Has anyone out there swapped out the stock rear shock on a 250sx with a shock from another bike? I recently put a 300ex rear shock on my 1986 250sx. I had to make some custom steel bushings, since the 300ex shock used 12mm bolts, and the 250sx frame used 10mm (did not want to drill out the frame). However, the shock fit fine in the frame, as it is the same OAL as the stock unit. Have not been off road yet with it, but it seems to work fine. Any feedback or other ideas would be appreciated.

 

I've got a 200X shock I was gonna mod to install on mt SX, but it's shorter, & looked like more modding than I had time for- How's that 300EX shock working out?

 

Took it out yesterday for the first real test - about 4 hours of hard trail riding. On a scale of 1 to 10, the stock rear supension is about a 2. With the 300ex shock, I'd move it up to a 4 or 5. It's a vast improvement over stock, but you still won't mistake this bike for a 200x. I also replaced the 22x11x8 rear tires with 20x11x9 Kenda Klaws. That helped with the cornering tremedously, and also allowed me to stay in third gear for most of the day on the trails. Before, I was constantly going back and forth from second to third. All in all, it was definitely worth the $55 I spent on the shock to upgrade. If you can get a good deal on a used one from eBay, I'd recommed trying it out. It is absolutely a better deal than spending close to $300 on a Works shock for this bike.

 

Sounds like a plan to me- A buddy gave me a shock from an older Polaris 400, but the res. wouldn't clear the battery box. How big of a deal was it to mod those bushings? AND is the X shock any taller?

 

Not sure about the X shock. Never had one up close to look at. Pictures of the linkage bracket on the bottom scared me off from trying to fit it to my frame.

I ended up buying a piece of 1/2" OD steel pipe from Lowes (hardware section, not plumbing) and cutting it to length for the bushings. The inner diameter just about perfectly matched the 10mm stock bolts. I then used a 1/2" cobalt drill bit in a drill press to "ream out" slightly the shock mounting bracket holes. I only took out about 1 to 1.5mm of steel from the inside of the mounts, so I doubt it would hurt the strength of the shock. Be sure to keep a good coat of oil on the shock and the bit. Drill it out only a 1/4" or so at a time, back it out, and oil it up again. That will keep the bit sharp and the shock cool.

After that, the 1/2" steel pipe still would not fit into the shock mounts. I had to use a Dremel tool to slightly scrape away a few thousandths from the outside of the new 1/2" pipe bushings. Grease up the bushings, and lightly tap them into the shock mounts (if needed - mine were still tight fitting). Mount up the shock and have fun!

If you need any pictures, let me know.