What rear suspension are you running on your Gen II

[Fred W]

First off let me say that there are no major differences in the suspensions available for the 1st Gens and 2nd gens, so the feedback that you get from owners of older bikes is still applicable.

Nobody really needs to upgrade their suspension. But wanting to is perfectly understandable.

I'm not a particularly fast rider, but I found that the bike handles corners considerably better after having installed a Penske shock and doing the GP fork upgrades. Did it make me faster? Not really... since that has more to do with how far I twist the right handle thingee.

One more note: The biggest thing that the rider weight will affect is what spring rate they choose. Any of the aftermarket shocks can be setup with a correct spring.

 

[bgross]

Votes cast.Tua te ipsum:Lucille's first owner was 200+ and ran the OEM for 60k miles.

I'm also 200+ and later this week I will be replacing the Gen1 OEM with a Gen2 OEM.

Good enough is good enough when the price is right.

YMMV

Wow, king of understatement. That bike's suspension was shot by the time it got to you, and lightweight Bust can tell you about it.

I was happy with the OEM until I tried the Penske shock. I am also a member of Los Rosbustos, and the Penske gave me a lot better clearance on cornering and improved ride on rough roads. OEM is fine for the lighter rider, but all you have to do is try to keep up with a bike equipped with aftermarket suspension, on a twisty road, and the difference becomes a little more apparent. Some of that is rider skill, but the suspension does give an edge.

It's good to be king!

In the bicycle riding world "Los Robustos" are often called "Clydesdales", and earn that monicker by surpassing the same arbitrary 200# mark.

Being 215# when I step out of the shower, I tend to think that quantifying some else (who's "bigger-boned" than me) is sort of a pot/kettle thing. =)

I'm old, slow, weak, stiff, clumsy, fat and stupid. And 'thrifty'. A $200 OEM shock (such a deal!) with 63k fewer miles on it will be plenty "good enough" for me.

And the $1k difference in price will cover a round-trip airline ticket from Denmark!

It's good to be king - especially when the Queen is smiling!

 

[TomInPA]

Well said, and I got to add the "like" to make you a "forum oracle" LOL

 

[FJR-RemingtonRider]

I have a 08' and put 50k miles on the OEM, picked up a Penske 8900 on ebay for $400, spent $450 at the Penske lab to re sprung and such with all the right goodies. It had a 400# spring, they sent me one with a 900# spring and it's tall. Huge difference in the ride. I just didn't know how worn out the OEM shock was. Raised the bike a couple inches...I am at 260lb.

Darn it, just remembered I was supposed to put that new 400# spring on ebay for sale.

 

[fossilrider]

Most of my distant riding is two up. Two up and loaded was more then the stocker could handle.

 

[Fred W]

Call me (doubting) Thomas, but I think that spring could not have been a 400 lb spring and functioned at all on an FJR even with a jockey for a rider. Never heard of such a thing.

 

[Jack D]

Question for those of you who have changed your suspension. There are 3 things that annoy me about my 2009 FJR that I use as a touring bike, panniers are too small, bike is top heavier than I would like, it takes more counter steering force than I like which I attribute to it's top heavy weight. It gets worse naturally with under pressured and/or worn tires. I also found the same thing with the Concours 1400. I have to noticeably maintain pressure on the bars in a curve, much more so than other bikes I have owned (ST1100, GL1800, R1200RT). Have any of you found that your suspension upgrades have made a difference in the counter steering effort required in the corners?

 

[Fred W]

I don't think the bike's top heaviness has anything to do with how much steering effort is required to initiate or hold the bike in a turn. I think that is more geometric, and yes raising the rear end or dropping the front will quicken the steering angles and cause the bike to turn in faster and require less effort to hold the line.

There is also the profile of the tires that comes into play as some tire combinations seem to cause that resistance to turn-in more than others, as do old tires, which have worn into a flatter profile. The quickest and easiest way to achieve fairly neutral steering is to swap out your tires.

PS - I agree that the OEM side bags and trunk are pretty small inside for their outside size. It is possible to replace the stock luggage with single walled Givi bags with larger capacity. I know there are some accounts on here somewhere of some folks who have done that.

 

[Aasland]

Question for those of you who have changed your suspension. There are 3 things that annoy me about my 2009 FJR that I use as a touring bike, panniers are too small, bike is top heavier than I would like, it takes more counter steering force than I like which I attribute to it's top heavy weight. It gets worse naturally with under pressured and/or worn tires. I also found the same thing with the Concours 1400. I have to noticeably maintain pressure on the bars in a curve, much more so than other bikes I have owned (ST1100, GL1800, R1200RT). Have any of you found that your suspension upgrades have made a difference in the counter steering effort required in the corners?

It's tire wear. Even with an aftermarket suspension I find I have to noticeably put lots of pressure to initiate and keep a turn. If I didn't have an SV in the garage I don't think I'd really notice much, though.

 

[Chiefblueman]

Question for those of you who have changed your suspension. There are 3 things that annoy me about my 2009 FJR that I use as a touring bike, panniers are too small, bike is top heavier than I would like, it takes more counter steering force than I like which I attribute to it's top heavy weight. It gets worse naturally with under pressured and/or worn tires. I also found the same thing with the Concours 1400. I have to noticeably maintain pressure on the bars in a curve, much more so than other bikes I have owned (ST1100, GL1800, R1200RT). Have any of you found that your suspension upgrades have made a difference in the counter steering effort required in the corners?

With stock suspension and well worn ~ 6k mi PR2's, the pressure required on the inside bar during low speed turns was alarming. Bike fell to the inside badly. Increased tire pressure helped a little. Aftermarket suspension front and rear with new PR3's, 40psi front, 42 rear and she dances like a twinkle toed fat girl. NO falling in to a corner, light feeling at the bars. Yeah, if you throw her through a corner extra hard it takes a little more input than my modded FZ1, but not much.

Good tires, good tire pressure, proper springing should get you what you need.

BTW, at 235lbs w/gear my fat ass overwhelmed the stock Gen1 suspension. 2 up was a non starter. YMMV