I just got my progressive shocks installed on my bike and I gotta just post here for anyone considering it: WOW!  What a difference it makes.  Honestly, the stock shocks didn't feel so bad to me but I'm gearing up for a big road trip so I figured I'd upgrade.  Riding around the streets of Denver I kept going "Did they improve this road since I was last on it?"

I ended up aiming for bumps and cracks in the pavement to try and feel them... sometimes I could but sometimes I wasn't sure if I missed them or what.  So smooth!

My corbin seat should be here in about a week too and I'm super excited for my S40 to be fully worthy for some long-haul trips!

Where you trip'n?

engineer wrote on 08/28/13 at 18:30:44:


I got the 412-4201C 11.5" from JC Motors.  Highly recommended, both the model and the seller.

Here's the direct link to what I got:

http://www.jcmotors.com/p-14906-progressive-suspension-412-series-115-chrome-...

Quote:


Point A to Point B is Denver (where I've been this month and where I bought the S40) back to my home of San Francisco.  I'm taking vacation time and doing a wandering route home.  I don't have the whole thing planned out, since I sorta think that's the best way to do it.  I have a few objectives, though.

* Hit as many national parks as possible: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Big Basin, and Yosemite
* Stay off the interstates whenever possible to soak up the scenery
* Prioritize enjoying the moment over any mileage target.  No stress about progress, milestones, pace, or setting iron butt records.

Other than that, I'm planning to just be a guy and his S40.  I'm highly excited.

Rock on! Just don't run out of gas!

The saddlebags I have are made by a company called Saddleman. They are from their Express Drifter series. They are alright. I keep all my rain gear in one and my trip'n equipment in another. They came with a throw over option so you can mount them with a strap under your rear seat, but I took that off and made some solid aluminum brackets and bolted the bags to them. I also added an aluminum backing plate to make them extra sturdy, as the plastic backing plate it comes with is said to brake over time. So was it easy? Lol, I with all the modifications I made, I certainly created myself a ton of work. But they don't budge and have held up real nice!  

If you do the throw over option, just make sure you get the brackets that keep the bags from swinging into your tire. There are lots of universal kits out there.

Just keep in mind too that the shock on the left side of the s40 sticks out a lot more than the one on the right. So make sure you have enough clearance!  

I also used PVC pipes as extra storage. Since my aluminum mounting brackets were large enough, I was able to just bungie cord stuff on top of them. In the picture, you can see a black tube on either side of my seat above my saddle bags. I used a leather like material and made cases for them. Worked great for holding a huge giant beating stick maglight I slept with every night, and a few tin cans of food.

Yeah, bungie cords rock. I think I used like 16 - 18 all over my bike that trip. Get some!  

There's no substitute for travel... ...

From what I've read shocks with lower progression numbers are better suited for lighter riders.

For example on older dual rate progressive shocks the spring rate recommendations are as follows-
*60/90 for guys under 200 lbs.
*70/100 for guys 200 to 220 lbs.
*80/110 for guys over 220 lbs.

Hi sarahkhas,

Which cortech model # did you buy ?

The stock brackets are rubbing against my tire since I accidentally upgraded the sidewall height

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1378453259