| Author | Message | ||
     Xodot |
Has anyone upgraded their fork oil with stock forks and noticed a difference? I am (at best) an intermediate track day rider with intentions to improve next year. E_B_R FRONT FORK 25MM CARTRIDGE KIT springs at $650 and the same for SHOWAź RACE REAR SHOCK is more than I need at my level of competence right now. Is there an incremental (read "cheap") improvement to be realized in using better oil? I know very little about suspension set up so I had a shop do mine for me and I have not touched it's settings since. | ||
| Jdugger |
If you haven't serviced your forks in a while, just replacing the oil with a decent fresh oil will help. A minor upgrade would be the Race Tech fluid. They make a super slick fork oil that I use along with the Showa cartridges and I'm really impressed with it. You get performance that's dang, dang close to top end cartridges for half the money. You can use this fluid with a stock fork set up, too. But, seriously, get those $650 fork cartridges. They are really, really nice and seriously worth the money. Highly, highly recommended. | ||
| Rodrob |
Take the money you have for suspension, and spend it on a high performance riding school like the California Superbike School. You will be shocked at how much untapped potential in your bike's suspension is released with pro racing techniques. Once you can employ, if not master those techniques, you will have a much better understanding of what you need from suspension upgrades. | ||
| Dannybuell |
Rodrob +1 | ||
| Drawkward |
I'm with rob on this one. IMO, if you're an intermediate rider (like me), you're no where close to out riding your motorcycle yet. | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
BTW, the cartridge and shock are $500 each from E-B-R if you use the code "SUSPENSION SALE". | ||
| Xodot |
Yea I am all for improving my riding ability - for me that is the sport in "sport bike riding". I am fortunate to be able to do track days hosted by a retailer who, with his son, are very supportive pro racers willing to point out what I need to work on while offering encouragement. I have just put on the Dunlop Q2 tires ready for spring and was looking for something I could do myself, like change the fork oil to Race Tech. Thanks for that suggestion Jdugger. I agree, with you guys, the bike, in stock configuration, will be beyond my capacity to max out for a long time yet! | ||
| Rodrob |
Suspension sale is expired and no longer works, btw. | ||
| Stirz007 |
Rodrob - sorry, bought mine a while back and haven't checked the code since. | ||
| Barker |
My question would be what complaints/problems/inadequacies do you have with the stock set-up? My $0.02, on some tuning options in order of free to way more than what you paid for the bike: Make sure you tire pressures are correct for the riding you are doing. Setting sag and experimenting with sag. While making careful observations and good notes. Experimenting with damping. While making careful observations and good notes. Zip tie data logging front and rear travel. While making good notes. Experimenting with geometry. Moving forks in triples, preload adjustments. While making careful observations and good notes. Buying some books/videos on sport bike suspension. Fresh fork oil, if you have more than 4000 miles. Tuning oil/air levels. While making careful observations and good notes. Heavier/lighter oils. While making careful observations and good notes. Expert advice and set-up from a tuner. Heavier/lighter rate springs. Re-valving/shim kits. While making careful observations and good notes. Fork internals. (like the ones from Erik Buell Racing and other options.) Aftermarket front and rear. Top tier aftermarket front and rear. With electronic data logging. Hiring a suspension guru to ride around with you and set the bike up for every road. | ||
| Dannybuell |
Barker - 98% perfect. My .02% worth would be to know that heavier oil in the forks is not such a good idea. Heavier oils take longer to warm up. A cold bike and especially in cooler weather the front end can become very stiff and unresponsive. Light oils always flow well. | ||
| Barker |
True Danny. Heavier oil are not he best idea per se. I mix half/half the next heavier oil wt with recommended to get a slightly heaver oil in my uly. Just like with tires, they need a little heat in them before you go balls out. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
The problem with heavier oil is that there is a greater disparity in how it performs when the ambient temp is warm compared to when it's cold. All oils will act thicker when cold, but the difference is more pronounced in a heavier oil. I had 10wt in my SV1000S and while it was fine in the summer, I had to back off the damping adjusters several clicks in the winter and it was still a bit on the harsh side. I don't necessarily agree with the guys suggesting a riding school before suspension upgrades, but it depends on the bike. A bike with crappy suspension will sap confidence even in a skilled rider. I spent hours upon hours tinkering with my SV650's crappy damper rod suspension (which had been upgraded with emulators) before finally buying a revalved CBR600F3 cartridge fork and bolting its uppers and internals to the stock SV650 lowers. The bike was transformed from a wallowing pig to a firm yet compliant backroad weapon. The 1125R, on the other hand, has really good stock suspension. While it could certainly be improved, I have no complaints at the level I ride--aggressive backroads riding but no track days on this particular bike. (I'm a fast I-class rider with NESBA.) |
