rear suspension for heavy rider?

[Omahastylin16]

ok so anyone here that has met me knows that im a pretty big guy. my question is how much should i expect to pay to get my bike set up for my weight? also what do you guys recommend for parts? and who is a good supplier of those parts?

im about 280 lbs and my bike is an 01 zx-9r

[OreoGaborio]

PM GMDComputrack.

You're probably lookin at spending roughly a grand to a grand & 1/2 on a rear shock, springs & valves.

[GixerJockey]

Fat ass!

[BMFR6]

like pete said, get in touch with PK. spend the money and do it once. i'd figure a grand to start if you are buying a shock, which is worth it. from there, the sky is the limit

[Omahastylin16]

Fat ass!

no youre a fat ass!

[stoinkythepig]

I'm a big guy on an 01 9R as well. I am certain you will get the best performance by spending money on quality suspension work, however, it's an 8 year-old bike that's never going to repay you for the upgrades in re-sale value, and some practically free adjustments and a switch to cheaper tires can make a world of difference in the handling.

At 280#, you should have the front and rear pre-load maxed out. 01 9Rs are pretty stiffly sprung and have too much damping for average-sized riders, from the factory. They just have too much rake and trail, IMO. So to address that:

The rear ride height can be raised easily with washer shims installed between the top of the rear shock at it's mounting point. The shock linkage is roughly 3:1 so 7 mm (like I used) of shim will raise the rear 21 mm.

I cut a section out of each washer I used to make them "U" shaped so that all I had to do was loosen the top nut, lift the bike, slip them in place, lower the bike and tighten the top nut. It's a 15 minute job and it'll decrease the rake and trail nicely, making the bike turn-in much quicker. I did this within days of buying my bike.

A 180-55 rear tire will make it turn-in even better. Wish I'd done this sooner.

If you do decide to buy a new rear shock, I'd love to have your old one, mine's got 70,000 miles and I'd love to get a fresher one.

[ducvet]

First off talk to PK get the prices from him, this is what he does for a living.

Now thats out of the way, I have tons of experience on an off brand Italian bikes (you know the red ones). I do not know if it is possible with your bike but I change springs alone on plenty of bikes. The benefits are not as great but you are so far off on the springs it would be a huge change for the better.

springs themselves are not huge $$ $100-120 each end and if you can do the removal and install of the suspension you can improve the bike for about the price of a set of tires.

one of the issues you might have doing this is the damping will not be close due to how big a change you will need, there are also limits to what spring rates are available. I sprung a BMW GS for a "big guy" this year and we were maxed out with available springs. On paper it was not ideal but a ohlins was not in the budget, in the end he was very happy.

This will be your biggest problem in that after you get the correct springs on a bike you will know what you have been missing and will be doing this to all of your bikes afterwords.

good luck

[Currently]

Remember if you spend the grand or so on a Penske, you can always move it to another bike for just a little money.

Most suspension shops will just trade springs on you ... used for used ... and revalve the shock for slightly more than changeing the oil out.

Keep your stock shock and when you sell the bike, put it back on. You will never get your money back if you let the penske go with the bike. However you can move the penske over from bike to bike ... cause it is a modular system.

Think of it as an investment for a lifetime of riding.

[marshdrummer]

Think of it as an investment for a lifetime of riding.

How much do you love your bike? How much do you love riding? Do you do trackdays? I'm a fat guy that does trackdays, rides over 10,000 miles a year and I love my TLR so I invensted $2,000 into my suspension. Ohlins rear and racetek front and set up by Mike at GMD in CT. Best $2,000 I ever spent. Having the peace of mind on the track and on the street knowing that my suspension won't do my wrong is worth every penny.

Oh yea, if you go Ohlins, you just tell them your weight with gear on and it comes valved and sprung for you.....

[ssg]

Oh yea, if you go Ohlins, you just tell them your weight with gear on and it comes valved and sprung for you.....

Same with Elka, good stuff:

http://www.elkasuspension.com/products/street.html

[Hoss]

+1 on the fat guys and GMD.

Stock suspension can do a lot of things for a lot of people. But when a rider of our size jumps on a bike...it's just wan't designed with us in mind.

First time I took the 675 out with the penske and gmd forks..oooh baby

Don't know if I can ever own a bike with stock suspension anymore.

[Currently]

How much do you love your bike? How much do you love riding? Do you do trackdays? I'm a fat guy that does trackdays, rides over 10,000 miles a year and I love my TLR so I invensted $2,000 into my suspension. Ohlins rear and racetek front and set up by Mike at GMD in CT. Best $2,000 I ever spent. Having the peace of mind on the track and on the street knowing that my suspension won't do my wrong is worth every penny.

Oh yea, if you go Ohlins, you just tell them your weight with gear on and it comes valved and sprung for you.....

Don't have to sell me ... I have Traxxion Dynamics AK20 cartridge internals in my SV forks with a Penske triple in the rear.

I love pissing off the Ducati riders with my Sucati ...

Top suspension with PP2ct tires on the 'hala or the dragon and I am in motorcycle mecca!

Also got some very nice tracks all within a couple of hours driving down here in SE Tennessee except for the SC one.

Barber Motorsports Park Leeds, Alabama
Carolina Motorsports Park Kershaw, South Carolina
Nashville Superspeedway Lebanon, Tennessee
Roebling Road Bloomingdale, Georgia
Talladega Gran Prix Raceway Munford, Alabama

[beet]

I bought an Ohlins and had GMD put on a heavier spring and I was good to go.

I got franks bike & this bike is like wow. & I tell ya Frank

[ducvet]

I had a gal on a ducati monster have me check sag at the track last year, the springs were too soft by a bit. She was 130lbs With her gear on! don't feel bad if you need to change springs almost everyone needs to.

First thing I do on any of my own bikes.

[GixerJockey]

I bought an Ohlins and had GMD put on a heavier spring and I was good to go.

You're a fat ass too?

[beet]

he's 5" taller & 150lbs heavyer then me small guy that I em..

You're a fat ass too?

[beet]

But hes like 14' tall dude