Due to my old shock being unrebuildable I needed to source a replacement. With a 15 year old ST with 110000km I decided it wasn't worth spending a large pile of $$$ on a replacement and after much hand-ringing I decided to try a YSS shock. It was $720 delivered from Melbourne via express post, and comes with a 2 year warranty.
External build quality seems to be really good and it is 2kg lighter than stock, but it doesn't have a remote preload adjuster (shocks with that seem to start @ $1700+). It has ride height(10mm at shock, about 25mm at wheel) preload, and rebound damping adjustments.
Installation was straight forward, just a pity that the ST hides it's shock as it is a good looking shock. It took longer removing the old shock than installing the new one.
The shock height is adjustable via the bottom mount, and seems to be set slightly longer than stock (5-10mm higher ride height), and you can remove the axle without unbolting the right hand muffler with the factory setting
With my lovely assistant's help we set the static sag, with only 1 turn required for me (90kg dressed)+ some gear in the panniers. That means YSS set the spring for a 90kg rider from the factory. Each turn on the adjuster (1mm) is good for an extra 18.3kg of weigbt over the rear axle(180n/mm spring), vs 17kg for the stock spring which is good as the ST seems to be slightly under sprung for my weight.
After an initial short ride I added 1 click on the rebound adjuster, and it felt sooooo much better than the old worn shock. The extra ride height didn't seem to make much difference to handling, maybe speeding the steering a fraction, but dead stable.
Took it for an 2 up run to a nearby RTE and the ST handled better and suspension seemed better than it ever had! (purchased with 13000km on the clock).
The main downside is preload adjustment needs the side panel to be removed, which would be a pain if you are constantly changing between solo and 2 up.
I'll update this post in the future (if I remember)
