GP Suspension w/Penske shock: Worth. Every. Penny.
- Thread starter sportsguy
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sportsguy
searchgeek - author
You'll only need to sell one. Definitely keep the dog!
Make sure you call Dave soon so he can order the Penske rear asap - they take around 3 weeks to arrive from the East coast, so NOW is the time to get the shock moving.
he does not keep rear shocks in stock - they are the expensive part.
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sportsguy
searchgeek - author
Well, rode two up yesterday up to Heah Bay, WA and back. Roughly 350 miles round trip, two up. What a difference!
Bike felt very controlled, firmly planted and never wobbled about even in the twistiest bits at speed.
Comfort was increased and our long day still left us smiling.
I noted how the bike seemed to fall in a bit faster when flicked into a turn, but held solid and gave excellent feedback from the front tire. At least four of the six bikes out yesterday for our run had GP Suspension stickers on their forks. Maybe they're onto something?
Bike felt very controlled, firmly planted and never wobbled about even in the twistiest bits at speed.
Comfort was increased and our long day still left us smiling.
I noted how the bike seemed to fall in a bit faster when flicked into a turn, but held solid and gave excellent feedback from the front tire. At least four of the six bikes out yesterday for our run had GP Suspension stickers on their forks. Maybe they're onto something?
Tagging onto this thread:
I just installed my new (to me) Penske 8983 in replacement of my 65k mile stock shock. I really had no major complaints with the stocker, other than there is no adjustability and the spring rate was on the light side for my 220 lb self. Believe it or not, I don't think the old shock was fully pooched yet. It still had some damping in both directions, though the spring was too weak.
As has been said above, there was a pretty major difference in how the rear end feels now. :yahoo: I took a short ride this afternoon and tried to get the damping adjustments roughed in, but I'm a bit confused about the compression adjust.
Normally, you close down (screw in) any adjusters to increase the damping, but the Penske manual I have said it was supposed to be the opposite, ie on the compression damping adjust on the remote reservoir fully CW (screwed all the way in) is supposed to be minimum damping? :blink:
Well when I started riding and diddling with it, it sure felt like it was not what the manual said because it got softer when I adjusted CCW.
The rebound adjustment is well marked and it is the conventional directions, full CW when viewed from the bottom of the shock is the hardest, full CCW is the softest damping.
Anybody have the straight poop on the compression adjust? Maybe I was just reading the manual wrong?
I can already see that I'll need to start searching between the sofa cushions for some scratch to get the front spiffed up now. :huh:
I just installed my new (to me) Penske 8983 in replacement of my 65k mile stock shock. I really had no major complaints with the stocker, other than there is no adjustability and the spring rate was on the light side for my 220 lb self. Believe it or not, I don't think the old shock was fully pooched yet. It still had some damping in both directions, though the spring was too weak.
As has been said above, there was a pretty major difference in how the rear end feels now. :yahoo: I took a short ride this afternoon and tried to get the damping adjustments roughed in, but I'm a bit confused about the compression adjust.
Normally, you close down (screw in) any adjusters to increase the damping, but the Penske manual I have said it was supposed to be the opposite, ie on the compression damping adjust on the remote reservoir fully CW (screwed all the way in) is supposed to be minimum damping? :blink:
Well when I started riding and diddling with it, it sure felt like it was not what the manual said because it got softer when I adjusted CCW.
The rebound adjustment is well marked and it is the conventional directions, full CW when viewed from the bottom of the shock is the hardest, full CCW is the softest damping.
Anybody have the straight poop on the compression adjust? Maybe I was just reading the manual wrong?
I can already see that I'll need to start searching between the sofa cushions for some scratch to get the front spiffed up now. :huh:
MCRIDER007
Well-known member
The Penske manual that I received has the WRONG instructions for the 8983, the wording is exactly the same as the 8986 but the shocks are different. On the 8986 the low speed compression adjustment is fixed and the compression adjustment changes the preload on the high speed compression shim stack. The compression adjustment on the 8983 changes the oil flow on the low speed compression circuit and the high speed circuit is fixed. You adjust the 8983 compression damping just like the forks, turn it clockwise to increase the damping.
