Rear shock options

32612 Views 215 Replies 19 Participants Last post by rcannon409, May 31, 2018

Michael D. Smith

Discussion Starter · Jul 18, 2015

Would like to know if you have put aftermarket rear shocks on your N1K and how you like the performance. Took my bike in to suspension specialists yesterday and they dialed in my SAG after servicing the front forks and the guy said that my rear shock isnt strong enough for my weight and I should either get a new spring or replace the entire shock...which is what I am going to do.

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rcannon409

· #2 · Jul 18, 2015

The best deal for this is from Traxxion Dynamics. For @ 350, they will respring and revalve the stock shock. Its excellent once they finish.

I liked this shock very much. Ended up selling it and upgrading to the Penske shock. I did not gain much, I promise that. Its more plush, but really does not work "better".

A spring on the stock shock wont do much. The valving is off by a lot.

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Michael D. Smith

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 19, 2015

alright that sounds good...been looking for aftermarket shocks and it doesnt appear that many places even sell them for this bike.

rcannon409

· #4 · Jul 19, 2015

You can get them, no problem.

Traxxion dynamics can rebuild your stock shock, or sell you a custom made penske.

350.00 rebuild, [email protected] Penske

I believe the guy I dealt with was Dan Anderson. He worked with me on the rebuild and the replacement. Great guy to deal with and highly recommended. 770-592-3823

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Michael D. Smith

Discussion Starter · #5 · Dec 12, 2015

Well I finally sent it in to get that rebuild with Traxxion Dynamics. Waited till the off season because I didnt want to be without my bike during riding season. Have some other stuff Id like to do to this bike as well like top end work/exhaust mod ($). Thanks for the recommendation and will let you know how it turns out.

MarkOne

· #6 · Dec 12, 2015

Michael D. Smith said:
Would like to know if you have put aftermarket rear shocks on your N1K and how you like the performance. Took my bike in to suspension specialists yesterday and they dialed in my SAG after servicing the front forks and the guy said that my rear shock isnt strong enough for my weight and I should either get a new spring or replace the entire shock...which is what I am going to do.

If you don't mind sharing, how much do you weigh? I am 6'3 240 so I am also concerned.

Michael D. Smith

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 12, 2015

Im 6'3" and weigh about 205-210...but my weight up until a couple years ago was 250.

MarkOne

· #8 · Dec 12, 2015

I got as high as 285 a couple of years ago. The amazing thing is I still had to lay on the the bars of my KTM to try to keep front wheel down. When I did, the rear wheel made trenches.

Michael D. Smith

Discussion Starter · #9 · Dec 12, 2015

Yeah this bike I dont have that problem at all...I have to pop the clutch almost to get the front end up..did change the gearing a bit went to a 16 front/ 42 back which gave it more top vs low end...but even before this its nothing compared to the ZX10 which a buddy of mine has and I found out pretty quickly how easy it is to get the front end off the ground on his bike, or like in your case you have to try and keep it down.

Experience_Matters

· #10 · Apr 29, 2016

Two weeks ago, I got my Bitubo Suspension back from maintenance.
Superb improvement over the OEM shock btw.

Specs:
For the rear shock: Bitubo Mono "Performance" K100CLU31 (3 way adjustable)
front forks completely redone: Bitubo spring kit MK 42 + Bitubo Hydrualic fork kit KFORK056 kit

Bitubo Mono "Performance" K100CLU31

The original shock absorber provides the adjustment of the manual spring preload (with ring), and the adjustment of the hydraulic brake during rebound; is provided with slightly progressive spring, with a choice of soft rigidity in the initial part, but still suitable for the type of vehicle.
Our shock CLU31, with separate compensation tank, as well as offering a better chance of "personalization", thanks to all the regulations it is equipped with, it offers the convenience of the hydraulic spring preload, and has a stiffer spring in the initial part, giving a sportier stance, but still comfortable.
The hydraulic damping allows an initial braking similar to the original, but with the advantage of having a much wider range of adjustments, that allows you to adapt the suspension setting from the tourist driving to the more sporty.
The adjustable distance (compared to the standard which is provided, equal to 353mm) in a range of -2 / +8 m, allows you to customize the layout to suit your own driving preferences for both sporty and circuit use.

