Eric's Gen II Suspension notebook w/ Penske & USD Forks DIY manual!

Why such a stiff spring? Are you going to track the bike? I ask because I am a heavy rider who likes to ride at a good clip and I only run .95's up front. BTW I love you taking the time to document this!
 
Krispy1 said:
Why such a stiff spring? Are you going to track the bike? I ask because I am a heavy rider who likes to ride at a good clip and I only run .95's up front. BTW I love you taking the time to document this!
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Well, Racetech recommended slightly heavier ones so I rounded down to the 1.0 set. I'm 220 in my birthday suit and about 235 - 240 with all the gear and tank bag items. I did it for the terrible brake dive but also to settle the front in the corners. If it is too stiff, I can always cut the spacer down a little at a time and try again. I see this as an interim solution until I can build up the play money account again and send the forks to Traxxion and let the pros take care of me. :D

Glad I was able to get it all posted and hope it helps someone who wants to try this on their own. I wouldn't call it a novice job by any stretch but it's doable by anyone with some knowledge of forks. My first USD set... all others have been standard forks.
 
Cobalt said:
LOL! For me, cleaning it is not priority. I ride it in every type of weather that doesn't involve ice. :D But I will because it IS dirtier than normal by a long shot!
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ahh the beauty of a beater bike The Ninja gets reserved for filth duty.I am anxious to hear how the front end works as i really didnt want to spend money on the R1 conversion.The wife said she is buy my shock for our anniversary however I will not be going with the remote resevoir,I think its overkill for me and I dont like the resevoir hanging off the side.
 
amevl said:
ahh the beauty of a beater bike The Ninja gets reserved for filth duty.I am anxious to hear how the front end works as i really didnt want to spend money on the R1 conversion.The wife said she is buy my shock for our anniversary however I will not be going with the remote resevoir,I think its overkill for me and I dont like the resevoir hanging off the side.
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The FZ1 is a working daily vehicle for me. I'm not a show & shine kind of rider. ;) If I washed it every time it got dirt on it, I'd have no spare time at all! :D

I'll write up some reports and I'm also going to "think out loud" in this thread with settings and findings. What I need to do is go find a nice stretch of road with twists and I know the place. I need to hit the corners there because one of the big sweepers has a SERIOUS washboard effect. With the stock suspension, no matter how hard you pushed on the bar, the bike still skipped right out to the center line until you backed off. If I can nail the apex on THAT corner with this setup, I've made one hell of an improvement. But that road is a couple hours away... I'll need to stop wrenching and start riding!!!

You're going to love, Love, LOVE the new rear shock Jeff. I didn't like the piggyback and love that I can adjust mine WHILE riding with the remote. Very handy!!!
 
Cobalt,
thanks again for starting this thread. I just installed my shock on Thursday and got about 600 miles on it already.

I did have to make some adjustments to get the Penske dialed in and I am not sure but I might need to go with a softer spring rate but it is close. My ride started out rock hard. talked to Lee about it and he recomended taking off half a turn on the preload, which got me in the neighborhood; 3/4 turn and I feel I am in the acceptable range in terms of softness but now my free sag is 17mm which is 2mm ot of the normal range. Still need to check my sag when on the bike after the adjustments.

Overall the Penske 8983 is a solid upgrade. Most notable is the more responsive turnin on corner entry and significantly less pull to the outside of corners on corner exit under heavy throttle. Clearly, the ability of the shock to comply with bumps is better and this is noticable both in upright ridig and when hitting irregularities in mid corner. Finally, squatting is gone and the bike also does not feel like it is diving as much on hard braking, which I think is due to less rocking of the who suspension when transitioning from throttle to break.

Overall, while I still feel I can get the shock more dialed in, if I had to I would certainly do this again!
 
Kevin Daly said:
Cobalt,
thanks again for starting this thread. I just installed my shock on Thursday and got about 600 miles on it already.

