Front and Rear Suspension Upgrade

Welcome to the forum, you might find it cheaper to P/X your Speed for an R as there are £5700 worth of mods already on them.

 

Or try eBay. I bought a rear shock from the Triple R when I had mine. The only other thing is get the front forks re-valved cost circa £200 it will be cheaper and the forks and shock will get set up for type of riding and weight.

 

Hmm.. I've been thinking along these lines. Tempted to trade up to an R but I got quite a good deal on my bike and I reckon I'd still need to find another £3000 for a trade in to get a comparable bike in an R.
First things first is get a pro suspension set up if you haven't already. I did and for £99 it transformed the steering and agility of the bike. Needed a minor secondary tweak to take out a touch of compression damping to get the ride perfect and then it was floating along lovely. So much so that I squared off the stock K3 tyres in one afternoon just having a blast. They were horrible tyres on the road so I've changed to a set of Z8's which are wonderful in comparison. Miles more grip and feel and the back end rolls round the corners like a barrel in water. Silky smooth and tracks a constant line through the bends without any effort. The K3s tipped and lurched like they were thruppenny bit in profile and that was before I'd squared them off. Frustratingly, though, while the Z8s gripped like glue and tracked like they were on rails the ride went all to pieces again. I was back to jarred eyeballs and a skippy rear over the slightest bump. Took out another 3/4 of a turn of compression damping and I'm floating again. That's quite an adjustment. I was really surprised how much a different set of tyres altered the ride.
Before I think of a trade in I'm going to go for a suspension rebuild with a new rear spring and decent fluid. Its a fraction of the cost of either a trade up or replacement units and I think its got to be worth a try. Would like those light weight wheels though......

 

If I was buying new now then the Speed Triple R for the extra money makes sense.

Saying that there is nothing wrong with the suspension on the normal speed triple for road use and there is no differenece power wise so they are both great bikes.

With the lighter wheels I think the only time you would really notice the difference would be going flat out on a track day.

Bassman best suggestion is to get you suspension set up correctly and see how you go then.

Cheers

Steve

 

I like the sound of trying a suspension set up

I live on Wirral does anyone know of a Specialist local I could approach they have heard can do good job on Triple?

 

Be careful getting correct springs, talk to manufacturer on phone first. I inherited new springs front and back which are wrong because they were bought from a retailer quoting wrong springs for bike and still are!! (The SE Bonnie is different to T100 in my case)

 

If you're in the Midlands check these guys out, their work completely transformed my 2003 FireBlade a few years ago.
Revs Suspension Services

 

Had a chat with Paul Adams the other day at Racelab where I had my suspension set up. I've no complaints with it at all as it is at the moment but some of the damping settings are near their limits and while the handling is more than capable for road riding I can feel the chassis and engine have more left to give than the suspension does. So I dropped in for a chat to see what the options might be, short of spending £3000 odd trading up to an R or £2500 fitting and setting up Ohlins. This was his advise:

Rear shock:
Rebuilding/valving/springing the originals: No cheaper than fitting a mid-range aftermarket shock like a Nitron. (Yes I know, he would say that, he sells them). But the aftermarket unit will have better build quality than the stock - though there's not much in it, the OE unit is pretty good - and more importantly it will be built to the riders requirements and weight to start with and will offer a greater range of movement and adjustment. Also, if the bike is sold it can be returned to original spec which will increase its value.

Buying S/H Ohlins shock: Don't bother for a road bike. False economy, may as well buy a new one. S/H one will need an overhaul and probably re-springing as it will have been set up for another rider. Not much cheaper in the end than buying new and new ones with original paperwork will be worth far more to sell on if you get rid of the bike.

Forks:
S/H Ohlins: as above, false economy.

Rebuild originals: by far the most cost effective option. Unlikely to need respringing so don't bother spending £120 on Ohlins springs. Greatest improvement comes from fitting higher grade damping components and valves and rebuilding with quality fluid.

