Thread: Sportsbike: is a top of the line shock better and is it worth it?

Never mind the performance, feel the passion.

Regards
Paul

I rode bevel ducks for about 10 years exclusively (in fact for some of that time they were my only transport). I was absolutely shocked hopping on bikes equipped with gremicas let alone anything japanese of the period after being spoiled so long.

Riding a bike with top notch suspension and brakes really does make a tremendous difference and you really don't get it until you've spent some quality time on it.

Like when I fitted fournales to a V50. I honestly couldn't believe how much more comfortable it was while maintaining perfect balance in all situations.

FWIW my 1100 sport carb was easily as nice as any bevel, almost exactly the same relationship from bars to seat to pegs as a 900SS, and with bevels fetching silly money nowdays makes a much nicer riding propostion (and a MUCH faster and more reliable bike).

Not a huge fan of marzochis. They were renowned for being over sprung and under damped. Konis were always a nicer shock in the old days, now I suppose there are many good options. I'm afraid apart from my friend Cathy's GS500 the youngest bike in the shed is 1975...so I'm not up on the modern stuff.

Only tried a Duke once, the 450 single back in the 70s. Sweet handling but not a comfy proposition for long rides. Owned a BSA 500 single for a while; the Girling suspenders did a nice job but otherwise the reliability of the make was rubbish.

The Koni designs and some Aus. machinery were bought years ago and now are made here under the Ikon brand IIRC. And yes, there are other good brands coming out of the UK mainly to supply the track day and racing markets.

An increasing number of bikes are being released with optional higher specs inc. Ohlins front and rear which is a much more cost-effective option than retrofitting.

My husband used to race bikes back in the uk r1s , and the difference between a road stock bike and the superbike was massive not just talking about power but the handling felt so much more planted and he ran ohlins on all of them, he had help from ktech who supply the units and the forks, adjustable preload on the rear was excellent making changes while riding, mind you now they just push buttons on the dash board and it changes everything even down to the traction control!!

Yes, BMW lifted the bar with ESA.

And the top sportsbikes now come with adjustable damping for high and low rates. But frankly, most riders don't bother to set up their suspenders properly. Even preload (but to be fair, some rear preload adjusters are a pain to get at; the nice thing about Ohlins is the remote adjuster you can work by hand).

Overall we have litre sportsbikes that are as capable now as superbikes of 5-6 years ago ... and way beyond the capacity of most riders to fully exploit.