Happy face

because...these arrived today ! Ill try and get them  fitted at the weekend

You’ll be smiling even more once you take a ride with them.

Serowbot wrote on 01/30/20 at 08:21:58:



They are a new breed, called Moo-dogs.

I'm not sure I understand the posts about dogs, however, Juliana, couuld you please measure how much the progressives raise the rear of the bike?

You must live rural or semi rural, if it's not being rude, how much were the shocks in $NZ? Got stung on the jaw on the way home from Parakai today.

Well Progressive shocks fitted and ive done about 50kms on them

Being the 11 inch ones they are 15mm taller than the standard ones. You notice that at first. The seat seems raised at the rear so you slope more to the tank, the bars too feel lower, neither of those bother me.

The ride is considerably more composed with none of the jarring and stiffness of the standard shocks. When you look down you can see them working smoothly. They arrive on the softest setting with 5 preload positions, ive set it at 2 clicks up from the standard setting which seems about right.

A bit of an update on suspension and handling.

For what its worth my riding has been mainly on sportsbikes and the S40 is my first cruiser style bike so it has taken a bit of adjusting to.

Ive been riding it in a pretty relaxed way, and not pushing it or expecting it to handle or perform like my sports bikes. I have enjoyed the experience greatly, especially the easy going undemanding nature of the bike and the nice fat torque.

One issue was a feeling the front end felt a bit vague and the front wheel tramlines on some road surfaces. My main issue was the horrible rear shocks. Hard jarring things and of course, the first time for me to experience cruiser positioned shocks, that sent the shocks right up my spine!

I pretty much figured it was the limiting factor for me in thinking about touring on the bike, because i felt battered after an hour on it, on anything but smooth surfaces.

However Ive had plenty of experience with Suzuki rubbish suspension units in the past and knew aftermarket shocks can be great, or sometimes a unit from a higher spec Suzuki model if its a monoshock.

As you know I fitted a Superbrace to the front forks and Progressive 412', 11.5 inch shocks to the back. Both made an immediate difference on short 50km rides as initial impressions.

Today tho I was able to give to give the bike a good workout up into the hills on a demanding road of  steep hills, swooping bends, tight bends, smooth surfaces and some pretty cut up surfaces and potholes. I covered 276 kms riding gently, pushing it hard and everything in between!

To say i was really surprised would be an understatement. The front end felt much more solid and tied together. But the main surprise was the rear end! It was both supple and comfortable, yet still taut with great rebound damping, it has completely transformed the bike. I even aimed at some potholes just to feel the shocks deal with them! Colour me impressed lol. ( im 64 kgs, i found the shocks worked best for me at 2 clicks up from the softest position ).

No longer distracted by crappy rear suspension units i was also surprised and pleased with how rigid the frame is. I guess the relatively low power and light weight helps, but it really seems a well designed frame for the bike .

Thanks  

Now theres a question, ive never thought how many miles  I have done on two wheels, and it really brought back some happy memories of bikes as I thought about it!

One part is easy tho, Ive never ridden on the dirt or owned a trail/dirt bike. Im also guessing that riding as a passenger doesnt count. Thats a pity because my earliest memories of riding are on the back of my dads Velocette Venom and later my brothers Gpz900.

Anyway, Im not sure of the total but it would be, at my best estimate, 170k to 200,000 miles. I started riding on my own bike at 16 ( when I started you got your licence at 15 ) Mainly in my home country of New Zealand and boosted by only having a bike for transport for 5 years.

Mainly big bikes in NZ and Australia, but also huge mileages done on small  50cc to 125 cc bikes touring through Philippines. Vietnam and especially multiple tours in Thailand.