best front fork springs?

[tojo82]

Sorry for reviving an old thread but was reading about upgrading my front fork springs. I'm 105kg and have been saying that cornering makes me nervous on my sv650s k3. My friend had a go on it yesterday and I tried out his daytona 675 and it is worlds apart. He said the forks feel awful like either the oil in them has deteriorated badly or something like that. I then started reading about the front suspension on here and it seems I'm probably far to heavy for stock front springs and would be better suited to 9s n/mm does anyone here have any knowledge in whether I should change the oil and springs or just change the oil to a heavier viscosity?

[Bibio]

dont try and compare the cartridge forks in the 675 to damper rod forks on the SV as they are two completely different types of suspension. adding springs and fresh oil wont turn a sows ear into a silk purse.

yes you are waaaayyyy to heavy for the standard springs but springs and oil alone wont suddenly transform the SV forks. it will make them better but wont cure the design of damper rod forks and they will still bounce up and down like a kangaroo due to the non existent dampening, in fact you might make things worse so be very very careful what oil you put in them. if the oil is too heavy you will lock them up and the front will rattle your teeth out, too light an oil and you will bounce about all over the place. there is nothing you can do apart from fit emulators to help keep the forks under better control. fitting emulators requires a fair bit of work to be done to the damper rods.

[tojo82]

Hi thanks for the quick response. I appreciate I can't make my bike perform like the daytona I just want the bike to not dive so much and be a little firmer when cornering. I have had my bike a fair few months now and do about 300 miles a week on it at present I just take it easy round corners and it has done me fine so if I get some slightly heavy springs luke the .9 ones the racetech calculator suggests and some 15w oil will it still be an improvement?

Originally Posted by tojo82

Hi thanks for the quick response. I appreciate I can't make my bike perform like the daytona I just want the bike to not dive so much and be a little firmer when cornering. I have had my bike a fair few months now and do about 300 miles a week on it at present I just take it easy round corners and it has done me fine so if I get some slightly heavy springs luke the .9 ones the racetech calculator suggests and some 15w oil will it still be an improvement?

Yes the correct spring rate for your weight will be a big improvement the standard ones are very soft, 15w oil is good for road riding.

[tojo82]

Right thanks also I read I don't want progressive springs or are the hyperpro okay?

Stick with linear springs bud, have a look here http://www.brooksuspension.co.uk/

[tojo82]

That's where I've been looking thanks. I watched a video on youtube and it looks an easy job too

Yes its a pretty straight forward job, my advice is just take your time, do one fork at a time and make sure the air gap is the same in each leg

[Bibio]

i would not recommend you use 15w oil, its too heavy and wont flow through the orifices properly which will give you a harsh compression. stiff suspension is bad and will cause rapid wear to your tyres as the carcase will be taking more brunt. mind you this all depends on the brand of oil you use as they are all different cSt for a given weight, some might say 15w but will me more like 10w.

Originally Posted by Bibio

i would not recommend you use 15w oil, its too heavy and wont flow through the orifices properly which will give you a harsh compression. stiff suspension is bad and will cause rapid wear to your tyres as the carcase will be taking more brunt. mind you this all depends on the brand of oil you use as they are all different cSt for a given weight, some might say 15w but will me more like 10w.

I didn't notice that 15w oil makes the suspension harsh I felt it help to combat the pogo effect, oil level or air gap has more effect in my opinion, I use 17.5w oil for trackdays which seems spot on and stops the bike going into a second down stroke after being compressed which is what your looking for.