Best mod
 

If you had to choose 1, what would be your favorite modification on your SH?

And not to ask for too much, but maybe give a brief description so everyone else lookin for ideas will have better understanding. Thx

Thats a tough questions since I am literally in the middle of about 10+ mods right now, however, my favorite upgrade was the addition of my D&D exhaust. The stock exhaust just doesnt cut it.

Why, suspension of course!

I have a feeling there's gonna be some good stuff here

Have to say straight rate front springs. But Sargent seat is a close second.

+1 plus front brakes and steering as a whole :)
The best thing I did so far is the CBR1000RR entire front end (still need to get a rear shock from Jaimie ;) ), but there's many other mod's that well worth it, like gearing ratio on the sprocket & chain, lighter flywheel and so on... and then the mod's you don't really feel.. only when you have to pay for not having them, CCT's and R/R :)

Suspension mod.. they are expensive. But if properly tuned to your riding, they make you of existing HP, torque, brakes to the max.. far more performance gain than aftermarket exhaust.
Track school will probably help, too.

some free mods that make a difference
TPS mod
carb slide and shim mod + 48 pilots (20$ mod)
rear shock shim mod

Suspension.. it makes a felt differences on this bike if your just riding to town for some milk,,,or riding Tail of the dragon at speed, or railing turn 6 at your favorite track.

+ 1 more on suspension.

If I were to get a stock SH, first upgrade would be swapping in a USD fork front end. It addresses many things at once like adjustability, stiffness, and braking. Aside from all the "free" mods like shimming the rear shock, adjusting the carbs, TPS, etc like everyone said, and maintenance things like CCT's and tires.

The lightened flywheel and slip on exhaust are fun though ;)

Edit: I guess just exactly what NHSH said.

Suspension and brakes

Suspension............ Nothing else matters if the wheels are not on the ground.....;)

FOUL..
Try again :D

FOUL

Try again. :D

Well if yer gonna nit-pick, "suspension" really isn't a mod, it's a whole series of components...

:nana:

Really my favorite mod was replacing the old PO with myself...

Actually, add or change fork oil can easily be done, that's consider suspension mod, not that expensive.
USD fork is great, but VTR's frame was never designed to operate with USD forks. Best to determine what you need from the forks before getting the OEM forklegs swapped out.

You're right. It wasn't designed to work with 330mm rotors either so I should probably put the stock rotors back on too.

I'm totally being an asshole with that statement, but couldn't help myself, lol ;)

USD is on a very different level from adding fork oil in terms of modification. I'm not saying that either is more appropriate given the situation ($, time and experience). I'm not trying to call you out or anything, but would like to hear how a USD setup has been shown to cause frame problems on a VTR?

In theory the head tube would be stressed more, I get that, but the only ones I've seen break are due to crashes, and if you're riding it to the point where you feel flex, you're probably going to need to stiffen up the frame regardless of which forks you're running (stock ones with no brace I guess?) At that point I'd think you'd be flexing the forks enough that they wouldn't function properly anyway... but that's speculation, not experience talking...

DYMAG wheels .
Err no , hang on !
PENSKE rear shock .
Err

can we have more than one ... please ;)

YETI..

@everyone, that's good info

but to answer this, haa, more than 1 works- but be sure to put which 1 the rider liked most for any reason; whether it be cost, ease, looks. This thread is for us fairly new SH owners to get good ideas from you experienced and knowledgeable riders, as well as veterans getting new ideas too. This is good stuff.

Tiny little flush-mount turn-signals that nobody can see.

Makes it look like a racer.

:spank:

Converting to USD fork without proper setup as fork oil, spring rate, damping vales, you are still going to have poor suspension performance.

Get the OEM suspension properly adjusted and set up would benefit far more than converting to USD fork without changing everything internally to suit your ride.

I'm calling you out, just converting to USD without proper setup improves nothing on OEM suspension.


Extra headtube stress from USD vs regular telescopic forklegs is not theory, just simple physics.

Umm ok then.

First I would ask have you ever ridden a SH with a USD front end? If not you have no idea how much difference it actually makes.

Yes my stock forks had been properly set up and a fork brace and were crap compared to the forks I am running now.

As for headtube stress....real world testing shows this is not an issue so nothing for you to stand on there.

Now for your set up stuff..... I'll call you on that. If both sets of forks are improperly set up the same (which sorry but makes no sense to go through the effort to swap the forks but not set them up but whatever) The USD units will work better due to the additional stiffness. Add that they can also be lighter and generally have bigger brakes.

