Rear shock for curvy. Opinions, advice please.

Hey all.

I have just spent nearly 2 hours reading through old threads about rear shock conversions for curvy's.

I am probably 15.5 stone with all my gear on.

I am looking to get a zx10r (2004) rear shock, from the mighty Fleabay.

I am just after people's opinions on this particular conversion, and what benefits i'll get over the standard shock.

Ive not been riding long (the SV is my first bike), but I would like it to be as good as it can be for reasonable money. So this seems a good way to spend £45.

Any input greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Richie K

[Luckypants]

I put one on my curvy when I was just shy of 15st. There are two things I really noticed

1. Having a spring rate more suited to my weight and proper pre-load adjustment, meant that I got correct sag / ride height. The difference to the steering was quite noticeable and the general feel of the bike was much better as it rode level instead of tail heavy.
2. Damping!! Compression damping on standard shock is non-existent, so getting some damping on bumps was a revelation. A big compression on the road from my village would squash the life out of the normal shock, you could feel the damping resisting the squash and setting the tyre into the road with the ZX-10R shock. Was lovely!

You will notice the inadequacies of the front end more now though. I fitted .85 springs and emulators at the same time to get a well balanced bike (for the money).

Am looking at new front springs. Not sure whether to go for 0.9 fixed rate or progressives. with some 15W oil.
Excuse my retardedness, but still not sure what emulators are?

Richie K

[fastdruid]

SV forks are cheap damper rod forks, better (more expensive) forks use cartridges (with shim stacks). Emulators 'emulate' cartridge forks.

Druid

[Luckypants]

Emulators are cartridge emulators, a little gizmo that can be fitted to crude damper rod forks (SV) to take over the damping with a bit of modding to the damper rods and operate like more expensive cartridge forks. They only operate on compression damping so not as good as a full GSX-R front end conversion, but a useful improvement on stock.

See here for piccies and stuff (scroll down a bit) http://www.pdq1.co.uk/racetech.htm

To help choose the correct spring rate, go here http://old.racetech.com/evalving/Spr...pringType=Fork

I think emulators sound a bit too much for me at the moment.
Luckypants, are 0.85 front forks good for you at 15st? Will be looking at either 0.85 or 0.9. Not sure which ones though. Which weight oil did you use?

I have got braided brake lines now, so definately want to avoid the "dive" under braking, and the resultant weight transfer and light front end when letting off the brakes into a corner!

Cheers Guys

Richie K

[ixlr8]

Originally Posted by richiekuk

I think emulators sound a bit too much for me at the moment.
Luckypants, are 0.85 front forks good for you at 15st? Will be looking at either 0.85 or 0.9. Not sure which ones though. Which weight oil did you use?
I have got braided brake lines now, so definately want to avoid the "dive" under braking, and the resultant weight transfer and light front end when letting off the brakes into a corner!
Cheers Guys
Richie K

Unfortunately, even with the correct springs, you'll either get harsh fork action with heavier oil or poor damping plus dive under braking with lighter oil. Emulators for you, sir. Comparatively low cost satisfaction.

I have set of used emulators for curvy if you interested for 1/2 price of new ($70).

Originally Posted by zadar

I have set of used emulators for curvy if you interested for 1/2 price of new ($70).

richiekuk, if you don't mind, may I have second dips

cheers.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by richiekuk

Luckypants, are 0.85 front forks good for you at 15st? Will be looking at either 0.85 or 0.9. Not sure which ones though.

The .85 fork springs were good for me. If you check the link in my previous post you will see that for 15st rider on a curvy you fall between .80 and .85 springs, .90 will be too much IMHO. I went with .85 on mine because I took pillions, so a bit of extra beef was ok.

I used 15wt oil, but remember because of the emulators (which are adjustable) I was able to tune compression damping to match the oil and alter the oil weight to suit the rebound damping, thus giving a smoother much better damped ride.

Zadar's offer of the second hand emulators is good, will work out less than half the price of the ones. They do not wear out, so don't worry they are not as 'good' as new ones. Zadar knows a lot about suspension on SVs, worth listening to him.