Minor Winter Project - installing suspension worth 1/3 of the bike

[Papa_Complex]

Originally Posted by Amber Lamps

TOTALLY agree with getting springs, I have done so on almost every bike I've ever owned-including cruisers. That's a couple hundred bucks max... Spending 2k on suspension on an old bike... Well, what about the brakes? Transmission? Unsprung weight? Rake and trail? Total bike weight? There have been advances in more that just hp bro... My bike now kicks the crap out of my old FZR1000 in every category, seriously.

Well, to start with, I've only done it on NEW bikes myself, not old ones. My ER is a 2009, bought new this year.

And just swapping out the fork springs potentially leaves you with a poorly damped setup. I'm dropping in a full cartridge setup for about $700.00

Brakes? I could replace the brake lines with stainless, but I've found that I get most of the benefit of them with just a pad swap.

Transmission? Works beautifully, thank-you very much. Especially so when I'm above 7K rpm.

Rake and trail? It's fine for me. Ergonomics were more of a concern, which I handled by just swapping the bars for a straighter set.

Unsprung weight? That would be nice, but the suspension alone will make the ride head and shoulders above the stock setup. If it comes right down to it I could likely do a wheel swap still coming out at less than that $3K more total that you stated, to which I would be adding $1.5-$2K in suspension mods anyway.