I’ve had some more time to put a few miles on my Sasquatch rear shock rebuild. I went for full rebuild and got the anodizing as well. So far I can heartily recommend this upgrade to anyone.
Like many of you, the stock spring was too weak. With just me on it (240 lbs) I used up most of the travel even with the preload cranked to the max. When I added my Givi top case and bags is sank even more. Add my wife (120 lbs) and it was almost totally sacked out before we added any gear inside the bags. Even with mild cornering I was grinding down my boots in turns.
I knew something had to be done. I couldn’t deal with it any more. I was on the fence regarding keeping the Vee long term so I didn’t want to sink took too much money into an Ohlins or Elka shock with remote preload. So the Sasquatch option seemed like a good compromise without busting the bank. Top it off Jay is truly a bike enthusiast so I picked up a used shock for a core and sent it off to be upgraded while I continued to ride my Vee.
I bought my Vee used with very low miles and the stock shock was in great shape and not worn out. So I knew it wasn’t due to old age or abuse that it sucked so badly for my purpose. Like many of you I’ve added a lot of farkles. While some added weight (crash bards, luggage, LED aux lights, fork brace, etc. some actually reduced it a bit such as the Akrapovic pipes. Net effect was I did burden the Vee with a few extra pounds and unfortunately I packed on about 20 lbs from when I first bought the Vee.
So to say I was very anxious to get the new shock on my Vee after it was finished would be an understatement. I had upgraded to Sonic springs in the forks and heavier oil and that helped out the front quite a bit but it made the rear feel even worse by comparison.
My first really extended test ride with luggage was this weekend. No wife but pretty loaded down and some twisty mountain roads were on the menu. First thing I noticed on the backroads was much greater cornering clearance. I hadn’t even really dialed in the preload for the weight I had on the bike but it was already dramatically better.
The higher ride height in the rear also had the effect of steepening up the fork angle which made the bike feel much more nimble. For me it was a dramatic difference. The bike fully loaded with the Sasquatch shock had more ground clearance and steeper rake than I did totally unloaded before on with the stocker. One thing to note in general is that when I added the fork brace earlier I also dropped the forks a bit relative to the triple trees. This had a slight effect on quickening up the steering as well.
I could definitely be much more aggressive in the turns. It was a dramatic difference here. Additionally it felt like the Vee shed 50 lbs. When I got to a hotel I took off the bags and carved up the mountain roads unloaded and it honestly felt more nimble than the last Wee I rode. This was really transformative for me.
The improved rear dampening control added to the feeling of stability and securely planted feeling in the turns. Typically when you increase the rake of the forks it can make the bike feel more nervous and sometime skittish. While the fork brace helped stability a bit, I didn’t see as much of a difference as others have but combined now with the better rear shock it was like the bike was on rails at both high speeds and even through bumpy turns. Before it would often wallow like a pig in slop, now it tracked very true through turns and even the mid course bump didn’t really upset its composure.
At this point all isn’t perfect. While the ride and handling are substantially improved I still have some issues over sharp edged bumps. Maybe there isn’t much that can be done within the limits of the stock shock. I’d loved to have and external adjustment for the compression dampening. Then I could dial it in when I am on the super slab or in town to be more plush over these types of bumps and crank it up when I am going to ride more aggressively or off road.
That really is probably the biggest downside to this rebuild for me; the lack of easily adjustable compression dampening. For many of you this probably won't be an issue. For me it is an issue but at the moment not a major one. OTOH it isn't worth spending twice the $$$ to buy a shock with easily adjustable compression dampening. Jay did get it pretty close and his experience shows in this area. Maybe there is some way the could add an external compression dampening adjuster. I'd definitely have paid a bit more for it but it might not be a cost effective mod. He did a good job of making a silk purse out of sow's ear.
The other “negative” aspect to this upgrade is the balance between the forks and shocks is not quite right. Even with my aforementioned fork tweaks, the rear now is much better than the forks. At least now they are closer to each other than before (except when stock). When stock they were both pathetic and did little more than keep the bike off the ground.
I’ll still rate the font at about 7.5 out of 10 and the rear is about 8.75 now. I’ll likely go to slightly lighter weight oil up front to improve the hits on sharp edged bumps and give up a little bit of the anti-dive ability. I can tolerate the rear sharp hits better than getting my hands pounded over the frost-heave joints and bigger pot holes.
It is hard to believe it was once the original shock. I am sure it wouldn’t have cost Suzuki very much to put a better shock on the bike or even tweak the stock one ala Sasquatch. I also couldn’t see spending about 20% of the bikes purchase price (used) on a replacement shock especially when I might not keep the Vee long term due in part to something my wife said.
So at this point I am pretty happy with the suspension of the Vee. I might at some point go with the Race Tech kit for the forks. I still don’t know if the Vee will be a long term keeper. It is my wife’s favorite bike to take a trip or even ride. As a result I’ve sold my Wing, GS and ZX12R. Quite honestly I miss the thrust of the ZX more than I miss the luxury of the Wing. My wife did say that if I lose enough weight to get down to 190 pounds she won’t stand in the way of buying a Ducati Multistrada or something comparable. If I do the math I could potentially lose enough weight by the end of May.