I did have to make some adjustments to get the Penske dialed in and I am not sure but I might need to go with a softer spring rate but it is close. My ride started out rock hard. talked to Lee about it and he recomended taking off half a turn on the preload, which got me in the neighborhood; 3/4 turn and I feel I am in the acceptable range in terms of softness but now my free sag is 17mm which is 2mm ot of the normal range. Still need to check my sag when on the bike after the adjustments.

Overall the Penske 8983 is a solid upgrade. Most notable is the more responsive turnin on corner entry and significantly less pull to the outside of corners on corner exit under heavy throttle. Clearly, the ability of the shock to comply with bumps is better and this is noticable both in upright ridig and when hitting irregularities in mid corner. Finally, squatting is gone and the bike also does not feel like it is diving as much on hard braking, which I think is due to less rocking of the who suspension when transitioning from throttle to break.

Overall, while I still feel I can get the shock more dialed in, if I had to I would certainly do this again!
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You're welcome!

First, I want to thank Aaron (va_rider) for most of this advice!!! What you may need to do at this point is start working with the other adjustments. First, set your static sag to 15mm and then work with the other adjustments. Take notes and separate the low speed and high speed settings mentally. Adjust using 5 clicks at a time to start. This makes VERY noticable changes. Once you've come to a setting where 5 up or down is close, then work with two click within that 5 click range until the bike settles. It can be tricky to come up with a compromise between high and low speed feel but that is what the reservoir is for. Now that you know the range for high and low speed, you can simply set it for the day's ride. Softer for commuting, harder for carving.

What is the feel right now? Describe it and we can guide you to the correct setting. What does the bumps feel like? Try and decipher between the compression of hitting the bump and the aftermath of the rear settling. Is the bump harsh and the bike settles fine? Is the bump not harsh but the bike seems to settle too fast or too slow?

Let's help each other out. I'm new to high-end suspension so I'm learning along the way. I'm using this thread as a sounding board and fully expect any feedback from the members here to help me understand. :dontknow: :Rockon: Let's work it out.

Thanks!

-Eric
 
Initial comments on the new springs:

This morning I took the bike to work. I left the house and hit the highway down two exits to my favorite off-ramp praying no one would be holding me up. Luck was with me and I hit the S off-ramp at speed. The bike tucked into the corner and never faltered. I took the most offensive back road I know of and aimed for every bump. Almost cannot feel them! The forks compressed very smoothly at high speed and maybe a bit too slow at low speed. The rebound for both was a crap-load better than stock springs. When people speak about a bike feeling "planted" to the asphalt, I imagine this is what they are are describing. At no time did the bike feel unsettled. No bump caused the bike to skip or jump in any direction. You can feel the single compress followed by the rebound. Hard brake followed by hard acceleration shows absolutely no sign of the OEM see-saw effect. The bike doesn't squat on acceleration either. You just launch forward like it should!

With no one behind me, I did a couple of emergency stops and the brake dive is minimal. The brakes with the HEL lines and the new springs are a lot more confidence inspiring. You feel like you always have complete control now. I still have to get it settled a bit and then check static sag. If I can get 15mm out of it, I'll be happy. Without help, I did the best I could.

Forks are currently set for near stock settings. COMP = 5 clicks. TENS (Rebound) = 15 clicks. and the only non standard is pre-load which I have set for 5 rings showing instead of 3.5 displayed.

First day's commute = NO REGRETS!!!! For the heavier riders who, with gear, are over 190 lbs, I'd give this a *MUST HAVE* rating unless you plan on R1 forks, Ohlins forks or AK 20 cartridges. Very inexpensive upgrade though and IMHO worth the money!!
 
Same feeling I got with the front end when I changed to R1 forks with 6-piston calipers but was disappointed with the brakes and immediately ordered EBC HH pads. The R1 forks are stiffer and now braking is very linear and predictable and the front or the rear never squats. Worst was FZ6 frontend with the pogo effect.
 
Done ! After a couple of cuts and bruises .. The pipes from the ABS unit were in the way so i had to loosen the subframe bolts, footpeg bolts and remove the tank bolt . I also removed the battery so the weight would not bend anything . I also reversed the upper bolt so i won't have to deal with this again. Should i grease the shock eyes?

