Front Forks?

[mikeSV]

Hello again folks!

I am here for a bit more advice!

Riding around, I felt like the front end felt a bit 'wrong'...

I took the bike in, and have been told be the lovely guy's at jhs that the front suspension is a tad on the shody side!

They said a fork kit is in order... but they are very busy at the mo...

SO...

A bit of advice...

What do you guy's think the options are? - How much to get better than stock suspension? - any ideas or suggestions welcome!

The bike is a 650sv '99 curvy.

JHS said oil, an springs... (kit contains that they said) - just wondered what people here thought, as they are too bsuy at the mo. - As in, what kits are around, just 1? - or various options?

Ta!

Mike

[mikeSV]

Hello again folks!

I am here for a bit more advice!

Riding around, I felt like the front end felt a bit 'wrong'...

I took the bike in, and have been told be the lovely guy's at jhs that the front suspension is a tad on the shody side!

They said a fork kit is in order... but they are very busy at the mo...

SO...

A bit of advice...

What do you guy's think the options are? - How much to get better than stock suspension? - any ideas or suggestions welcome!

The bike is a 650sv '99 curvy.

JHS said oil, an springs... (kit contains that they said) - just wondered what people here thought, as they are too bsuy at the mo. - As in, what kits are around, just 1? - or various options?

Ta!

Mike

I wondered about this: http://www.motorcycle-road-and-race.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=648&products_id=403160

[MiniMatt]

How many pies you had lately? The SV is notoriously under sprung for average european weights, tho I will contend that the spring rate is just about perfect for featherweights. Hagon & Ohlins do spring + slightly thicker oil kits to sort this; most suppliers will be able to sort you out. There are two types of spring, progressive (their rate increases as it's more compressed) and linear (same spring rate throughout travel). Personally I've always preferred linear, but this is very much a personal preference.

Also, I'm vaguely aware that you can retrofit pre-load caps from a pointy to a curvey's forks, tho someone else will need to confirm this. That can certainly help you get your sag levels sorted.

If you really want to sort out the front then the damping needs attention, as it's arguably a notable weak point once spring rate is correct for your weight. To combat this gets more expensive, you could go for new fork internals, either complete replacement or addition of emulators (eg RaceTech), or even a complete front end swap (tho that's something for the dedicated).

Search button well advised, this has been covered quite a few times lately :D

EDIT:
Correction - it might be hyperpro (like those you link) that do the progressives rather than hagon.

[yorkie_chris]

There's quite a few kits out there, hyperpro, ohlins, hagon.

Just springs and oil they're all the same really, whereabouts are you? I've no jobs on at the moment... ;)

Most will advice progressives for street, linears for track.

The weight of oil is another variable, most go for 10 or 15.


You'll never get the damping right with stock internals, they're a compromise between high and low speed, the better either one gets, the worse you make the other.

Preload caps from a pointy will fit with no mods and allow you to set preload to get the front sag about right.

Emulators are the next step, and new forks arent all that hard to do.

[mikeSV]

Hi, based in Bristol.

What about the ones in my link above?

Any good?

How much would ya want for doing this???

EDIT: your in leeds! hats a fair treck from Bristol!!! - advice still very welcome tho!

Bike is for road use. - Everyday for eveyday stuff, BUT on weekends... :cool:!!!

[yorkie_chris]

Bristols probably too far for it to save you any money, but for springs and oil probably around £50 as I doubt anywhere else would do it for that.

Yes that kit is as good as any other.

[mikeSV]

Bristols probably too far for it to save you any money, but for springs and oil probably around £50 as I doubt anywhere else would do it for that.

Yes that kit is as good as any other.

See above! (the edit!)

[yorkie_chris]

Well alls you need is a jack and a couple of spanners to do it, so get a kit and the mighty org will walk you through it :-P

[Tim in Belgium]

Did forks and oil to my bike, transformed it. You can also fit the preload adjuster from an SK2 curvy (I bought mine from a Suzuki stealership) to let you set the sag properly. Definitely worth the modest outlay if you're planning on keeping the bike for longer than 6mths.

[mikeSV]

Did forks and oil to my bike, transformed it. You can also fit the preload adjuster from an SK2 curvy (I bought mine from a Suzuki stealership) to let you set the sag properly. Definitely worth the modest outlay if you're planning on keeping the bike for longer than 6mths.

Hmmm.... preload adjuster eh???

As for the comment on weight from sum1... I only weight about 10stone! so not a big fella! - any benefit from the preload adjuster? - any1 got one for sale? lol!

[yorkie_chris]

10 stone won't be too far out with standard springs really, some fresh oil will probably make just as much difference

[Marksv]

just done mine and the oil will be more like chocloate milkshake mate, got the hagon ones for £62.50 delivered with free 15w oil.

[petevtwin650]

We had our first curvy's forks done by JHS as part of the service. New springs and thicker oil plus they raised the forks a little through the yokes. Totally transformed the bike. Well worth spending the money on:smt045

[yorkie_chris]

I'm not convinced that you need different springs if you weigh 10 stone. Fresh oil will probably do just fine, as well as being about a fiver.

