On Monday I drove my truck up to
Traxxion Dynamics and picked my 2005 Suzuki SV650S up, complete with brand new suspension. The folks over at Traxxion put my chain and sprockets on for me as well (I got them in the mail just before I drove up there.) Anyway, here's a rundown of what was done.
The forks were torn down, inspected, and rebuilt with Traxxion's AK-20 cartridge kit and new fork caps for preload and rebound adjustment. My forks are raised maybe 5-8mm in the triples as well. The rear shock disappeared and was replaced with a Penske 8981. They baselined the suspension adjustment, and set the sag as well.
All in all I'm very happy with the results. The lowered front actually makes for a more comfortable position for me in terms of being able to grip the tank with my knees to hold myself up, while also making it turn in much more quickly. In turns, bumps and pavement irregularities do not upset the bike nearly as much, and tracking is smooooooooth. At low speeds, I find the SV to be a bit more rough over little bumps and the like, but that smooths out at speed. The one thing I was worried about was possible instability at speed due to the front end being lowered - it tracks like a laser, so I'm not worried about anything.
One of the most notable changes to the way my SV handles the road though is braking. Before, if I grabbed a handfull of front brake my forks dove like a Japanese Zero at an American warship. Now, while the forks compress - they do so smoothly and progressively. Under even normal braking, the bike feels much more stable. Seeing as my next upgrades will be to further improve brake feel - I like this a lot.
Now for pics.
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