Dedicated to the bikes having some space problems on the upper attachment, the new CLU is the High Performance Mono shock for street bike.

The compensation tank is separated from the body, in order to get more free positioning, and is linked with a flexible hose for very high pressions, internally in non-deformable Teflon and externally in metal plait, in order to avoid pressure vibrations on the suspensions oscillations.

Technical features:
Nitrogen pressurized, with oil/gas separator aluminum floating piston in the separate compensation tank. 16mm diameter piston rod, with anti-friction treatment and high sliding bushing; upper and lower attachment heads in aluminum alloy worked by CNC machines from a single block.

Settings:

Length (range 8 mm)
Hydraulic Spring Preload (range 12 mm - 24 turns of the knob)
Double Compression (High Speed in 20 clicks and Low Speed in 24 clicks)
Rebound (24 clicks)
The final code "31" identifies the spring in Red colour (for Sport Bike), and the code "32" specified the spring in Black colour (for Touring/Classic Bike, in the photo)

Bitubo Hydrualic fork kit KFORK056 kit

The standard fork is adjustable for spring preload, in both legs in the rebound braking, but only one of two in compression braking; it is properly calibrated for a road or tourist usage.
With our hydraulic kit KFORK it was decided to give the opportunity to work with a wider range of hydraulic adjustments, both in compression and rebound damping; the basic calibration setup offers an hydraulic compression more substantial, offering stability even in braking to the limit and the sport / road usage of the vehicle.

Bitubo spring kit MK 42

The original springs have a spring constant adapted to a tourist use of the vehicle, however, to make the structure more consistent in sporty driving (and optimize it in the event of a possible KFORK mounted), were chosen springs slightly more rigid.
The installer will find fork slightly more sustained and controlled, and will be happy in the touristic but also in the sporty use.

Some pics:

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5

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Experience_Matters

· #11 · Apr 29, 2016

If all goes well, will be getting the bike back together in one piece next weekend.

Current state :

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Rock

· #12 · May 1, 2016

I'm a drop over 200lbs without gear. I was told this shock is good to about 180lbs tops. Is the penske really worth it at my weight?

Day Trippin

· #13 · May 1, 2016

Rock - you like throwing cubic dollars at things, that is why you bought the BMW. Suck it up and invest 10-15% of your bikes value in a shock.

You know you want to.

Rock

· #14 · May 1, 2016

hahaha I get your point!..15% is closer

in for a penny in for a pound at this point I suppose.

MarkOne

· #15 · May 1, 2016

Wow! Looks nice and expensive.

Reactions: 1

rcannon409

· #16 · May 2, 2016 (Edited)

Well, you could do like day did. Buy bike, take hit fixing it up, then sell it. Then convince self you saved money by buying the bmw at 20 grand after you lost the money and got zero time for it. Sort of like paying for the vacation, then staying home.

Yea, the penske shock is incredible. Mine was about 900.00. Its several grades above what Daytripper spent 2000 for, and is custom tuned to my weight. Fully tunable, rebuildable, and is easily convertible to fit other bikes. Whags also nice is I can count on it. Its not tied into a computer, it responds in a predictible manner, regardless of date, time, place.

Daytripper fell into a strange trap. Somehow he thought a 12,000 bike, and a 20k bike would be the same. When he realized it cost a few thousand to fix up a ninja, it drove him nuts. How nuts? Its been a month, and it still bothers him.

newsflash...good suspension costs money.

Traxxion dynamics can make a stock ninja 1000 shock a match for any high end oem shock for 350.00

When I go to sell the bike, oh wait...im keeping the bike. But, if I do sell, ill offer the shock to someone for 500, or convert it to my next bike.

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rcannon409

· #17 · May 2, 2016

Sorry....

As a ps, dont fall into the "It costs 15% value of...." A first class ticket costs , what, 10x the cost of a regular seat?

