Hello. I have a 2006 S2R1000 with about 900 miles on it from new. One of the reasons it has so little miles is because it is very undersprung for me at about 275lbs with full gear. I am trying to decide if it is better to pursue suspension adjustments and mods, or maybe it's just not feasible for me and the best solution is a different bike. I know this is a well worn topic but my searches here have not yielded much. I'm a long time rider, but I don't have much experience wih suspension mods. Any info or links to applicable info would be appreciated. I really like the seesaw - I mean the bike, and hope to resolve it. Thanks in advance.
If you go for suspension mods, you will need new everything. I dont think the forks have enough damping for that kind of weight.
You can simply swap out springs on both ends at the low cost side of it, or you can go for a middle range such as a valve swap and a middle range shock, or go all out and just do a cartridge swap on the fork end and a high end spring.
I personallly had a racetech spring and valve done to my fork and i am now a owner of a Penske 8770 shock. Even at 150lbs the suspension was meh.
Racetech.com
GP-suspension.com
traxxiondynamics.com
Penskeshocks.com
your local shop will usually deal with racetech
This will get best answers in tech...
As he Man noted you need springs at the minimum. The next step is probably heavier weight fluids to provide more damping. Good news is that if they have pulled the forks apart enough to replace springs, the only extra cost for heavier fork oil will be the parts cost. For the shock there would be an additional cost.
You should really start talking to some local shops or on of the places He Man listed that does work, like RaceTech. You can get this sorted, it'll just take some time and $$
I'm around 225 in gear. Springs and oil in the forks made a world of difference. In the rear I got a used SBK shock with the correct spring and that settled out nicely as well. Your rear shock might be fine (I really don't know), but I was working with the rather "basic" model found on the 695 which wouldn't have nearly enough damping for the heavier spring.
At a minimum, you need higher rate springs.
As others have said, heavier oil in the forks is very easy to do when changing springs.
Please do *not* purchase a shock spring based on the online 'calculator' at RaceTech.
It's hopelessly inaccurate.
Thanks for all the helpful replies and links. I have a lot of reading to do. What it's going to come down to is how much it will cost to make the bike usable. Not race ready or anything, just safe and good feeling for semi aggressive street riding. If it it proves to be too much, I'll flip it for something else. I'm sure as I read up I'll develop some more specific qeustions.
One thing to keep in mind is that very few bikes are suspended for a person your size/weight.
You may very well have to do the same upgrades to the next bike you choose to make it handle the way you want.
Yes, good point. I have however never had an issue with any bike I have owned previously. They were all japanese sportbikes. r1000, gsxr1000, etc. This s2r1k seems very undersprung in comparision. How would a new stock multistrada 1200S compare?
Quote from: wengr on October 04, 2012, 01:00:27 PM
Yes, good point. I have however never had an issue with any bike I have owned previously. They were all japanese sportbikes. r1000, gsxr1000, etc. This s2r1k seems very undersprung in comparision. How would a new stock multistrada 1200S compare?
There's the rub. It most likely wouldn't be much better.
Ducati typically sets up suspension for the typical Italian/European...160-ish lbs.
America is the biggest market for Japanese liter bikes so they're closer to your needs.
It will cost you some money, but it was worth the cost IMO. I'm only 180 lbs and upgraded the suspension on my old 900. Iwent with the racetech valves/springs in front and an Ohlins in the back.
They are really fun to ride set up correctly.
Jap bikes tend to be a bit oversprung in the back and squishy in the front so they dive and turn. Ducatis less so. I'm a bit lighter than the OP and for the road the S2R1k was actually pretty good once you uppred the rebound compression (so it didn't pop back up at the front so much) and really decreased the compression damping (it was way too overly stiff on compression and consequently felt hellihsly vague).
(For the record, I came from a long succession of Jap bikes).
Don't get me wrong, it was better resprung and revalved with racetech goodies and a much stiffer spring in the back to help keep the back up so it turned. But it was ok once I played with it. At more weight, yep, it'd need more springing and it'd definitely need some revalving to keep everything in check.
Jap bikes are sprung differently to Ducatis. Usually quite stiff in the back, and soft in the front. Makes 'em turn under brakes as the front dives, but also feels a bit sploodgey. Same with a 2011 675R triumph now I think about it, even with some fat bastards racing it, had to drop a fair bit of spring off the back because it was way stiff.