Suspension life ?

[lrm74]

Hi - having just bought a 2003 21k 'Bird (had a 2001 model 5 years ago) - I was wondering about suspension. On my old VFR FiY 2000 model I changed the rear shock at 15k / 6yrs to suit two up riding with Givi boxes - and the general fraternity seemed to say that "most bikes at 7 years or 20k miles will be getting saggy and maybe needed a new rear shock at least".

That VFR used to squat at the rear under hard acceleration in low gears so it felt soft, hence the change of shock - but I get the impression that the Bird does not suffer so much from the shock getting weak ?

My new 2003 bird feels pretty good and handles well so I guess most of them do big miles and years ? What are people doing to say their 1998 model birds with 30k miles ..... still original shock or most changed .. ?

Oh yes - and is there a recognised shock setting for two up riding ? Cheers

 

[andyBeaker]

I went through three shocks in 100k on my 98 - never really noticed the gradual fall off in performance but really noticed how good it felt when new one fitted.

When I moved on to an 02 it had 23k on it - front end had gone completely (fely extremely vague at all speeds) and new rear shock made a noticable difference. So I suppose 20-30k miles for replacement is a good shout.

Unless you want to spend mega bucks, the JAWS exchange shock for a little over ?100 does the job very nicely. Also fit his front end upgarde - makes a massive difffernce, even for a gentlaman rider like me.