When to change a scooter shock absorber?

Shock absorbers are one of the key parts of your scooter. Indeed, their role will be to absorb the vibrations that will be caused by the various roughness of the road and therefore prevent you from feeling too much.

It is rather pleasant and it avoids having a pain in the arms and shoulders not possible every time you go out your machine. However, this remains a part that we will call wear.

Understand by this that like the pistons that will have to be changed at regular intervals, the shock absorbers will age and lose their properties. So when are you going to have to change them?

It's true that if you're not a mechanical pro, you might be wondering how to know when it's time to make the switch. Well, we'll answer all of your questions.

In this article, we'll tell you when to make this change, but we won't stop there! In fact, we will also tell you how to change them yourself!

When to change a scooter shock absorber?

The problem when you are not used to mechanics is that it is easy to forget that you have to change a scooter shock absorber or at least to know when you have reached a kind of limit.

Thus, it is not uncommon to see scooters with shock absorbers which are original when the owners have traveled tens of thousands of kilometers with them and it is therefore high time to change them.

But then, why is it so hard to know when to change a scooter shock absorber? Well the answer is simple, the quality of these does not give up suddenly and there is no external indicator.

In short, the more you ride, the less efficient they perform, but since this process is still quite slow, well, you don't necessarily see the difference. However, the degradation is there.

So, to solve this problem if you are not a great mechanic, your best bet is to set a limit. A limit at which you will automatically change your shock absorber on your machine.

This limit can be set at approximately 40 kilometers. As you can see, this is not a part that you will have to change too often, which also explains why its degradation is so little felt.

Step 1: the necessary equipment

Now that we have set a limit on which to change a scooter shock absorber, let's get to the main point, how to go about making this change and it does not happen at random.

Indeed, before you start this operation, you will have to think about providing sufficient equipment so as not to end up with parts dismantled everywhere and a tool that you are missing.

So, inevitably, you will need a new scooter shock absorber, but in addition to that, you will have to equip yourself a jack to be able to raise the wheel during the entire change operation.

For what will be the disassembly of the wheel, we advise you to buy penetrating oil to avoid a whole bunch of unnecessary effort. Finally, to change a scooter shock absorber, you will need a set of pipe wrench.

Step 2: install your scooter

Before changing a scooter shock absorber, we will have one last essential step, the installation. Indeed, to be able to change the shock absorber itself, it must be stretched to the maximum.

For this, you only have one solution available, put a jack to raise the wheel. Thus, the shock absorber will extend to the maximum and this is where you will be able to start working.

Finally, once you have finished this installation, you will be able to use the penetrating oil that we advised you to purchase beforehand. Spray it on the fasteners and let it act for a few minutes.

Step 3: change a scooter shock absorber

That's it, it's time to change a scooter shock absorber! For this, you will be able to bring your pipe wrench to remove the various bolts and grab the old shock absorber.

Once this is done, what we advise you is to apply a stroke of lubricant and degrease a little everywhere to clean everything before installing the new shock absorber on your machine.

Speaking of this new shock absorber, what we will advise you not to struggle too much is to remount the wheel using the jack so that the shock absorber can be inserted more easily.

Once it's done, all you have to do is change a scooter shock absorber and put the bolts back in place. There you have made your change.

In short, to change a depreciation it is necessary:

  • Install a scooter on a flat area
  • Lift the affected wheel using a jack
  • Remove the old shock absorber
  • Lift the wheel a little more
  • Place the new shock absorber

Learn about scooters and their problems

Scooters are means of locomotion appreciated by many people around the world, among other things for their ability to sneak around.

But there are several types of scooters available depending on the uses you are going to have. This is why we come back with you on these different types in a dedicated article.