So with all that, yes swapping forks is an improvement even if you are too lazy to set them up.

Not on a VTR, but on a XR650R for desert runs and supermotard/track use.

Just what are the specifics on your "real world testing" do you refer?

Seat of the pants testing on public roads without compression sensor, rebound timer or onboard computer; I doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference in the "stiffness" gain from USD fork vs regular OEM.

Sorry, trying to keep it friendly!

Here's the what I heard and why I responded:

"Putting in the correct amount of fork oil is better than a USD swap" <-- I know that's not what you said ;), but I kinda ran with it in my head, lol.

I'd bet that most USD forks (at least the common ones we see people put on the hawk) come set up much closer to what most Superhawk riders need as far as spring rates, valving, and oil than the stock hawk can achieve with just some fork oil added. Totally out of my league here, but based on my experience you'd have to show me an adjusted stock setup that works better for me than my stock 929rr front end for me to believe it.

Ok, I 100% agree with you. I even said "I get that". What I'm asking, is has that extra stress ever been a big problem in a Superhawk? Again, it could be... I know they brace the frame and all in the moriwaki bikes.

And when I say "problem" I mean: Is it dangerous, or are the effects of the stress so dramatic that they outweigh the benefits of a stiffer front end?

I'm just trying to see why you would recommend not swapping a front is all (other than finances and or desire to keep the bike stock). It's lighter, stiffer, better aftermarket support, more adjustable, and a bonus brake upgrade all in one.

As said here:
Not only did it improve something for me, it was my favorite thing!

Admittedly, I have much to learn about suspension, though, so I'll toss in a free grain of salt with all of that ;)

You seem to go in two different directions here...... I was clearly talking about the headstock. Real world testing is running it for 10's of thousands of miles and looking for any stress failures or if I have felt the front end flex.

But then you change to forks, so ok I'll cover that also.

As for you comment that you doubt anyone could tell the difference in flex between the two forks..... You are very wrong here. The difference is like night and day.

The first time I hit the brakes or transition from side to side with any aggression I could tell which forks are on the bike with no problem You may not agree but I can guarantee it ;)


Are you also going to say the difference in flex can't be felt when you brace the swingarm?

Before you ask, yes both front ends were properly set up by known tuners with some really good bits in there, so once again an USD fork conversion is well worth the time and $$ if you ride aggressively.

Normally, just running it 10k miles would require fork oil change to maintain certain level of performance.

Seat of the pants testing does not count. On public roads, there is no need for the extra stiffness of USD if you know how to ride with what you got; in this case, properly setup OEM fork.

I'm only talking about fork, not swingarm; get with the program marine.

I only asked one question in my previous post, you still fail to answer it.

It was a civil discussion! He knows about maintenance, silly! He gave you the answer to your "only one specific question"

This is gonna be another boxing match... for a forum with so much knowledge and has helped me out so much, I like it too much; I'm going to bow out...

:draggin:

I'm with you... I guess I don't know how to ride, don't know maintenance and sure don't need that Ohlins valved USD front end I have on there.

As for me the USD forks and braced swingarm completely transformed the bike, though like I said I don't know how to ride. ;)


So he can argue with himself but just maybe one should actually try the mods before saying how they don't work or make no difference.

Sooo... How does CBR 1000RR forks with Öhlins internals, setup for me specifically by the same team that does WSB bikes for the top teams sound? Oh BTW, the frame is braced at the headstock and other places...

My answer for the OP's question, without any hesitation at all, suspension, suspension, suspension...

At which point was I not being civil in this discussion?
Knowledge is gained only when you mind is open, bowing out is simply closing your mind to the discussion.

Of course two of you are in bed together, why wouldn't you? both of you arguing for USD fork without getting USD fork properly setup and tested for you personal use; easily could have saved some money and time by tuning the OEM forks specifically for your usage.

I have tried USD forks vs OEM forks, I said that few posts ago, did you not read careful?

So how much does all that mod to USD forks/braced headstock cost vs just getting OEM fork specifically tuned for you specifically to suit your riding?

You have to weigh the cost vs benefit.

Without proper testing or setup, USD or OEM forks are not going to suit your riding, even though you might be able to tell the extra stiffness of USD forks at the seat of your pants, but that can easily be accomplished by changing the fork oil weight/height, get a fork valve and adding a fork brace to OEM fork legs at under $200.