What to do with bike while Dougherty rebuilds suspension?

I'm sort of at a loss and looking for advice. I am thinking about pulling my rear shock and front fork and shipping them to Jamie Dougherty to rebuild, but in the mean time I'm not sure where to store the bike. The shops I've called don't have the space to just have a bike hanging around, and I don't have the tools, space, or know-how to pull the parts at home. Anyone ever dealt with this problem? I'm starting to think I'm just going to have to buy a standard replacement rear shock or something as opposed to having a rebuild done.

 

where are you located? Perhaps another member has a garage with some space.

 

Where you located? Perhaps a local member might give you a hand taking things apart. Maybe you could barter the use of someone's garage to do the work and store the bike for a month or so. Rent a 5 X 10 storage space? Gotta get creative!!

 

I live in Seattle. As to renting the space etc, I'm starting to do the math and it would be cheaper at that point to just buy an Ohlin rear rather than get the space and the front/rear stands. Starting to lean in that direction.

 

That is exactly the reason I purchased the fork inserts.

 

When I did my 6 Gen I bought an ABS model shock that I sent to Jamie and then had him send me the components for the forks. This way I could keep using my bike while he did the work on the shock. Once he was done he sent what I needed for the forks along with the shock and I did the install. Since then Jamie has created a "drop in" kit for the forks, making it a lot easier to upgrade your forks. If you go that route, I can loan you a shock so that you don't have to remove yours and once you get yours swapped out, just send me your old one. Not sure which bike you have but I have a 5 and 6 Gen OEM shocks.

 

Good on ya, OOTV.

 

I might take you up on this OOTV, thanks for the offer. I'm weighing the costs right now. Tempted to just go ahead and pull the trigger on an ohlin rear, then buy Jamie's front fork kit later. I guess I'm skeptical that a rebuild of a crappy shock can match a renowned high end manufacturer. I'm sure his product is great, but everyone says Ohlin and Penske are the best...

 

There OOTV go's again, payin forward...rack in up all those brownie points.....good job D
You'd ta mang

 

Got your PM and response sent. Personally I think if you're just after improvement and not a race ready suspension, it's hard to beat what Jamie offers for the stock Showa shock IMO. However, even going with something like an Ohlins or Penske, you still need to customize it to your weight and riding type you'll be doing and again, Jamie does a great job there too.

For my '09 I went with an OEM shock and new internals for the forks (valves, shims and springs), and it made a huge difference. However on my '01, I went with rebound adjustable "innards" up front as well as the other bits (valves, shims, springs) and a rebuilt Penske rear shock, as this bike is going to be a pure sport riding machine, most likely with a few track days a year. Each ride has a different purposes for me and I have been completely satisfied with the work Jamie has done on both machines.