Read the story of Confederate motorcycles. The bikes sat around, for years, and did not sell. For time, they were priced at $22,000-25,000 and they could not give them away.

A smart CEO took over. He re-painted them and raised the price to 75,000-100,000. They started selling, and the waiting list was in the hundreds. Same bike, but it suddenly became a status symbol.

A zx10r costs around 15,000. A r1 is 16,999. Even the oldest bikes, the gsxr 1000 and cbr 1000 costs over 14,000. A Ninja 1000 costs 11,999. List prices.

Now, unless a person is a complete moron, you could assume corners were cut to shave 3000-4000 from a very similar platform. All bikes mentioned need an engine, suspension, frame and plastic.

So, suspension was one way to cut costs, and Kawasaki did. Its a smart move. Most owners are afraid to turn clickers. Having 172 possible combinations of damping are wasted on them.

For those who wan tth 172 combinations, you do what Exp Matters does. He was smart enough to see there was room for improvement, and took care of business.

Was it 15% 20% 40%? Thats not the point. Thats what it costs to have custom suspension. If you look on any of the BMW forums, their guys are revalving, re shocking, and doing the same things we are AND have already paid a premium, up front.

Day, I would tel you this. I hope you are thrilled to death with your esa. However, if you think for a second its even approaching the level of what exp matters has, in quality, you are delusional.

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Rock

· #18 · May 2, 2016

Yeah, to have the best rear shock which I can then remove and use again is probably not a bad investment. That and the windscreen are probably the only two mods you can reuse.

When all is said and done I'll be dropping about 2.2-2.4k into the Ninja. If I can recoup a grand than I don't feel so bad. I can See DT's point though. If you need to drop a few grand into the Ninja I think exceeds a reasonable limit.

rcannon409

· #19 · May 2, 2016

Id imagine Exp Matters shock and fork to be at least 2500.00 American.

The closest oem bike to match the quality of what he bought might be the cbr1000rr sp, high end Ducatis or one of the Aprilia factories. You know how they are priced.

BMW does not offer anything in that league, at any price. xr price, with upgraded suspension starts at 19,300, so I dont even see how you could include it in the same conversation.

Way more price difference in it , and the ninja 1000, than comparing our ninjas to an r3 or ninja 300.

Experience_Matters

· #20 · May 2, 2016

rcannon409 said:
Id imagine Exp Matters shock and fork to be at least 2500.00 American.

The closest oem bike to match the quality of what he bought might be the cbr1000rr sp, high end Ducatis or one of the Aprilia factories. You know how they are priced.

BMW does not offer anything in that league, at any price. xr price, with upgraded suspension starts at 19,300, so I dont even see how you could include it in the same conversation.

Way more price difference in it , and the ninja 1000, than comparing our ninjas to an r3 or ninja 300.

I paid 1400 € for rear shock, front fork revalve & the all the work hours involved. It was however a "friend" price. Most of the work was almost done for free, I also help my suspension tuner with his online strategy.

And no you can't compare it with the Aprilia factories.
Aprilia is fooling you with the Ohlins suspension, it is not the good stuff that is on it. just above mediocre, same for the MV Agusta's RR models.
For the Ducs, even the Ohlins Ducati's, the active (semi-active) suspension is also lower spec.
A descent semi-active suspension costs +4K.
I know my suspension dealer even replaces a lot of shocks of the Panigale R's, but most of his work now is replacing the S1000RR's. I think that's almost 40% of his work.

It is a big investment, and the investment continues as well, as maintenance costs are higher then normal shocks. I have a street model, but all rubber pieces are made for low friction and not for high mileage. (you can't have both).

However, and I can say this as a total newb, as I bought mine when I only rode 1.5 years, it is not just something for experienced riders. The difference is huge, and it is very confidence inspiring.
My learning curve took a +300% hit with this suspension. The extra feeling with the tires & road you have is enormous. The bike just does what you want it to do. A pothole in a turn ... no problem, you just stick to your line.

The results were way above my expectations. If I'd buy a new bike, suspension will be my first upgrade, not slipons or anything else.

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