• A few people have been scammed on the site, Only use paypal to pay for items for sale by other members. If they will not use paypal, its likely a scam NEVER SEND E-TRANSFERS OF ANY KIND.

Aftermarket Rear shock options

nicecruise

New Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2020
Messages
23
Reaction score
13
Points
3
Location
NZ
Visit site
Hi there NC enthusiasts, am after some advice on options to upgrade/swap out the stock rear shock on my nc 2018(nc750S).

After some research i think I am right in saying a tuono rear shock can fit? But I can't find specific details as to every tuono or a particular year? Could anyone point me in the direction of what shocks would fit an nc? Are there any other bikes rear shock that can be used?

Thank you in advance

Safe riding
 
You are asking a simple question but it has a complicated answer. Unfortunately most of the riders here are on the X model which has a taller shock. There were no 750S models available in the US and I think they stopped coming to Canada in 2014 ish.

I have a 2013 NC700S and did some research on shocks that will fit my model. Not sure if the 18 is the same as the 13. I have no experience with any of these but was interested in having ideas if mine ever failed.

Nitron: They make a few models that according to their site fit 2011 to 2018. They seemed pretty pricey to me. More features...worth it?
Link

YSS: Only seemed to have one model. Lower price point. Claims to fit 2012 to 2014 models. If the Nitron fits 11-18 maybe this would work. I would be leaning in the direction personally as I am use to the stock shock so I would appreciate an upgrade due to a failure. I'm not sure I would be willing to pry my tight little wallet open far enough to the get the Nitron.
link 1
link2

Happy hunting and maybe somebody can add more useful information :)
 
Last edited:
Hi there NC enthusiasts, am after some advice on options to upgrade/swap out the stock rear shock on my nc 2018(nc750S).

After some research i think I am right in saying a tuono rear shock can fit? But I can't find specific details as to every tuono or a particular year? Could anyone point me in the direction of what shocks would fit an nc? Are there any other bikes rear shock that can be used?

Thank you in advance

Safe riding
Read through the thread on this forum regarding the Tuono/Aprilia shock. I believe the Aprilia will work. Exact dimensions as original on my NC700X. Actually, start at the end and go back as that is most recent pertinent Aprilla info. Cheap on EBay. Add an appropriate spring (7 inch) for weight.
 
Last edited:
Try YSS. Good quality items at reasonable prices. Have one on my CRF where it gets plenty of punishment.
 
Nc750s is likely not going to get any punishment. Which is why I question why the op wants to swap shocks. Seems unnecessary to me.
I can't speak for the OP's motive, but parts of the USA have horrible roads. The stock NC shock cannot comply with the typical potholes, concrete expansion joints, frost heaves, and general rough roads encountered on a daily basis where I live. I think the further north you live in the country, the worse the roads are. And if your state has large metro areas that drain the state's resources in other ways, the road maintenance is often not well funded.

Unless I'm riding to a more southern state with decent roads, I tend to ride my dual sport locally; it's suspension handles the roads better than the NC or Goldwing can.
 
Last edited:
I ca

I can't speak for the OP's motive, but parts of the USA have horrible roads. The stock NC shock cannot comply with the typical potholes, concrete expansion joints, frost heaves, and general rough roads encountered on a daily basis where I live. I think the further north you live in the country, the worse the roads are. And if your state has large metro areas that drain the state's resources in other ways, the road maintenance is often not well funded.

Unless I'm riding to a more southern state with decent roads, I tend to ride my dual sport locally; it's suspension handles the roads better than the NC or Goldwing can.
Although I wish it wasn't so, the majority of my riding is commuting the glorious streets of northeastern Ohio, more specifically the Cleveland area.
Do you feel the upgrade in the rear shock is a worthwhile upgrade for City commuting then? I do a mix of highway and City riding, and it might be possible to find a pot hole or 200 along the ride each way.
 
First thing...why do you want to change your rear shock?
Hi there to be honest I havent been impressed by the comfort levels of my NC. Im still a relatively newer rider (4years) and I came from a cbr500r. I had a chance to have both bikes at the same time and the suspension/seat comfort was a different class on the cbr. majority of my riding is commuting/the odd weekend run and I love my nc because it’s perfect for that. ive messed around and researched different seats online but in comparing the seat to a bike I another bike I ride (nbc110) I’ve found the seat to be just as soft/padded, yes angle is different so I have changed that slightly with the seat angle trick.

