i know this sounds completley "newbieish" but we had the shocks off my fathers ds650 while making a repair and for the hell of it measured the tracel from the bottom of the shaft to the bottom of the rubber bumper and its luckty if its 6 inches! even without the stop it wouldnt equal 12. where do they get this number from?

 

Good question, I believe they measure it at the outside of the tire in the center of the hub, because the shock is inboard about halfway between the pivot point and the end of the arm it is double the distance at the end versus the middle where the shock is. same with the swingarm.