I have seen some sources on the net cite 5 years, others 20K miles. How good is the rear shock on these bikes? Can anyone give some guidelines on them like how many miles and/or years before you should rebuild or replace? I got 34K on my '11 with mostly slabbing miles.

I replaced my rear shock at 108,000 miles. Not because I noticed any problems but because I had a 20% discount certificate for an Ohlins won at a rally. There was some improvement with the Ohlins but not drastic.

I have seen some sources on the net cite 5 years, others 20K miles. How good is the rear shock on these bikes? Can anyone give some guidelines on them like how many miles and/or years before you should rebuild or replace? I got 34K on my '11 with mostly slabbing miles.

I would be "shocked" (pun intended) if it needed rebuilding as such low intervals.

Fwiw, my ‘91 Suzuki 1100 has only 24k miles but the shock feels dead and I can see a little oil on the end of the rod- I’m fixing the bike up and will send the shock out for a rebuild

That's 27 years
Ya think the rubber has degraded any?

Which rubber? They no longer make radial tires for its 16" hoops, I have a set of Avon Azzaro radials with 75% tread left, but they are ten years old, they feel as hard as wood and I'll have to replace them with some sucky bias plie tires. I have replaced some of the body rubber nubs, otherwise it is in good shape. Even the electric windshield still works.