Sent from my mobile phone, please excuse the brevity
 
Hey Eric, I finally rode the bike today with the new Penske under the rear end!
It's much smoother now, no harsh ride on the city streets. It was setup perfectly by Lee, so I don't have to play with it much! But I might later on...
 
Congrats to both of you for the upgrade!!! It sure is nice to ride now. As I said, I'd thought the stocker wasn't that bad until I rode this Penske. I think the heavier riders appreciate this more than the lighter riders though. ;)

The only issue I am having, and I have a question in with Racetech about it, is the new springs are rubbing a little in the forks. It's not noticeable while riding, only slightly when the bike is off and you hold the front brake and bounce the front hard. Curious to see what they have to say.
 
After a 7 hour ride on the best twisties in the area all I have to say is I'm glad I did it. The bike feels more planted, the response in the bends is fantastic, you don't feel like it's bending and pogoing , but instead you feel secure and you realize you can go even faster :) Also straight forward response is much better ..

Cobalt, I read something about turning the springs inside the forks 180 degrees, that solved the problem for some people.

Cobalt said:
Congrats to both of you for the upgrade!!! It sure is nice to ride now. As I said, I'd thought the stocker wasn't that bad until I rode this Penske. I think the heavier riders appreciate this more than the lighter riders though. ;)

The only issue I am having, and I have a question in with Racetech about it, is the new springs are rubbing a little in the forks. It's not noticeable while riding, only slightly when the bike is off and you hold the front brake and bounce the front hard. Curious to see what they have to say.
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javahaxxor said:
After a 7 hour ride on the best twisties in the area all I have to say is I'm glad I did it. The bike feels more planted, the response in the bends is fantastic, you don't feel like it's bending and pogoing , but instead you feel secure and you realize you can go even faster :) Also straight forward response is much better ..

Cobalt, I read something about turning the springs inside the forks 180 degrees, that solved the problem for some people.
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Good suspension is certainly key to getting through the corners better and with this solid of a feeling, you gain a lot more confidence in your riding ability. Love it!

Thanks for the tip on the springs. I might be able to pull that off without taking the forks off, just remove the wheel and do one at a time in the triples. :D Might have to unclamp the handlebars and set them to the top a bit for clearance. ;)
 
I'm on the suspension band wagon too. I'm not against more HP, but I feel my money will serve me better with suspension than headers, PC, or exhaust. At my excessive weight the stock suspension can't be close to what it is meant to do with me on the bike.

First I want to change the rear shock and then do the forks, all just like Eric did, but for a bit heavier rider :shame:

Then I'll go from there. I have other plans now too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Couple of things... First, I replaced the clamps after buying new ones and putting on some nice HEAVY DUTY shrink tubing. Here's the new look.

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The next thing is.... the forks HAVE to come partially apart once more. I tried to set the static sag for the front. No go! I left too much spacer when I cut them down. I left more than needed thinking I could have more pre-load adjustment. Well, I left too much and don't have enough play to work with. So, I'm going to have to release the caps and compress the springs, remove the spacers and cut about 6 to 8 mm off them and re-assemble. Once I do this, I should be able to adjust static sag for myself. Right now, they are VERY stiff and I have 7 of 8 rings showing so I am off the mark by several mm. At least it isn't a total tear-down! ;) Once done, this should hook up SWEET!

Of note... at stock settings, the rebound seems to be a good balance of slow and high speed. The compression side needs work and we all know the compression valve in these forks SUCKS! I may send that leg out to Lee at Traxxion and have him install the reversed rebound OEM valve with the secret-sauce shim stack they designed. This will allow the same adjustments as the better rebound side. We'll see how this plays out.
 
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YZFRiderNY said:
Nice job on the brackets Eric. Let me know where you found the H.D. Shrink Tubing. I want to pick some up. Thanks.
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It was at Home Depot. It was about the largest they carried too. I bought the kit full of various sizes as well. Thanks!!! Pretty psyched that it came out smooth and didn't show the clamp's contours! I had to use a lot of heat from the mini torch to get that to shrink too!
 
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