ZX-14 shock on the SV
 

Well, I finally took the plunge and put a ZX-14 shock on my SV. I've been riding the SV with the stock rear shock for the past 7 years thinking (apparently incorrectly) that everything was working well. For those that don't know, the stock suspension on the SV is set up on something of a budget. For folks that are lighter, it tends to not be a problem. However, I'm not lighter :lol: so for those of us that are a bit more, uh, insulated, a better (read: more heavily sprung and adjustable) shock is usually best.

Unfortunately, a nice aftermarket shock would be close to and/or over a grand. However, there are some shocks that are pretty darn close to the length of the SV's shock. For my weight, riding style, and occasional 2up riding, the ZX-14 shock would be ideal.

I managed to score a ZX-14 rear shock from eBay for under $100 and it's been sitting in the garage for the past 2 weeks - I've been putting it off thinking it'd be a huge PITA to install.

I finally decided to just freakin' do it... I put the SV up on the center stand (probably the single most useful aftermarket part I've put on the bike to date), unbolted the dog bones, unbolted the shock, and then snuck it out through the bottom. After some creative movement of the little rubber flap on the swing-arm, I managed to sneak the new shock into the space, lined it up, and it almost dropped right in. Minor thing: I needed to Dremel the top of the new shock just the tiniest bit to get it to slide into the slot. That took about 2 minutes total after which, the shock dropped right in. I then tightened everything back up, put the dog bones back on, torqued everything to spec and pulled the bike off the center stand.

At first, I thought I hadn't done something right... the bike normally drops quite a bit when I take it off the center stand and it settles onto the tires. Not so this time. I proceeded to check everything to make sure there was no binding and found none... Apparently the new shock was already doing it's job. :rockwoot:

I checked one more time to make sure everything was bolted in correctly, and then went for a ride. Holy freakin' CRAP, what a difference. It was like the rear wheel was glued to the road. I couldn't believe the difference in the handling.

I'll be spending the next week or so dialing the new shock in (the old shock had adjustable pre-load only while this one has hi/low dampening etc). Either way, it was definitely a worth-while mod. End-to-end, it took me about 20-25 minutes to install (I guess I shouldn't have put it off :lmao:). Total cost was just a shade under $100 (you can't reuse the old bottom shock bolt from the SV: it's too short and it actually threads into the stock shock so you're better off just getting the bottom shock bolt for a ZX-14)

Next up, new fork springs, oil, and emulators.

http://prtclmn001.smugmug.com/Other/...40_J5GUA-L.jpg

Be careful, the dive you will get with the new shock and sucky springs will kill you.

Even for lighter guys like myself, the stock SV suspension sucks. Mine acted like a pogo stick over bumps.

Yeah I am planning on ordering new springs on Monday. I've already got the pre-load cranked up in the meantime and will be taking it easy this week until the new springs are installed. That's one thing I'm not looking forward to doing.

Emulators will come later I think just because of time. Sonic Springs and 15 or 20 weight fork oil should do for now.

ok, scratch that, I just ordered .90kg/mm springs. :)

holy crap. bike related threads on fix?

it's riding season ;)

Get the emulators. They are drop in easy and make a huge diff. My SV was transformed by them.

this

Go with 20W, don't even bother with 15W.

This..

I didn't want to stiffen it up too much at once with springs and oil... You really think 20W is a better idea?

What you weighing in at? I wound up with a 1.1 spring for the aprilia (now if I can get them installed properly, thats a whole other story ;) ) and guys on the forum recommended 5wt oil.

Not sure what was in there from last year but with the new oil and the older springs it seems better:?:

From my experience with the SV.

The forks are useless. You might as well crank those suckers all the way down until you get some valve emulators.

Hell, the rear shock was useless too, like a marshmallow.

Then again, I replaced my stuff with a Penske 8981 and Traxxion AK-20s.

But, for you, get the emulators. http://www.traxxion.com/detail-65.aspx

Call or email them first.

do they match up witht he gsxr forks. I have stock internals from an 07 750 in my garage.

I wish they were a 1:1 Tommy :(

I am about 230 these days (trying to get that down) and with my riding style .90 springs would seem to be best.

There's 5W in there now and it dives like a freakin' submarine - I'm doing incremental steps to correct it starting with springs and oil. Over the winter I will work on emulators: I just don't want the down time and all the drilling and such right now.

I'm not a crazy fast rider by any stretch of the imagination (I have no doubt that any number of people here could out-ride me in the twisties) so I'm trying to find the compromise between stiffness and a softer ride.

I have heard that emulators may be overkill for the street, but I dont know how bad those internals are. Find out if the gsxr stuff would fit. I could send you th eparts off of mine if it would help.

