A shocking experience.

As part of me falling back in love with my bike, I have recently been adding new bouncy bits in order to make it handle better when riding it. The front end was done first, a noticable improvment was felt (far more controlled damping)

And today, Spannerman and his partner-in-crime, Billbo () took some time to fettle my rear end. Good bye old SV shock, helllooooo shiny shiny new Hagon rear shock, ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Spannerman applying his spannering skillz...blud.



dirty dog bones



fresh out of the box



lots of this, because there wasnt lots of it present



new vs old



Just sitting on the bike, I felt an improvment; before, the rear end would compress, then return slowly. Now, the shock compresses and returns at similar rates. The suspension is harder aswell. Riding out, I feel less "pumping" action from the rear end, although I couldnt really test because I was cautious of unfamilier handling. I feel more confident with the rear end, like I know whats going on with the rear tyre.

Overall, I highly recomend throwin £500 at your SV's suspension if its old and tired. My bike now feels refreshed and renewed, similar to the 6000 mile bandit loan bike I had, which is the only other bike I've ever ridden.

I'll update this thread later on after riding to brighton via the A24 from london; i know that road very well and know which corners will highlight any improvments

Once again, I'd like to extend my thanks to Stewart and Bill for their efficient work ethic, tea and spiffing brilliant sense of humor, what what

Cheers,

Matt

[dirtydog]

What did you do to the forks? Just oil and springs?

sorry but is that Spannerman's garage in the first photo? It really is the dog's danglies of garages that one

YC's getting a new shock soon (oooh shiny shiny) so that should spice things up a bit!

Why has spannerman got a topbox bolted to his head?

[yorkie_chris]

Yeah £500 on the suspension, but I'd go for a proper shock rather than an emulsion type.
Only ones I would consider are ohlins for SRAD revalved (not the ohlins they sell meant for the SV!) or penske.

For penske double clicker, heavier springs, top quality oil, shims you are still under £500. Assuming you already have GSXR forks to play with, if not add a few quid on to fit some CBR cartridges in forks.

Hagon would be brilliant if they gave you choice of ride height and spring rate rather than just their own idea of a standard shock. Workable but nowhere near as good as ZX6/10R shock and not a patch on the SRAD750 shock (if you're light and not 2up).

YC; 250 for the rear shock, 60 odd for the front springs and fork oil (that also answers dirty dog). I also had headraces done (50 quid) and paid spannerman labour. So about £500 not everyone can do the work themselves, either through lakc of knowledge, confidence, working space or a combination of those

[Dave20046]

Cool - enjoy

YC What sort of mileage should you be having shocks rebuilt at?

[yorkie_chris]

Top quality shock yearly or 10-15k miles. Same as fork, oil loses it's viscosity, especially at temperature. Not as bad these days I think, offhand I think penske use silkolene pro RSF in shock which is fully synthetic so lasts a little longer. You also have to worry about nitrogen fill which can leak and allow cavitation and change effective spring rate*.

*There are other effects, the effect on stiffness in grand scheme of things I don't know.

[Dave20046]

Hmm, bet my gsxr shock could do with a rebuild. Wish I knew how

*snigger* in other news I walked in on my mate fitting two steering dampers to his bike today because the damping on his front end is **** (as in not being used as steering dampers, being used as suspension damping)

[yorkie_chris]

What like acting in parallel with fork?
Surely making the suspension work properly would be a better idea?


To rebuild shock you take it apart, clean everything, bleed it back up with oil then fill it with nitrogen again*. Simples

*I should have a cylinder of the stuff in the not too distant future.