A friend with a DR650 asked me to look at, to find a ringing noise. He said it sounded like a washer rattling around when he rode over bumps or a rough road.
Turns out, it actually was a washer. There's supposed to be a bump stop, one of those rubber type bumpers, on the shock shaft that softens the blow if bottoming out. It was gone, adios, dasvidaniya.
That's what got me to looking at that area. I looked, and there seemed to be a washer laying in the bottom of the spring cup. I put a pencil magnet through the spring coils, and sure enough, a big ol' washer was loosely sitting in there.
The shock has to come out of the bike to fix it, regardless. So...I think he's looking at a shock upgrade.
A good of reason as any, to plunk down on a fancy aftermarket shock. I serviced the forks on it earlier this year, new seals, wipers and boots, along with a good cleaning and fresh oil.
The story of three wheels and a man...