shock

when is a shock absorber showing signs of being knackered or on its way out then
never had a bike with this problem so dont honestly know but just asking out of interest if anyone had personal experience of this and symptoms.

Mal,

Is your bike a curvy? Also what are you experiencing in different situations on the bike? What I mean is does the bike behave oddly when under braking? After hitting a bump or pot hole? During cornering or shortly afterwards?

There is always the possibility that your suspension is not actually set up for you personally. Set it up right and then begin to explore for any faults. Your man Super Sid would help you out more I am sure in Tuning and Tweaking.

Not happened to me on a bike either, but applying the same principle as a car's the obvious would be if you start to notice that the shock doesn't 'settle' quickly when compressed.

Usually you can tell by 'boucing' it if it wallows up/down for a longish period, probably knacked (check for leaks also?).

Be good to know if this principle does apply to bike shocks too?

Originally Posted by goonrider

Not happened to me on a bike either, but applying the same principle as a car's the obvious would be if you start to notice that the shock doesn't 'settle' quickly when compressed.

Usually you can tell by 'boucing' it if it wallows up/down for a longish period, probably knacked (check for leaks also?).

Be good to know if this principle does apply to bike shocks too?

Yup, that's about what happened to mine. It went off gradually over time & I reaslised it needed looking at when I needed to soften the front to accommodate the softness of the rear.

Then all on one ride (albeit a couple of hundred miles of hard riding) it started leaking, went extremely bouncy (kept going up and down after the bumps in the road had stopped!) and ended spewing out shock oil. Shocko el kaputo...

hi gents, yep its a curvy pete. the bike is behaving fine to be honest. even thinking of putting in upgraded/stiffer springs to stop dive under braking etc. i brake sensibly as much as possible but find the front end a tadge soft for my liking. wondering if changing fork oil for a firmer fork oil would do first!

the rear shock is working fine, even two up but i just wondered what some of the symptoms of one going off were like. its one of those nigling little things that often wondered about.

can imagine the effect of one being knackered could be quite dangerous from what you say (exsesive bouncing) leaking.......

I wouldn't call it safe, but it wasn't particularly dangerous - I had to ride the bike 200 miles home like that and although I started off pretty cautiously, it still stood up to being chucked around a bit (was difficult to resist as the roads were so nice!!)

Wouldn't recommend riding with it like that unless you absolutely have to though - it's a bit like being on a boat on the sea (up, down, up, down..) For me the oil thing wasn't an issue as it had none left by the time I left for home and I also have a hugger - but if you don't then it might cause you problems on the back tyre.

Got a new shock put on as soon as I got home - felt like a dream afterwards!!

Mal...From what I have gained from the folks on here, upgraded springs and oil in your forks do a pretty good job of transforming it's behaviour particularly in relation to dive under braking.

I have Spanish pal with a curvy and he has converted to Ohlins and he loves his SV! He regularly does track days and is more than happy with how the SV behaves on the circuit.

Madmal, as your bike is still in stock suspension I'd say it's less noticeable than something that's been stiffened up front and rear. Then it starts to affect the handling a lot more as one end is nicely damped but the other bouncing makes it a pig when cornering.

Before you change the fork oil on it's own, consider whether you are a light/average/heavy rider. You would be as well to do springs and oil together if you're over 75kg's (generally accepted as the limit on stock springs). The ride improvement is amazing when set up right.

For the rear, aftermarket shocks are fine at a price, but the GSXR/ZX6 swaps are good on a budget. Much better than stock, and go for peanuts on ebay. Search on here for what shock to look for, matching your weight.

im 12 stone so from what i have read a gsxr shock would do the job. i would upgrade the springs/oil together but like all things.....on a budget. the bike suspension is standard but i'm planning ahead so thanks all for suggestions.

pete, it was the thought of doing a track day that got me to thinking about suspension so on same wavelength there . i did a couple on my cbr600f a few years ago at oulton park and that handled sound on stock set up.......i'm no full on racer by any means but feel if i was to try it on the sv with present set up then things could get a bit wallowy.

will do some homework on this one

generally i love the bike, but am looking at upgrading a few bits.......as you do