I've decided to bite the bullet and do suspension upgrades on my 2006 S2R1000. I had been considering a new bike, but then by denying myself a new bike I was able to rationalize spending a ton of money on mods. I have some bling and some practical but suspension is probably going to the biggest help. I am going to call racetech and get fork springs and valves, but didn't see anything for rear shock other than new springs..So I guess I have a side question in that regard..Will that be sufficient to provide better feel? And is one able to replace the spring on a stock shock?
Ok now that I high jacked my own thread from the get go :  For a new shock is the Penske 8983 best performance/value for a new shock? and is it a direct bolt with the remote reservoir?
I'm 165 w/o gear and the bike is going to be used primarily as a toy, although I have plans for a 1500 mile trip this summer and would not classify myself an aggressive rider.

Thanks for the help DMFers

The 8983 is a direct bolt-on with the remote reservoir.  It comes with these little rubber things and two hose clamps to secure the reservoir to the frame.  You can get more blingier setups...

For me, the Penske is the best value because it comes with the manual and rebuild instructions (brings down total cost of ownership if I can rebuild it myself).  I don't think any other manufacturer provides that (although I haven't bought any other shocks).

Thanks for the input, I guess I should ask if there are more economical choices as well..My only issue is time, I don't have the bike now (its in the shop getting valves etc done) and would want everything completed by my mechanic by Aug 1st so I can ride..

I'll preface with the following

a) I'm a cheap bastard
b) I'm gone thru the same dilemmas as you for my bike and I've learned a lot

So here goes….

Front Fork:

Get the racetech valves they are great. As for springs, take advantage of the racetech site and confirm your spring rate. Then go look at other 4V monsters like the S4R, RS or the S4. They have the same showa fork but some have linear rate springs. Generally for the 4V monsters, I'm willing to bet the spring rates are VERY close to what you need on your bike and they will be a hell of a lot cheaper (if not free)

Rear Shock

If you’re going to do the front, do the rear as well.

Depending on how you ride, if you run a fairly spirited pace like me, fixing the spring rate on the front suspension and not the rear will result in your bike slightly understeering thru corners. This is assuming you set both the preloads the same sag. Since I didn’t have money to upgrade the shock, I had tweak the preload to a higher value to get the proper turn in characteristics I wanted. This is unfortunately compromises you’re bikes ability on ultra bumpy roads but works for most other situations.

Penske’s are great shocks.In my opinion even the baseline Penske is just as good as the ohlins for your bike. Mind you the ohlins has no compression adjustability. Only rebound and preload. Best bang for your buck.

Your other options is the Ohlins DU321. When I was looking into it the Ohlins was about 520 bucks plus tax from my local distributor in California. Like I said above, you're paying for the name more than the features.

Well, time might be an issue... Penske is a small shop, and the shocks are built on demand.  I seem to recall it took more time than I expected, although I went through a third party dealer.  I've gotten the impression since then that calling Penske direct is a better communication solution (especially as they seem to not answer emails either).

Hyperpro lists a non-reservoir option at $619 http://epmperf.com/hyperpro-motorcycle-shocks.htm and they get decent reviews from the ADV guys.  It's not a custom setup, and Penske refused to build an emulsion shock for my S2R8 due to suspension travel concerns (so they said).

And like EEL said about the Ohlins...

Quote from: EEL on June 27, 2013, 09:53:36 AM
I'll preface with the following

a) I'm a cheap bastard
b) I'm gone thru the same dilemmas as you for my bike and I've learned a lot

So here goes….

Front Fork:

Get the racetech valves they are great. As for springs, take advantage of the racetech site and confirm your spring rate. Then go look at other 4V monsters like the S4R, RS or the S4. They have the same showa fork but some have linear rate springs. Generally for the 4V monsters, I'm willing to bet the spring rates are VERY close to what you need on your bike and they will be a hell of a lot cheaper (if not free)

Rear Shock

If you’re going to do the front, do the rear as well.

