Hi, can anyone tell me is it possible for me to rebuild the rear shock absorber on my 83 xr500? i have had it re gassed, but was told it also has an oil leak, so is it possible to replace the oil seals, and if so is it something i can do in the shed myself or do i need a bike mechanic to work on it? thanks in advance for any advice offered, Damien

Is it one with the oil reserve on the end of a line..if so they and the others with the oil/gas reserve attached to the top of the shock can be rebuilt. I don't do it personally but take mine to a local engineer who's been rebuilding them for years..It can be expensive if he has to machine a new shaft/replace seals etc if the old ones pitted..Sets me back a couple of hundred for a proper job,,I occasionally baulk at the cost but I know he's a pro so it's worth getting it done properly.

looking at Babbits fiche it does not show the seal is sold through Honda but looks easy to get to it.  You may have to match it through a seal company like Metric Seals??  Fairly easy job though.

RaceTech has seals and other goodies(you most likely need a bushing too). 14mm shaft. Go to racetech.com

thanks to everyone who replied, greatly appreciated, will order the parts from racetech and have a go at rebuilding it, Damien

hondaxr500 said:

If youv'e never done one,,come back when it's apart we'll get ya going:thumbsup:

It's not a simple thing to do.

Hello,

New member here.

I picked up an 81 XR 500 R and I'm looking to rebuild the rear shock. Any update on the 83 rebuild? I'm guessing they won't be exactly the same, but hoping to learn a bit more about how they are assembled before I tear into mine.

Thanks

I would probably follow the instructions here. How comfortable are you with repairing things? Nice to see someone use the search feature and find what they want. Welcome to the forum, I'm sure someone will help you out since they were pretty popular bikes.

scalejockey, on 19 December 2010 - 08:04 PM, said:

Of course it takes some work, and of course the unit won't rebuild itself, but contrary to what you say, rebuilding a rear shock absorber is actually an EXTREMELY simple thing to do.

steve--, on 24 May 2012 - 07:39 AM, said:

Simple? yes,,,getting all the air out?? No,...been doing shocks for 30 years,still get frustrated  on some shocks getting ALL the air out.

if you get really stuck, I've got an ex conditon rear suspension  (Xr350) from my 85 with a new Progressive suspension spring (new last year). Spring is 9.0-12.0 so if over 200 lbs very nice improvement.  They were available on Ebay last time I checked (few months ago), some guy had a few of them, new in package.