Conclusion: most cost effective suspension upgrade for road riding is fit an mid range aftermarket shock and rebuild the original forks. Don't buy a shock off the internet and fit it yourself, buy through a suspension specialist and have them assemble it and set it up to suit you. Total cost ride in/ride out (not on the same day obviously) fitted and set up approx £1000.

He made the point that the production Ohlins parts fitted to the R are not the same as the aftermarket factory Ohlins you buy separately. Factory fit Ohlins, though very good, are built to a price and with the same one-size-fits-all compromise you get with all OE suspension. Buying an R in the first place whether new or S/H is one thing but for me, spending £3000 odd trading up would be a very expensive way of getting better suspension. He reckons a custom built Nitron and rebuilt forks will equal the performance of an R if not exceed it because they would be built specifically for me.
As for the lighter wheels he said reducing unsprung weight will make the suspension more reactive which will in theory improve mechanical grip but it will also transmit more of the road surface to the rider which could give the impression of harsher suspension. It will steer quicker but how sluggish is it now? Well quite...
So there we are. I'm happy with my bike as it is now but if I feel the need to improve the suspension that is the way I'll go. Thanks to Paul for his time.

 

Nice post Gimlet :upyeah:

From memory I think that the original Speed triple shocks were Showa (but don't quote me on that) and are very good in their own right, my bike was ex demo so it had been set up fairly stiff anyway which I prefer.
I think too many people get sucked into to this 'MUST HAVE THE OHLINS TTX SHOCKS' where instead they could just get the suspension on their own bike set up correctly, a lot of shocks that may be great for the track are just too hard for UK roads (think £55000 Ducati Desmo a fantastic track bike but horrible on any road)

I am currently working on a CB 750 as a cafe racer project and have decided that I will put a set of Hagon rear shocks on but I am not putting new forks on the front of the bike as it starts to get away from the original bike and I'm trying to keep costs down.

 

I'm glad Ohlins isn't the only answer. I reckon by the time I'd saved up enough every bike will have reactive suspension anyway...

 

My wife is reactive to me spending too much money on my bikes. :wink:

I think the Latin or Botanical term is know as Going Completely Ballistic and does tend to bounce all over the place for quite a while:frown:

 

Great post guys I've only just read this and looks like I made the correct decision on mine as I've now put a lovely nitron shock on it brought brand new so the correct spring was fitted had the Suspention set up by a professional and now gonna get the forks revaled in the winter job done

 

I'm at a loss as to why mine handles so weirdly,i never brake whilst leant over and don't use front brakes much BUT every time I go round a bend it keeps standing up [50p ing] and you have to have 3 goes at getting it around the bend and I'm not using it at half it's ability,iv'e ordered a nitron shock for the rear,really hope this will sort it as it's putting me off riding it,in nearly 40yrs riding never had a bike handle funny,have no confidence in the front,keeps feeling like it wants to tuck,it has new metzelers on.

 

Check the tyre pressures front and back.

 

what you running yours at please,mine is 42psi rear,34 front,thanks

 

Mines 36/42

 

If I were you I spend an hour experimenting with tyre pressures, plus I would be checking the amount of spring pre-load on the back.

Go for a short run run on a twisty road near you to get your analytical senses woken up, then reduce the rear tyre pressure to for example 38psi and do the same ride again noting any handling differences. The change should be apparent almost immediately. Better or worse?

Now do the same with the front, this time increase to the 36 psi - now test-ride. Better or worse?

Now onto rear spring pre-load. Many, many riders run with the pre-load far to high, so noting the number of turns it takes, wind it off completely and test ride - better or worse?

So long as you take careful note of the existing settings, (so you can always revert to them) play around with them to understand the effect they have on handling.

 

Thanks,my new shock arrived today so I will fit it tomorrow,set the forks to what the book says then play around with the tyre pressures,thanks for all the advice.