bad shock, what to do?

Hi all,

I have an '82 TT250, and the rear shock must be completely shot. It
doesn't seem to have any damping whatsoever, and even if I go over a
washed out rut or something it'll bottom.

Anyway, I don't know anything about suspension but I started looking
around for parts. First stop was a salvage yard, which doesn't have
any TT250's. Next stop, local Yamaha dealer...yikes! $400 for the
shock assembly, the damper is $105 but is discontinued. It seems that
the problem is probably the damper, and I intend to disassemble the
bike tomorrow to take out the assembly and see what I see.

What I'm wondering is, does anyone know if I could find an aftermarket
damper that would fit this? What would I need to look for -
suspension travel, physical size...? Like I said, I don't know
anything about suspension yet, but it seems like there ought to be
something I could get that will work for this.

Thanks for any help!

Jason

Start calling suspension shops and see if your shock can be rebuilt, you
can find suspension shops in the back of the dirt bike magazines. If
your shock cannot be rebuilt, you're either going to have to buy a new
shock, or find a used one at a motorcycle salvage yard like
Bikeboneyard.com. Chances are that either Works Performance or
Progressive Suspension makes a shock for your bike, but it's probably
going to cost you $300-$400.