagon shock and took a 100 mile ride to test the shock and my new Kawasaki gas cap (old one leaked every time I tried to be PeeWee). The ZR7S shock did it's job well, but honestly I liked it being back to OEM height and this really solved a low speed instability issue I was noticing with the ZR7S shock.

Literally, right outta the box, perfect!

[Charlie @ Evergreen]

Awesome! Great shock and was one of the first things the guys convinced was worth the money to put on my 750. Love the ride and it helped trmemendously with me being a taller and 200 plus rider. Your 750 looks great!!

[Turboblew2]

did you lube all those heim joints and linkages? The shock itself should show a huge increase in damping but it order for it to work... the surrouding pivot points must be "mechanically free"... aka lubed.

[LondonZ1]

If you decide to replace the bearings and seals in the unitrak linkage (which is probably a good idea), there's no need to use genuine Kawasaki. You can fit high quality branded bearings (e.g. SKF) for about 1/3 of the price and the modern seals will also work better. The original seals had a steel outer surface which rusts and modern ones have no visible metal. You just need a big vice and suitable drift to remove and re-install; I use a suitably sized 1/2 socket as a drift. Happy riding!

[JezZedexE1]

Just be careful with the small metal collars. Easy for them to get lost or damaged.

[capt42104]

did you lube all those heim joints and linkages? The shock itself should show a huge increase in damping but it order for it to work... the surrouding pivot points must be "mechanically free"... aka lubed.

Yes Sir! Still was really LUBED up from the resto and ZR7 shock install. I did an inspection too and everything was still really free and smooth.

[capt42104]

If you decide to replace the bearings and seals in the unitrak linkage (which is probably a good idea), there's no need to use genuine Kawasaki. You can fit high quality branded bearings (e.g. SKF) for about 1/3 of the price and the modern seals will also work better. The original seals had a steel outer surface which rusts and modern ones have no visible metal. You just need a big vice and suitable drift to remove and re-install; I use a suitably sized 1/2 socket as a drift. Happy riding!

That's really good to know. When I did the resto a year or so ago the linkage rollers were like new and seals were available still. However, even though the bike only had 1300 miles on it, I did have to replace the swing arm pivot bearings and seals because they rusted and the seals were cracked up from age. Thankfully they were still available. I was going to have the linkage re-anodized gold but my CFO (Chief Financial Officer aka-wife) told me my budget was blown on the turbo and injectors! I am thinking of pulling it all apart this winter and getting them done now after seeing them again.

Vince

[Eckhard]

If you decide to replace the bearings and seals in the unitrak linkage (which is probably a good idea), there's no need to use genuine Kawasaki. You can fit high quality branded bearings (e.g. SKF) for about 1/3 of the price and the modern seals will also work better. The original seals had a steel outer surface which rusts and modern ones have no visible metal. You just need a big vice and suitable drift to remove and re-install; I use a suitably sized 1/2 socket as a drift. Happy riding!

Do you have any part #'s you would care to share?

TIA

[LondonZ1]

Here are the part numbers:

92046-1054 use SKF bearing HK2016. It's a simple needle roller and the SKF part number is already in the parts diagram.
92046-1061 use SKF HK2020. Same as the bearing above but 20mm wide rather than 16mm.
59266-1051 use the Elges spherical bearing part number GE-12PB
92049-1154 use "20x26x4mm nitrile rubber rotary shaft oil seal springless design VC style" part number 20X26X4_VC from Simply Bearings, see link below. These seals went in really easily with just a tap from a rubber mallet. The OE seals are old-fashioned design that corrode easily.
You can buy news shafts from SSI in Japan. It's not possible (or at least very difficult) to get the originals refinished as they would need grinding, heat treating and plating; the outer surfaces are the inner race for the needle rollers and simple mild steel is too soft.

https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/

I got my linkages re-anodised in gold and they looked awful, a really ugly yellow colour. Luckily I found some NOS on eBay instead. My finishing guy said that the alloy is quite porous and the only way to get a good match would be to use specially mixed paint. I think the best option is probably gold powder coat which won't be a perfect match but it will be close and more durable.

[Mang]

I managed to get my dog bones the right colour but they have changed to yellow over time!

[billybluesky1]

If you decide to replace the bearings and seals in the unitrak linkage (which is probably a good idea), there's no need to use genuine Kawasaki. You can fit high quality branded bearings (e.g. SKF) for about 1/3 of the price and the modern seals will also work better. The original seals had a steel outer surface which rusts and modern ones have no visible metal. You just need a big vice and suitable drift to remove and re-install; I use a suitably sized 1/2 socket as a drift. Happy riding!

Do you have the SKF bearing numbers?

[billybluesky1]

Ooops over enthusiastic posting , should have read the entire article

[mach1970]

Do you have a part number for ordering the rear shock from Hagon?
Did you need to modify anything or was it strictly bolt in?

Thanks
Rob