Help me spend my money on suspension upgrade

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

dravnx

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 7, 2016
Messages
152
Reaction score
58
Location
santa rosa, ca
It's time to upgrade the suspension on my '15A with 32,000 miles.

I have a budget of $2000 for parts.

I ride pretty aggressively and the FJR is my weekend canyon carver and my long distance tour machine.

I know I'll need fork and shock springs. Probably a shock. I'm thinking I would need a shock with a remote preload so I can easily change the sag when I load the bike up for a trip. I rarely ride 2 up.

 
You have come to right place, lots of people here to help you remove 2k from your wallet.

When I had my suspension rebuilt I used Traxxion Dynamics springs, comes with all the parts you need, just need to buy fork oil. On the back I went with a Penske 8983 with the remote and love it. Only thing I wish I had the cash for at the time was for the Piggyback option. Would have made the install a little less of a hassle not having to mount the remote on the frame.

Didn't realize how used up my suspension was until I this was done. Huge improvement!!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well, after speaking with Dave Moss, I went with the Nitron N2 with remote. Ordered it through Superflush Suspension in San Francisco. They were a little bit less expensive then ordering it direct from Nitron and I get to use their brain trust now. James, the owner gave me what I thought was some sound advice. He suggested I get the rear end sorted out before I started on the front. Dave also suggested that the forks can be revalved, no piston needed and get the proper springs and oil. Springs would be 105kg/nm, 10w oil to 100mm. I'll wait on the forks. Another buddy of mine suggested I start the testing with fresh tires. So the plan is to slap on some fresh tires, change out the shock, get it dialed in and then see how the front end feels and go from there.

 
This is all well and good but you didnt state what your goals are with this suspension change. You can spend a shit ton of money on new parts and end up with something worse for what you hope to do with the bike.

Will you be riding the bike on a smooth track and want to improve your lap times? Or maybe you are riding it on the relatively pristine roadways of California, and want to zip around a bit better and not go over the rail on Mulholland? Or perhaps you are touring further north and east where road surfaces arent quite so predictable, and need some controlled compliance and adjustability. Or maybe you have designs on riding the parts of our country where frost heaves chew the crap out of our roads every winter and youd just like to get through them with your fillings intact.

And then there are those of us who go off pavement on our FJRs too.

Suspension, like most facets of life, is a compromise, to which there is no single correct answer.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hmmmm. My '15 has almost 75,000 miles and I don't think my suspension needs replacement.

Am I missing something here? Maybe it's because mine's an ES?

 
Mr. Feejur is my weekend canyon carver and my long distance tour machine. Here in N. Cal we have thousands of miles of twisty roads. Some are nicely paved but many are rutted, potholed and pretty goaty, especially where I live. I like to ride aggressively. A B+ group street rider. I'm finding that I can't get the suspension dialed in the way I want it. If I tighten things up so its doesn't feel like it's hinged in the middle and won't wobble around, the ride is harsh and the bumps all feel like they're square. When I hit a bump mid corner, I want it to keep tracking and be predictable.

 
Hmmmm. My '15 has almost 75,000 miles and I don't think my suspension needs replacement.
Am I missing something here? Maybe it's because mine's an ES?
Yes, the ES seems to be more robust, but also where you live the roads are like magic carpets compared to much of the country. Consider yourself lucky on both counts

 
Mr. Feejur is my weekend canyon carver and my long distance tour machine. Here in N. Cal we have thousands of miles of twisty roads. Some are nicely paved but many are rutted, potholed and pretty goaty, especially where I live. I like to ride aggressively. A B+ group street rider. I'm finding that I can't get the suspension dialed in the way I want it. If I tighten things up so its doesn't feel like it's hinged in the middle and won't wobble around, the ride is harsh and the bumps all feel like they're square. When I hit a bump mid corner, I want it to keep tracking and be predictable.
Mostly why a stock bike suspension makes bumps feel sharp us because they are in-compliant to fast impulse inputs. The reason is because people dial up their front compression damping to reduce fork dive and that causes the high speed damping to be too stiff. Ideally, you would want lots of slow speed compression damping to combat changes in pitch, but a very compliant high speed damping to soak up those high speed bump inputs. And that can be accomplished. All it takes is money.

The way it works is that the basic low speed damping is controlled by the size of the orifices that go past the compression damper adjusters. So, they can be dialed in to suit your needs. But adding more damping from those adjusters causes excessive high speed compression damping because that is not adjustable. The high speed damping is predetermined by the shim stack in the compression valve and the fork oil weight. Trying to guess what you need in the shim stack is near impossible. You need a suspension shop to help you set that up. The easiest way is to get them to build you new valves to install, or have them install them for you.

You can also put lower weight fork oil in, which will quicken both the high speed and low speed compression rate, but may cause the slow compression to be inadequate. And also, Yamaha fork oil is nearly the thinnest stuff available so you don’t have much range in that direction anyway.

Part of the reason that folks over-dial up the compression damping is because their bikes are undersprung for the weight it is carrying, so getting a more appropriate spring helps you back off that compression, which makes it more compliant over the bumps. Kind of counterintuitive that putting a stiffer spring in improves compliance, but it’s true in the long run.

Many folks have had good luck with replacement fork valves and springs from one of the big suspension places, and a good double adjustable shock like a Penske with appropriate spring. It made a world of difference on my first gen. Installing the valves in the forks myself cut the expense greatly. I think I only paid about $300 for the replacement fork valves (both compression and rebound) plus the cost of whatever shock you get.

 
That's great information and I pretty much agree with what you're saying. My plan is to upgrade the shock along with a spring for my weight and valves and springs for the front. I've never committed to getting a really nice dialed in suspension system and I'm excited about this project. The shock and spring is the easy part. The front end is where it gets complicated. I plan on doing the labor myself and I've got a good suspension mentor to work with. This should keep the cost pretty close to my $2000 budget.

 
I think you can do better than $2k if you do the fork work.

I would suggest talking to GP Suspension, especially since you are in the left coast. That is who I used and was quite pleased with their FJR fork valves. Just be sure to let them know your riding goals and they should help you out.

 
GP forks / Penske shock work like a charm on my '15A.

Although it's past decision time and FWIW, a Penske spring can be swapped in place on the FJR. I have two shock springs for both my FJR and Tenere. Makes it simple when going from single to loaded two-up touring.

~G

 
Installed a Nitron R2 with remote preload and compression. Raised the forks in the triple tree about 6-7 mm. This has transformed the bike. Some of the best money I've ever spent on a bike.

 
Installed a Nitron R2 with remote preload and compression. Raised the forks in the triple tree about 6-7 mm. This has transformed the bike. Some of the best money I've ever spent on a bike.
I agree with the route you have gone so far. The rear shock is a bigger upgrade than the forks. Being that said, when the front level of valving and spring rate matches the rear shock, it is pure bliss. I recommend adding GP valving and springs to your forks when you can. The valving allows you to tailor the forks to your riding style. I am sure that super plush can buy the GP valves and installed them into your forks. Good luck and report back.

 
Top