Also I just love tinkering with the bike, or ‘bonding‘ as some people put it. I have put smaller dog bones in to increase the seat height slightly and I thought a different shock might be also worth a go. I’m no motorcycle physicist but my uncle google suggested sme people swap out rear shocks so why not give it a go!
 
Hi there to be honest I havent been impressed by the comfort levels of my NC. Im still a relatively newer rider (4years) and I came from a cbr500r. I had a chance to have both bikes at the same time and the suspension/seat comfort was a different class on the cbr. majority of my riding is commuting/the odd weekend run and I love my nc because it’s perfect for that. ive messed around and researched different seats online but in comparing the seat to a bike I another bike I ride (nbc110) I’ve found the seat to be just as soft/padded, yes angle is different so I have changed that slightly with the seat angle trick.

Also I just love tinkering with the bike, or ‘bonding‘ as some people put it. I have put smaller dog bones in to increase the seat height slightly and I thought a different shock might be also worth a go. I’m no motorcycle physicist but my uncle google suggested sme people swap out rear shocks so why not give it a go!

I was just curious, because there are different reasons/applications for wanting to change shocks. I'd like to think the seat on the newer NC's is better than the older ones, I've never sat on a new one long enough to judge it. But the old ones were horrible, and the new ones don't look that much different. I went with the Seat Concepts seat and am content with it. Significant improvement.

Also, wouldn't shorter dogbones inadvertently make it sway toward a firmer ride? Maybe you've added to your problem by doing that?
 
Hi there to be honest I havent been impressed by the comfort levels of my NC.

And therein is the answer to some questions above. You would not be the only one not impressed with the OEM suspension on NC's. The shock is as basic as one can get and the forks not too far behind. It has a lot of severe damping built in from the getgo and can be downright uncomfortable on rougher roads or sometimes even on abnormalities on normal roads. The suspension on my 30 year old NX650 is far more compliant and plush than my former or current NC variant could come close to. Of course that is a good reason to change the shock, but if You get the rear sorted then You might also find that You need to pay attention to the front. On my former NC700 I found both ends to be in need of attention. I got the rear sorted but not the front because I took the wrong approach with expensive Andreani units that never worked properly. In stating above on my previous post that the YSS shock on my CRF took "punishment" I was merely pointing out that it is reliable.
 
Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread. i Thought it would update. I bit the bullet after reading suggested thread on tuono shock fitting the NC and bought one off eBay from a 2015 Aprillia Tuono V4. Praying it would fit and that it would make a difference. Really didn’t have much of a clue what I was doing unfortunately it was ordered before many of you kindly replied to this thread. However.

B14BC1EE-EA96-4EEE-B529-4B0B0F84E38E.jpeg

(Excuse the makeshift top box plate)
Shock arrived yesterday spent a good while trying to get the settings back to stock before install found this online which helped me get it back to road settings.

EEC6304E-DE1D-41BA-9A03-9D8456DD55BD.png



D395CAEC-9B7B-4344-A8B8-89102BA7C2C4.png


Now for the fun bit installation! Managed to jack up the bike with a car jack and a bolt through the centre stand ‘casting’? (I don’t have centre stand but the place where it could be installed.) bike with then balanced on two jack stands each under a small part of the frame. Seemed to hold strong. In hindsight would have put some material between the frame and the jack stand as it’s probably scratched it up being metal on metal.


B13913D7-025C-49EA-9200-7314FE3BC296.jpeg





016D1D3D-8EB0-4464-9E72-4DB8921E1D0B.jpeg

Removed rear wheel and removed bolt holding in one end of the dog bones so that swing arm moved freely. (Note I have already installed previously smaller dogbones incase mine look different from stock)


F787E5B8-876D-430F-8C63-3B1FDB4D284F.jpeg



This allowed swing arm to moved freely so I could tackle shock bolts. this was pretty tricky to get to, and had to slightly move rear brake hose out the way (carefully) to get the socket spanner In there. one Side required socket other required hex key. Eventually got the ba***** out after some wriggling.


