No need to have them tested - time on a shock dyno would cost more than a whole set of Ranchos. Besides, you already tested them with the seat of your pants - and they failed! Just do a visual inspection when you take them off. They should extend to their full length rather forcibly. If easy to compress or don't extend at all -they need N2 - cheap and easy fix. Leaking fluid - they need a rebuild and you have to decide if they're worth it given the affordable aftermarket alternatives. Shaft scored or pitted - toss 'em - they're definitely not worth the cost of re-shafting.Originally Posted by alterastro
As far as where to take them, any motorcycle shop should be able to supply the nitrogen. I go to the local KTM dealer - 10 bucks and good to go for another year. If you want to spend a little more money and do it right this would normally be a good time to change fluid too but since it sounds like you're on the fence about the OEM ride you might want to just give them a shot of N2 and see if they ride anywhere near what you'd like - then if they do, go for the fluid change because we're talking about probably 80 bucks worth of shock fluid plus at least an hour of shop time - 10 minutes to get the air out of the rears and 50 minutes to bleed the fronts because the &^%$# reservoir is upside down.
If they need rebuilding, a *good* motorcycle shop (and by good I mean one that caters to racers especially XC or MX) should not only be able to change the fluid but might also even rebuild them for you. There's nothing exotic about these shocks - they just need a standard Kayaba 46 X 16 sealhead rebuild kit, a piston ring and various o-rings - and of course that high dollar fluid! A lot of shops don't like to mess with suspension work though - but a good shop should at least be able to refer you to a suspension guru in your area who could rebuild them and even soften up the compression damping a tiny bit in the front.
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