Improving the suspension

[cali_rider]

I am starting to look into what my options are for suspension, mainly the front forks. I had a fellow FJR forum member come and help me set my suspension up and we came to the conclusion I currently dont have firm enough springs front or back to get the preoload and ride height set. So, I figured if I am putting in new springs I should consider some upgrades at the same time I do those. I am looking into what my options are and price. My suspension is not completely stock. On the front I have the MCL upper triple clamp bar riser replacement and a fork brace. In the back the shock is Works performance rear with manual preload, rebound and compression damping adjustments.

On the back I maninly need a new spring and I have seen alot about the hyperpro but I am not sure it works with my rear shock or if thats even a smart thing to do. What does the hyperpro do differently than say a regular replacement would do?

Up front I have seen racetech gold valves, taxxion cartridge, GP valves, ohlins cartridge....so many options and such a cost variance. So, whats the recomended next step?stay cheaper with RT gold valves? or is that a waste and skip it and go right to a cartridge replacement? If I go with the race tech valves is this an easy enough thing to do at home? I have installed the race tech emulators on my vstrom so I have done some fork work before.

Just firming the preload has made a big difference in clearance but I am still scraping pegs. Coming off a BMW the suspension has been the biggest shortcoming. I am hoping the former springs and increased ride height helps keep the pegs from scraping all the time. Also, is anyone aware if there is a steering stabilizer available. Compared to the BMW, this bike gets alot of kick in the bars from the road. I have searched but I havent seen anything.

 

[ahchiu]

Check your front and rear Static Sag (No Rider), Front should be around 25-30mm and Rear around 10-15mm

this will give you an idea of where you need to do, Sounds like the rear has too much sag if your scraping parts and may need a stiffer rear sping.

FYI a ziptie around the fork tube to measure your front sag

 

[cali_rider]

Check your front and rear Static Sag (No Rider), Front should be around 25-30mm and Rear around 10-15mm

this will give you an idea of where you need to do, Sounds like the rear has too much sag if your scraping parts and may need a stiffer rear sping.

FYI a ziptie around the fork tube to measure your front sag

I checked the sag and I know the preload isnt enough, I need new springs front and rear.

 

[Patriot]

biggest bang for the buck, by far...I'm a slab and medium at best twisty rider...occassionally take a family member along...couldn't afford a $1000 shock even if I rode like I needed one...so here's what I did and am very very happy:

purchase RT Hi-Performance (sport touring) fork springs from RaceTec...call Dave and tell him your weight, riding load, and how you generally ride. have the stock forks serviced and the springs put in

(for me the springs were around $125) https://racetech.com/page/id/57 tell them you are on the forum

send your stock shock to sasquatch suspension for a complete rebuild. he takes it completely apart and rebuilds everything with Ohlins internals. fill out the questionaire with details about you and the bike so Jeff can tailor make the shock including spring to you and your riding habits.

(for me was about $450) https://www.sasquatchrider.com/aboutus.html

best to you and hope this helps,

Mike in Nawlins'

 

[yamafitter]

If you are going to go between solo riding with nothing in the bags to 2-up fully loaded then you will want to consider a hydraulic preload adjuster on an aftermarket rear shock (either Ohlins or Penske are the rear shocks of choice it seems). The aftermarket shocks give you more options when it comes to compression & rebound adjustment for dialing in the suspension. The front forks need valving and you can choose between a few different companies such as Race Tech, KFG (formally GP Suspensions or Cogent Dynamics. I have the GP Suspension components in my forks and love the way my forks now function. GP Suspensions was bought out by KFG but one of the members had a bad experience with them with the bike being poorly set up by a tech that was inexperienced. The owner of the company is highly experienced and the former owner of GP Suspensions is acting as a consultant so hopefully this one incident was an anomaly since the work done by GP Suspensions was exceptional.

I live on the east side of Canada and it is expensive to ship my suspension stuff to the west coast so I'm probably going to use Cogent Dynamics to service my rear shock. The front forks I can do myself.

Since you are coming from stock suspension it would be worthwhile to arrange for a ride-in service with one of the shops in your area. Installing a new shock, servicing the front forks (including new valving) and setting up the preload and initial dialing in of compression and rebound dampening should take about 6 hours of shop time.

 

[cali_rider]

I sent an email off to sasquatch to see if he can do the spring change and also to see if he can convert the rear shock to a remote preload. I contacted KFG, but they were pretty damn expensive for what they were doing. More reasonable if I did it myself and about the same as if I bought the race tech kit. I did some searching through google and its been brought up about bushings and stuff. If I do the forks myself should I be replacing the bushings? Are there better ones to use? Should I be replacing seals as well? The bike is a 2007 but only has 12-13k miles on it.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Just my $.02...

Since you already have the shock, have it rebuilt and properly sprung for your intended use. Can't hurt and you're only out a couple hundred bucks. If you don't like it, change to a Penske or Ohlins and flip the shock.

Forks -- If you go into them, most definitely change the bushings and seals, OEM components are the only ones available as far as we know.

Bottom line, get the bike sprung properly for you and then decide how far you want to go with the forks.

Good luck!

--G

 

[fixedblade]

stop messing around !!!!! TRAXXION DYNAMICS !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[redneckj]

KFG

 

[Intech]

I was one of the last customers of GP before they sold. Unbelievable difference in the bike with the new suspension. Yes it wasn't cheap, but for the result it is well worth the money. Unless you are a suspension specialist I wouldn't recommend trying to rebuild yourself. I understand the economics of it, but you have quite a bit of money already invested in the bike. Don't you deserve what's best for it. I am on the same bandwagon as others who have said that the full suspension upgrade was the best money spent on the bike. You are on the correct coast for KFG too.

As for the bushings, definitely replace them. they are probably the number one source of debris that fouls the oil. I can't believe what mine did to my oil in just 11 months.

 

[LAF]

Best bang for the buck is do new front springs and oil, and a new rear shock, or have the Sasquatch rebuild of your stock shock.

I did a Pensky and springs and spring buffers and oil from Lee at Traxion. This winter I will send my forks in and get the AK's done and send my new factory shock off to Sasquatch so I have a better than good shock for when the Penskey needs rebuilt. Yes even though you putout 7-1000+ for a rear shock you still need to have them rebuilt at 20K or so. At least that is what I have seen written here.

Call Lee at Traxxion he is cool and knows what he is talking about when it comes to FJR suspension.

I did not have the money to do the full boat the first time out so I bought what I could install myself. Rear shock is cake and the springs and new oil is not bad at all. It is when you get to doing the valves, that without a impact gun, you may have some issues.

I figure I will have 25,000 on by then and I will have seals and bushings and everything else done when I get the AK's this winter. Seems forks don't hold up well on some FJR's and 25-30K is where I see people doing work to them.