Yeah, I've heard that they're overkill for the street too. Eventually I'll build a track bike but I'm so far from any tracks that it isn't practicle for me to set the bike up for the track at this time.

I'll do some research and let you know if the GSXR internals would fit into the SV - I'm thinking not but if they will that may be a cool idea too. :)

With the old TL's a lot of the gsxr stuff bolted right on so I figured its worth a shot.

Heck I have most of a front end you can have...the forks are tweaked but repairable according to Racetech. The lower triple is tweaked according to Leon and I have the upper as well. I may even have the bearings some where and an axle. You pay shipping and you can have it but I caution you that I take zero responsibility. Let me know.

I'll take a look during lunch and see what the sizes and such are and then pull what I can on the GSXR internals :)

I went for a ride this morning before everyone got up and it's amazing the difference with the rear shock. :eek:

Amber Lamps, I think I'm good for now (I'd rather not do the full conversion to the GSXR front because I don't want to mess with the speedometer and stuff) but thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it.

We did the full GSXR750 on our endurance SV complete with new rim and some steering head machine work and guess what? Our Race Tech equipped stock forks were preferred by all.

Another plus on the race tech is go to their website, input your weight, riding style and use, and it will give you free recommendations on spring rate and fluid...Free.

Yep - that's where I got the .90 and 15W spring/oil combination :)

I think the sonic site does it as well.

Particle Man, I would recommend going with the emulator kit I linked to.

I know you say you don't ride hard, but its not just about that.

The suspension on the SV is done after about 5k miles. It's also a safety issue. Wishy washy suspension leads to wishy washy braking and an uncertainty of what your bike is doing.

When you give input, you want your bike to respond in a predictable manner. The emulators are in no way close to a "race" suspension. Just some food for thought.

Thanks dude. It's definitely on the agenda.

Glad you finally got it in. Good luck with the front end

IMO, oil is more important than springs, because springs only control dive......But oil controls both dive AND rise/float.

As for the emulators, they are just a spring-loaded valve that pops open if you hit a pothole. So it theoretically improves the ride and traction over bumps, but they don't affect rebound damping, so your bike will rise/rebound just as much as it did before. Most SV owners "in the know" braise shut the rebound hole in their damper rod. In fact, Traxxion sells a damper rod with the hole braised shut, but you could do it yourself if you want.

hmmm, now there's an idea...

Forgot to mention, doing emulators requires you to drill bigger holes in the damping rod to free up the compression damping (since the emulator restricts compression). Then you have to set the spring tension on the emulator which determines when it pops open. The problem is, I found it hard to get a good balance between the two. If you don't like it you'll have to open up the forks again and dig the emulators out and adjust them. That is why the Gixxer front end is so popular, because they have damping adjusters, not to mention USD forks so there is less unspring weight. Better brakes as well.

I would just do the springs & oil and see how you like it. Doing anything else to those forks is more effort than it's worth, IMO.

I'll let you know in about 3-4 days once the springs arrive. I plan on putting them in the day I get them (well, in the evening after work and my daughter goes to bed).

I use Racetech for all of my suspension needs. If he would have took me up on the front end, I would have suggested sending everything to them to be straightened, sprung, and set up. He would have had to simply install it ready to ride.

How spendy do you think that would be?
I have an SV that may have slightly twisted forks, and dives terribly.

I would like to do the swap (eventually), the gf that currently rides doesn't care much and can't tell the difference between an unsprung harley and an ohlins riding Duc. :idk:
So winter project sometime when I have some extra $$, or find a stellar deal.

Last I knew Racetech would straighten a fork for well under $100...less if you are getting the rest done. Springs are cheap and are easily replaced on a GSXR anyway... call them I'm sure that they can advise you much better than I or anyone else here IMHO.

951 279 6655

Thanks dude. I really do appreciate the offer (especially to someone you don't really even know). I saw the additional costs associated with changing the triple set out (I'd have to get another bar setup since I already pulled the clipons off in favor of bars and risers), figuring out the speedo setup, etc and I'm about at the end of my bike mod budget for the year

well, I installed the Sonic Springs and holy crap, what a difference. I started with 20W oil (instead of the 15 I was going to try originally) and it was actually too stiff so I put 15W instead in and it has just the right amount of give. Front end dive in braking is all but gone (there's the slight dip in the front end if I really grab a handful of brake that I'd normally expect). I actually backed the pre-load off to 4 and I may back it off another half because it isn't absorbing bumps as much as I'd like but I think that oughta do it. Now that I have everything in I can dial in this ZX-14 shock and get everything set up perfectly.