B54880CA-C082-4E3D-A596-CC66BBE6C189.jpeg


Installation was more tricky, gas canister does rub against plastic but plastic slightly gives so that isn’t much of a problem, I found problem was getting to the nut of the top bolt to tighten it. Got there eventually though, after some choice words. Used a torque wrench to tighten everything, to 44nm (shock bolts and dog bone bolts) please advise if that sounds about right to anyone in the know how.



ECBD75DD-18F3-4807-AE9E-D70C613AC4D5.jpeg



And that was it, rear wheel back on and done.
E4F52E3C-2222-487C-B782-EC2B4835FD9A.jpeg

Have had only one run on the bike just have done my daily commute, have to say feels like a different bike. So am happy with result. Bike is gliding over everything (road wise) It’s only been one ride and about 20kms in so will see how things go.


One thing to note I will need to adjust preload as bike really does sink so much more compared to the stock suspension when I first sat one it. I have since done some minor research since the first ride this morning and read that some people may swap out the springs of the Aprilia shock to a larger one so that might be something to look at if I can’t manage to find comfortable settings as it is. I will update on this.
 
Last edited:
Nicecruise, Doing the same upgrade with identical shock, thanks for the install pictures. If I can ask a personal question for spring sorting. How much do you weigh?
 
(83kg) Hi so I’ve been on a bit of a journey with the springs, a journey that is still not finished. Originally tried the spring that came with tuono shock which I think was (1091/31/95) and although it felt nice its definitely not hard enough. Was sagging a lot..

I had read that someone recommended the 1092/41/115 spring with an 80kg bodyweight on a thread I think mentioned above, I found a 1092/36/105 (which I thought was close enough) cheap so I thought id give it a go. That wasn’t good enough and the rear sag was still off.

Next then I sourced the 1092/41/115 spring and installed it. It still sags too much but is better than before, that’s just with my weight on it and if I was riding with my girlfriend I would like something stiffer (so would she ;)).

To be honest the shock I installed had done 15000kms already, I’ve added about 3000. I’m unsure whether to go for a stiffer spring perhaps a 1092/49/130 or get the shock serviced.

Anyway yer I’m around 83kg dry current spring is 1092/41/115. Would like something stiffer but my shock has done a few kms so it could be in need of a service. However bike is rideable just more of an adventure bike sag.

If your shock has only done a few kms and u weigh 80kg for example I would recommend 1092/41/115 .

cheers
 
Last edited:
By the way anyone trying to do this on the relative cheap. You can find the bike that ohlins fits your desired spring in as oem by searching their catalogue at https://www.ohlins.com/products/database/ then if you can find someone selling their old stock shock for cheap you can just remove the spring from their shock. I bought a Ducati 1100 evo shock for $150(nzd) cheaper than a ohlins spring ($250). Removed the spring and it’s mine!
 
Thank you for your detailed followup. I am 94kg and will ride solo adventure no camp gear. I'm thinking 1091/49/130? Shock has very low miles does not need service. 1091 is a 160mm tall spring right? I see they make a 54/140 too, not sure if in 1091? Good advise on Ducati springs, hard to determine weights.

Thank you again for being a suspension pioneer.
 
This issue with this application is the "arm" or distance from the axle to the shocks pivot point is much longer than that of a sport bike. We are asking a lot from a really short spring. Then add a rider who's "arm" is farther yet from center, then the spring rate has to go way up to deal with the increased leverage.

If you can't get damping right being way increased in the setting, then your oil could be shot. They may be able to increase oil weight, not sure on a shock. They run a super thin oil.

You must be a wiz at removing and reinstalling the shock by now.
 
I found an online chart on another website, won't print clear enough. Basically, the spring rates are as follows:

105=600lbs
110=628lbs
115=657lbs
120=685lbs

28-29 pound increments

130=742lbs
140=799lbs
150=857lbs

57-58 pound increments

Might explain why going from 110 to 115 is so marginal.
 
This issue with this application is the "arm" or distance from the axle to the shocks pivot point is much longer than that of a sport bike. We are asking a lot from a really short spring. Then add a rider who's "arm" is farther yet from center, then the spring rate has to go way up to deal with the increased leverage.

If you can't get damping right being way increased in the setting, then your oil could be shot. They may be able to increase oil weight, not sure on a shock. They run a super thin oil.

You must be a wiz at removing and reinstalling the shock by now.
Thanks, so maybe a shock service would sort this out? Does a 18000km shock require a service do u reckon?
 
Back
Top