SuzukiSavage.com - Setting Up the S40 Suspension

VortecCPI

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Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension
Reply #60 - 05/10/19 at 06:10:42

Some data on the fork springs as the length in my wife's bike did not match that of this post...

Stock fork springs are 32mm x 16.0" with a rate of 19/23 lb/in
Prog .Susp. fork springs are 31mm x 17.5" with a rate of 35/50 lb/in
Race Sag with PS fork springs is 1.4" or 28%

Total length of spring and spacer to achieve minimum preload is 19.75". Stock fork spring spacer length is 5.3125" so total length of stock springs and stock spacers is 21.3125".

Stock fork springs are garbage - Very rough over small stuff and little resistance to dive and bottoming. PS fork springs are very good over small stuff but are too heavy at the end of the stroke. I found a 31mm x 20" with a straight-rate of 30 lb/in so I am going to try that in one side. That will take me from 35/50 to 32.5/40 which I think will work good.

Another possibility is one stock spring and one PS spring which will take me from 35/50 to 27/36.5 which I think might be good at the top but too little at the bottom. I use PS 35/45 springs in my SRX600 and they work great.

Still curious as to what Hagon 400-049-01 fork springs look like...

Note RT recommendations for Race Sag...

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philthymike Serious Thumper Offline Wallowing in my own crapulence Posts: 1413 Philadelphia Area Gender:	Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension Reply #61 - 07/16/19 at 15:33:37 piedmontbuckeye wrote on 06/23/17 at 14:30:32: Does Koni (now IKON) have any suitable shocks for this application? Yes they do. https://www.ikonsuspensionusa.com/shop/7610-1530/ Pricey though!
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LANCER Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Savage Beast Performance Parts Posts: 10603 Oklahoma Gender:	Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension Reply #62 - 07/17/19 at 12:42:35
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ohiomoto

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Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension
Reply #63 - 08/09/19 at 10:43:44

ohiomoto wrote on 09/17/18 at 10:51:37:

I'm going add this here for those of us who lowered our forks for looks but would like to get that lost travel back and possibly do some of the mods listed here. I'm one of those guys and since I have standard bars, I'd like to keep my top clamp. So I decided to look into have my fork legs shortened and rethreaded to accept the stock top caps.

I found an experienced guy on youtube and contacted him. $75 a leg. He's experienced and is into cool stuff. I'll be sending my fork tubes to him this winter.

https://yt3.ggpht.com/a-/ACSszfHGqqJi9Ng7CwG97yx-cgouAXS2ZHu7QaW51w=s900-mo-c...

---------------------------

A little update...

I had 2" removed from my forks and confirmed that the fork lower clears the triple clamp with springs removed.

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Ruttly Serious Thumper Offline Thumpers Rule Posts: 4997 Manteca , CA Gender:	Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension Reply #64 - 08/09/19 at 12:21:05 So you have a 2" shorter than stock and still have full travel ? What about the spring & spacer ? Are you using stock spring ? Not enough clearance to install a fork brace huh ?
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ohiomoto

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Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension
Reply #65 - 08/11/19 at 07:57:44

Yes full travel. Stock spring and 2" cut off stock spacer. Don't have a fork brace, not sure if it would fit or not.

Stock spring is too soft. I have some stiffer Progressive springs that I got from RYCA. They are too stiff and don't offer full travel. I'm not sure what they are exactly, but I'll report back when I dig into it again.

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ohiomoto Serious Thumper Online SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 2685 WTF is JOG?	Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension Reply #66 - 08/13/19 at 11:30:35 The stiffer springs RYCA sells for the shortened forks are Progressive 11-1528 springs for HD FLH/FLT!!! They are 14.5 inches long and have a rate of 50/80 lbs/inch. That's a 750-800 lb bike. No wonder why they were stiff!
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Gary_in_NJ Serious Thumper Offline LS650 Cafe Racer Posts: 2625 Amongst the Twisty Roads	Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension Reply #67 - 08/13/19 at 12:19:57 Yes a 50/80 is way too much spring for an LS650 (see post #2 in this thread). Personally, I would never use a progressively wound spring because of excessive brake dive. Moreover the stock damping can't control the fast movements of the lighter rate usually used in the savage (35/50).
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ohiomoto Serious Thumper Online SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 2685 WTF is JOG?	Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension Reply #68 - 08/13/19 at 12:42:18 Yeah, I sort of get it when you have reduced travel, but still... I'll need something a little stiffer than stock. I'll have to go back a read post #2.
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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28760 L.A. California Gender:	Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension Reply #69 - 08/13/19 at 13:07:47 add oil
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Gary_in_NJ Serious Thumper Offline LS650 Cafe Racer Posts: 2625 Amongst the Twisty Roads	Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension Reply #70 - 08/13/19 at 16:15:43 With a 75mm air gap the savage forks already hydro lock during fast motions, adding more oil wont solve a single problem, but will create new ones.
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Jody72

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Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension
Reply #71 - 08/13/19 at 17:38:20

I got some Progressive springs from RYCA. I was told to fill up the fork with oil and when I rode it was way to stiff. so I took some oil out so that it was just covering the springs. I like the ride much better. did a 300 mile ride the weekend after I lowered the oil level handle well. I think I might try a lighter weight oil next time I changed oil in my forks. if your wounding I'm 240lb 6'2"

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Ruttly

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Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension
Reply #72 - 08/14/19 at 03:47:25

Follow the instructions that come with the Progressive springs for proper fork oil level. Simple. I used type F ATF. It was cheap & about the same as 15wt fork oil. Over all forks work fine , maybe a little harsh at slow speeds on a rough road but at speed handles nice & tight. Maybe try some 10 wt fork oil when it time to change it.

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ohiomoto

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Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension
Reply #73 - 08/14/19 at 07:39:15

Ruttly, the spings they sent me were for a Harley and so were the instructions. I ended up dropping the oil a bit to get the full ~2-3" travel when I had my forked lowed with the spacers. My forks now have the full 5" of travel and these spring just don't provide that much. I haven't looked into it, but I'm guessing they are incapable of providing 5" of travel.

For the record, the forks are using full travel with the stock springs and they are NOT bottoming out. They don't even perform all that bad, but at 6'3' 250lbs, they sit in the middle of the stoke and dive pretty hard under braking. (But hay, the front end cuts where I want it!

) raising the oil level will not reduce the sag. I could add preload, but that normally results in a stiffer ride early in the travel. The proper solution is to get the correct spring in there.

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Re: Setting Up the S40 Suspension
Reply #74 - 09/24/20 at 09:21:46

I'm looking at PS for shocks and springs. I'm noticing that the part numbers that are provided in Gary's post are for Harleys. They are direct bolt on/drop in? Might be a dumb question but I just want to be sure before I order. Also, very well write up of suspension. I never gave much thought into upgrading the suspension, or even suspension at all, until recently. everything makes sense, the front end dive when braking, the blowing out my back every time I hit a decent bump in the road. I figured Id just get heavier duty shocks and see how that worked out but I'm glad I came across this thread before making any decision. Didn't even know that you could run different springs in the forks too. Shocked

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