Depending on how you ride, if you run a fairly spirited pace like me, fixing the spring rate on the front suspension and not the rear will result in your bike slightly understeering thru corners. This is assuming you set both the preloads the same sag. Since I didn’t have money to upgrade the shock, I had tweak the preload to a higher value to get the proper turn in characteristics I wanted. This is unfortunately compromises you’re bikes ability on ultra bumpy roads but works for most other situations.

Penske’s are great shocks.In my opinion even the baseline Penske is just as good as the ohlins for your bike. Mind you the ohlins has no compression adjustability. Only rebound and preload. Best bang for your buck.

Your other options is the Ohlins DU321. When I was looking into it the Ohlins was about 520 bucks plus tax from my local distributor in California. Like I said above, you're paying for the name more than the features.

The Ohlins was only 520? At Traxxion the Penske is $925..Is the Ohlins a direct Bolt on?

Go to the ohlins website for compatibility but I'm pretty sure the ohlins is a bolt on. I got mine quoted from a regional distributor, It might be slightly more expense (maybe in the high 580-600 range if you buy from a  retail moto store because of the added markup.

Did traxxion include install?

Well, since I am pretty impatient and prone impulse shopping, I am the proud owner or at least payer for  Penske 8983 and Race Tech internals! . That I am calculating the drain on the ol' finances I am a little more which sort of makes me feel  which will most likely lead to  and then    which will lead to  and after all that hopeful it will get installed and I will be

There may be a couple of things to be mindful of regarding the shock ... but perhaps this is no longer an issue as a 'known entity'.

I acquired a Penske quite a number of years ago now for my S2R800 so I can't remember all the details, but some of the educated people on here were a great help as they had experienced a couple of problems ... perhaps Speeddog could re-clarify.

Considering they are all 'custom made' ... I think there were two main issues:
- ensure you get a 'high eyelet' to ensure the top of the shock fits in the mount/rocker
- take care with the hose outlet for the reservoir (breather tank could cause a clash?) ... oh and enough hose to locate the reservoir when you want it

Incidentally if anybody has some really clever (and cheap) reservoir mounting solutions I'd be happy to hear them 

Yah, got to get the tall eye.
I *think* Penske is wise to this now, but best to double check.

When I had the problem ~5 years ago, they said they had sent a lot of 'em out with the short eye.
I told 'em "Well, yeah, you can install it with a crowbar, doesn't make it right."

Somewhere I got the specs for the hose and fittings I requested on the rework.

Quote from: Speeddog on June 27, 2013, 09:34:05 PM
Yah, got to get the tall eye.
I *think* Penske is wise to this now, but best to double check.

When I had the problem ~5 years ago, they said they had sent a lot of 'em out with the short eye.
I told 'em "Well, yeah, you can install it with a crowbar, doesn't make it right."

Somewhere I got the specs for the hose and fittings I requested on the rework.

Speeddog your info was great help when I needed to make my new Penske fit a number of years ago.  At the time they were calling the longer eye the 1098 eye.  Few different ways to configure things depending on where you want the reservoir.  On p.2 of the thread below I list the hose/fittings/clocking that I went with.  Worked out great - lovely shock.

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=16988.0

BK

Thanks for the info guys, I sent an email to the company I ordered from on Friday with my concerns. I hope they get back to me and Penske has sorted all this out. I'll try and find out if Penske is completely aware of the issues and makes the necessary changes all ready.

I ordered mine through the same company in 2011 and had no problems.

Quote from: Speeddog on June 27, 2013, 09:34:05 PM
Yah, got to get the tall eye.
I *think* Penske is wise to this now, but best to double check.

When I had the problem ~5 years ago, they said they had sent a lot of 'em out with the short eye.
I told 'em "Well, yeah, you can install it with a crowbar, doesn't make it right."

Somewhere I got the specs for the hose and fittings I requested on the rework.

Thread resurrection time!!!  So I would reiterate this point about double checking, as I did not and here is my current issue

Trying any orientation... 1, nope


Attempt 2.... Nope.  I don't really NEED any of those wires or connectors right?


There might be some clearance issues here


Good thing it's still freaking freezing here and I can't really ride anything

is that an emulsion shock? or is there bladder in there?

you can crack the later open a bit to adjust the hose. But not on an emulsion.

(can someone correct me on that?)