Need Suspension tuning/upgrade help

[mjohnr]

i am new to this thread and my bike is new to me. i recently just bought a 2000 SV650S. i love the bike, its a bike ive always wanted. anyway ive been tweaking it with a few performance mods and some exterior looks. next on my list is the suspension, i dont really have any issues with the rear shock but the front shock i feel needs some help, nothing is wrong with it i just feel it under performs. what do you recommend for a suspension upgrade, any and all input would be great, from do it yourself tricks to complete upgrades, what the best bang for your buck? thanks

[fizzwheel]

Have a play with the search function, this has been done to death and there will be loads of threads out there, if you are on a budget fitting the right springs for your weight and also upgrading / replacing the fork oil with something else is a good start.

[carsounds_dan]

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=113110
ive just brought that... perfect for the sv

[mjohnr]

i had a feeling this topic would have been covered already but i havent found anything as of yet that really gets to the meat of answering my questions. ive been thinking about looking for a front end off of another bike but that seems kinda costly and more of a hassle reconstructing. a spring and new oil would help a little im sure. id love to have external adjustments...... rebound, compression, preload..... is it possible? ive been looking at GP suspension, they have a upgrade kit that seems nice for around $150 US. anyone fimiliar with there product?

[boo86]

On my 2000 I've got a 2007 gsxr rear shock. Fit's no problem with most of the battery box cut out. the battery actualy sits on the resoirvoir cushoned with a bit of spong. In the front I've got 0.9 nm per mm springs from K tech, 20 wieght oil and custom aluminium spacers for loads of preload. The spacers sit about 20mm out of the top of the fork tubes then I've got to compress them and screw the tops in. It's a track bike though so maybe a little stiff for the road.

[niccollotto]

ive found that just putting linear Ohlins springs in matched against my body weight, 20w oil and an air gap suggested by steve jordan, gives all the upgrade you need for both road and track, and only cost about £100, i've left the standard rear shock on and i have no complaints with the handling (58 secs for Brands Indy), but then it is only 5000 miles old

[fizzwheel]

ive been thinking about looking for a front end off of another bike but that seems kinda costly and more of a hassle reconstructing.

If you ar ethinking of going down that route, search for GSXR front end conversion its very popular and if you do it right you can sell your standard front end on ebay and make your money back.

[Dangerous Dave]

Cheap - Progressive fork springs with new oil matched to your weight

Expensive - GSXR front end with a new rear shock (one designed for the SV and not a bodge job GSXR/ZXR one, trust me there is a huge difference).

Bear in mind you can, if you shop carefully, recoup all the money back when changing to a GSXR front end by selling on the SV front end.

[dizzyblonde]

+ 1 DD
You can put a set of Hagon progressive springs and 15w oil in for around 70 quid ish.
However if you compliment it with a rear Hagon shock for £250 it makes it whole and even. Still think that comes in cheaper than a front end conversion, and its less faff, and easy to do

[ThEGr33k]

The info on the Gixxer front end can be found in my Sig. :D Have fun.

[niccollotto]

Progressive springs will give more comfort for road riding but for optimum handling linear springs are best as telescopic fork damping mechanisms work best with oil flows increasing / decreasing linearly

[northwind]

You can fettle the SV forks a fair bit- you could but £750 worth of Traxxion AK20s into them and have them work better than stock GSXR forks frinstance, if you go mad- but it soon stops making much sense when compared with a whole swap (by which I mean either a whole GSXR front, or a whole other bike ;)) The GSXR front is much less work than you'd think and as DD says you can recoup a lot of the costs- I would have come out ahead on mine first time round, if I'd not blown the budget on luxuries.

But, and it's quite a big but, that relies on getting good bits. One set of warped discs and that's the cost advantage gone, unless you can get a refund (and since most people put the bits together over time, there might be too much of a delay to make that workable). Also, GSXR forks need serviced just as much as anything else, if you get a tired out pair they just won't work well, and servicing can be pricey. And lastly, you might still need to spend more to get them set up right for you if you're outwith their operating range- most folks can find a GSXR fork to suit but not everyone.

Springs and oil is a good basic correction for the SV- it's not an upgrade, it's just a fix to Suzuki's mistake. The SV forks are dead basic but they do work, once they have the right parts in. Emulators are very good but, again, takes you up to the point where you could just bin the whole front.

[dizzyblonde]

Progressive springs will give more comfort for road riding but for optimum handling linear springs are best as telescopic fork damping mechanisms work best with oil flows increasing / decreasing linearly


I got Ohlins linears in my other SV and I think they are pants, I much prefer the other set up I have