Suspension

I've seen a few comments about the SV having poor suspension compared to other bikes on this site.

Being someone who knows how to ride a bike but has no idea how they work can someone please explain .......

a) What is bad about it ?

b) What needs to be done to correct it and how much it will cost ?

I have been riding my SV for only a week and apart from the bikes i used on the DAS course and my 125 i have nothing to compare my bikes suspension to so please excuse my ignorance

[BillyC]

The standard suspension on the SV simply is too soft for most riders. If you're anything heavier than about 10 stone, then it is compressed too much by the riders weight.

this can be counteracted by preload... but then the suspension falls down on not having enough travel, or damping ability to soak up anything more than a few ripples in the road.

Replacing the oil for something denser, and the springs for something harder, goes a lot way to correcting hte problem, and improving hte ride

[Sid Squid]

It's not that bad, it's just built to a price, as such it lacks the sophistication and adjustability that is common to many modern bikes.

Correcting it is not simple, well, it is in principle; you need better bits.
In reality it means substitution for better quality shocks and forks. At the rear this is easy; spend wodges of cash on an Ohlins/White Power/Penske etc etc shock absorber, or as many have done fit a shock from a number of better specced bikes, GSXRs and some ZX6s are often looted for their bouncy bits. At the front some people have gone as far as to fit the entire front end (yokes, forks and wheel), from other bikes - GSXR is common again - these undoubtedly can be made to work very well, but it's not for the faint hearted or the shallow of pockets. A more reasonably priced alternative is to fit fork springs from Ohlins/Progressive/Hagon etc etc and some heavier oil*, the bits cost about £60 - £80 and the averagely confident spanner twirling owner can do it in about 1-2hrs including tea breaks and manual consultation.

I'm not even going to attempt an explanation of what 'better' suspension feels like, not that I don't think you or anyone else couldn't understand, simply that if there is an accepted language for suspension 'feel' I don't know what it is, it's far to subjective a thing to adequately explain, you really need to try a few other bikes and the differences will be apparent, the inexperienced may not be able to say why coherently, but it will.
That and the fact that there is probably more sh*te spoken about suspension than any other single biking issue, or it might be tyres, well anyway it's a close call.

*This also depends on what you weigh, if you're not a porker then the standard springs may well be suitable.

[northwind]

Other options include cartridge emulators which seem a great balance of price and performance, Honda CBR internals in the stock forks for true cartridge (hard to do right) and now there's a Traxxion Axxion drop-in cartridge kit for, er, $999, but easily DIYable.

On the rear, there's a shop in the US called SVRaceshop.com run by 2 SVRider guys... They do a lengthened, revalved, resprung if neccesary GSXR K-series shock for the carbed SV which gets fantastic word of mouth (generally held to work better than an unmodified Ohlins), and would be pretty cheap with the dollar being what it is. Tell Clayton Northwind sent ya, he doesn't like me much

But seriously... If it feels fine, don't mess with it. That way lies madness...

It's not that bad, as mentioned above... just that it can be made loads better. My last bike was an ER5 and the SV is leagues ahead of that.

Apart from potholes, I've barely noticed any shortcomings in the SV suspension, and I've been riding for 2 years. I'm sure if I'd been on a sports 600, etc. for that time I'd notice it wasn't as good, but it's fine for me right now... plus it's easy to upgrade it as you feel the need!