[dyzio]

I'm having Hagon springs & oil fitted tomorrow (woohoo!!!) can't wait

[Dangerous Dave]

We had our first curvy's forks done by JHS as part of the service. New springs and thicker oil plus they raised the forks a little through the yokes. Totally transformed the bike. Well worth spending the money on:smt045
Many years ago I did this too, great results!

[mikeSV]

just done mine and the oil will be more like chocloate milkshake mate, got the hagon ones for £62.50 delivered with free 15w oil.

Ooooo! you got a link for these???

Mike

[neio79]

Mike,

GO with JHS and their recomendations, they know their sh*t. I have used them a couple of times, infact last week to set my Kwak up for road riding.

The kit they will do you is a Hyperpro kit which is good, and for a little bit extra they can get the rear spring included as well.

[northwind]

It's easy to DIY- though easier if you have a stand that will suspend the front! Personally, I wouldn't want to pay money to anyone to do this job, I did it myself for the first time back when I really had not much clue what I was doing and it went fine :thumbsup: It's just remove forks, unscrew tops, turn upside down, springs and oil fall out, put some new ones in, job jobbed. The hard part isn't doing the work, it's speccing the parts and oil.

At 10st though you don't want to go much heavier- I was about that weight when I ran that setup with Ohlins .8 springs and 15W Silkolene fork oil and it was too heavy for me, it felt great on braking and AWFUL on bumps, especially in winter. You're not far off the right weight for the standard springs, so maybe just a fork oil refresh will help you.

Preload adjusters IMO are a wee bit of a waste of cash in some ways, basically you're paying for simplicity. They do nothing you can't do with a bit of patience and effort, really- on the fly adjustability isn't all that useful unless you switch from 1-up to 2-up a lot or you intend to put on a lot of weight. But still, I got them and didn't regret it, sometimes it's worth paying for something you don't actually need.

[dizzyblonde]

after a really crappy set up on Suze for a loooooong time, YC fitted a Hagon rear shock and Hagon progressive fork springs with 15W oil.......... I can now say after testing around 500 miles of road ,round Wales, and back, at the weekend the transformation is absolutly bloody marvellous.................smmmmmmmmoooooooth as a babies bum, and only one....yes....one of the so called 'SV knock' all weekend........

did I say how marvellous my supsension was hehehehehehehehhehehehehhehee

[dyzio]

ok, new springs fitted :) just have to ride it now but reading stuff like this:
after a really crappy set up on Suze for a loooooong time, YC fitted a Hagon rear shock and Hagon progressive fork springs with 15W oil.......... I can now say after testing around 500 miles of road ,round Wales, and back, at the weekend the transformation is absolutly bloody marvellous.................smmmmmmmmoooooooth as a babies bum, and only one....yes....one of the so called 'SV knock' all weekend........

did I say how marvellous my supsension was hehehehehehehehhehehehehhehee
makes me think the rear shock will be here sooner then planned...:D

[petevtwin650]

Once we'd got the front done the back was obviously more wallowy, but it just added to the fun. Riders behind used to wonder how we never ended up in the fields:cool: A new shock isn't such a big upgrade as the front IMO.

[dizzyblonde]

well its the turn of the slug now( I love Dave really, but I love suze more)
we...I mean YC put new headbearing in yesterday, still knocking so we are looking at the fork springs next....they are Ohlins but theres something not quite right still, I know that it would benefit from a rear shock replacement too, but its insurance month in May so will have to wait

[yorkie_chris]

You don't have to use hagon, they're well expensive, I've a spare one on the way, either SRAD or ZX6, depending on which I prefer.

[dyzio]

You don't have to use hagon, they're well expensive, I've a spare one on the way, either SRAD or ZX6, depending on which I prefer.
Yes, but on the other hand they are: brand new, "build" for your weight, have a warranty, and don't require any mods (this is the part that I dread most with the rear shock)

[yorkie_chris]

I'd chop and chuck quite a lot of standard bike to save ?200, especially since by many accounts the hagon is more of an OEM replacement than a performance upgrade

[dyzio]

I'd chop and chuck quite a lot of standard bike to save ?200, especially since by many accounts the hagon is more of an OEM replacement than a performance upgrade
?200? If you can get a zx shock for ?50 then yes, it's a big difference.
I doubt my DIY skills with that mod + the hagon will be set as close as possible to your weight (I don't have a clue about setting up/adjusting the rear shock)

[yorkie_chris]

No, the hagons damping and spring weight are set up for the "average" rider just like OEM, also damping control is just damping, not seperate rebound or compression.

If your DIY skills are up to changing a shock, then they're fine for putting a ZX one in.

[jambo]

I put a Hagon shock on my Bandit 600 and rated it rather highly. I'm sure you get more control over adjustment with something more expensive, but having ridden round on a duff shock while I was saving up it felt amazing!

Jambo