After a bit of research online, I decided to purchase a Progressive 465 rear shock from JC Motorcycle Accessories out of California. The price was great and delivery to Canada was a non-issue.
Progressive 465
Last weekend, I finally decided to replace the shock. I looked at the service manual again and just shook my head at the directions for the install. I decided that I would take a quick look online to see if there was any easier way to do the install. Sure enough, I found an alternate set of directions for the install that looked much easier than the Yamaha service manual...what did we do before the Internet!
The next step was off to the garage to complete the task. The images below give you an idea of the work that needed to be done.
Seat removal
Left side cover removal
Left chrome cover removal
Splash cover removal
Right side cover removal and battery box bolt removal
Disconnect wiring harness
Removing the tool box casing was a bit of the pain, there are many bolts and a few screws that hold it in place. Add the fuse box, the fuel filter, the fuel pump and affiliated hoses and I think you will get the picture...no pun intended!
Tool box casing
You do not have to completely remove the tool box casing, but you will have to unhook the fuse box and the fuel filter. Once that is done the tool box casing can be moved enough to get access to the rear shock.
Tool box casing moved
Access to rear shock
Alternate view of rear shock
Removing the shock was a bit tricky and lucky for me, my good friend Luc showed up as I was trying to figure out how I was going to get the shock out without an extra set of hands. Using a motorcycle jack on the front of the bike and a floor jack underneath the shock and relay arm (intermediate connector between rear shock & swingarm) made the job relatively easy. The floor jack allowed for taking pressure off the shock; top bolt removal and bottom connecting arm/bolt removal was easily done and the old shock was removed easily through the seat pan. The new Progressive shock was then installed using the same process.
Next it was simply a matter of reversing the steps and putting pieces back in place.
Re-installing tool box cover & other items
The total time was about about 3.5 hours for the shock install on the VStar 1100 Classic.
Almost complete...
The finished product!
Now the VStar is ready to go and I have no excuses for not riding it!