So for now I’ll likely sit tight and spend any more money on the Vee in farkles. I really like the Vee a lot but wouldn’t mind a bit more thrust at high altitudes. If it would run at 10,000 like it does at sea level I probably wouldn’t consider anything else if I improved the front forks a bit more. OTOH past experience with Ducatis has shown me the maintenance costs and upkeep is substantial. So while the Vee may never be the supermodel of motorcycles it is like the girl next door who is much more appealing the longer you know her. She is much more than you realized when you first met her; sort of the diamond in the rough.
So if you are even remotely considering upgrading/replacing your rear shock you should definitely consider having Jay over at Sasquatch rebuild your stocker. It is far and away the best bang for the buck I've spent on the Vee beside maybe upgrading the stock seat.
Like many of you, the stock spring was too weak. With just me on it (240 lbs) I used up most of the travel even with the preload cranked to the max. When I added my Givi top case and bags is sank even more. Add my wife (120 lbs) and it was almost totally sacked out before we added any gear inside the bags. Even with mild cornering I was grinding down my boots in turns.
I knew something had to be done. I couldn’t deal with it any more. I was on the fence regarding keeping the Vee long term so I didn’t want to sink took too much money into an Ohlins or Elka shock with remote preload. So the Sasquatch option seemed like a good compromise without busting the bank. Top it off Jay is truly a bike enthusiast so I picked up a used shock for a core and sent it off to be upgraded while I continued to ride my Vee.
I bought my Vee used with very low miles and the stock shock was in great shape and not worn out. So I knew it wasn’t due to old age or abuse that it sucked so badly for my purpose. Like many of you I’ve added a lot of farkles. While some added weight (crash bards, luggage, LED aux lights, fork brace, etc. some actually reduced it a bit such as the Akrapovic pipes. Net effect was I did burden the Vee with a few extra pounds and unfortunately I packed on about 20 lbs from when I first bought the Vee.
So to say I was very anxious to get the new shock on my Vee after it was finished would be an understatement. I had upgraded to Sonic springs in the forks and heavier oil and that helped out the front quite a bit but it made the rear feel even worse by comparison.
My first really extended test ride with luggage was this weekend. No wife but pretty loaded down and some twisty mountain roads were on the menu. First thing I noticed on the backroads was much greater cornering clearance. I hadn’t even really dialed in the preload for the weight I had on the bike but it was already dramatically better.
The higher ride height in the rear also had the effect of steepening up the fork angle which made the bike feel much more nimble. For me it was a dramatic difference. The bike fully loaded with the Sasquatch shock had more ground clearance and steeper rake than I did totally unloaded before on with the stocker. One thing to note in general is that when I added the fork brace earlier I also dropped the forks a bit relative to the triple trees. This had a slight effect on quickening up the steering as well.
I could definitely be much more aggressive in the turns. It was a dramatic difference here. Additionally it felt like the Vee shed 50 lbs. When I got to a hotel I took off the bags and carved up the mountain roads unloaded and it honestly felt more nimble than the last Wee I rode. This was really transformative for me.
The improved rear dampening control added to the feeling of stability and securely planted feeling in the turns. Typically when you increase the rake of the forks it can make the bike feel more nervous and sometime skittish. While the fork brace helped stability a bit, I didn’t see as much of a difference as others have but combined now with the better rear shock it was like the bike was on rails at both high speeds and even through bumpy turns. Before it would often wallow like a pig in slop, now it tracked very true through turns and even the mid course bump didn’t really upset its composure.
At this point all isn’t perfect. While the ride and handling are substantially improved I still have some issues over sharp edged bumps. Maybe there isn’t much that can be done within the limits of the stock shock. I’d loved to have and external adjustment for the compression dampening. Then I could dial it in when I am on the super slab or in town to be more plush over these types of bumps and crank it up when I am going to ride more aggressively or off road.
That really is probably the biggest downside to this rebuild for me; the lack of easily adjustable compression dampening. For many of you this probably won't be an issue. For me it is an issue but at the moment not a major one. OTOH it isn't worth spending twice the $$$ to buy a shock with easily adjustable compression dampening. Jay did get it pretty close and his experience shows in this area. Maybe there is some way the could add an external compression dampening adjuster. I'd definitely have paid a bit more for it but it might not be a cost effective mod. He did a good job of making a silk purse out of sow's ear.
The other “negative” aspect to this upgrade is the balance between the forks and shocks is not quite right. Even with my aforementioned fork tweaks, the rear now is much better than the forks. At least now they are closer to each other than before (except when stock). When stock they were both pathetic and did little more than keep the bike off the ground.
I’ll still rate the font at about 7.5 out of 10 and the rear is about 8.75 now. I’ll likely go to slightly lighter weight oil up front to improve the hits on sharp edged bumps and give up a little bit of the anti-dive ability. I can tolerate the rear sharp hits better than getting my hands pounded over the frost-heave joints and bigger pot holes.
It is hard to believe it was once the original shock. I am sure it wouldn’t have cost Suzuki very much to put a better shock on the bike or even tweak the stock one ala Sasquatch. I also couldn’t see spending about 20% of the bikes purchase price (used) on a replacement shock especially when I might not keep the Vee long term due in part to something my wife said.
So at this point I am pretty happy with the suspension of the Vee. I might at some point go with the Race Tech kit for the forks. I still don’t know if the Vee will be a long term keeper. It is my wife’s favorite bike to take a trip or even ride. As a result I’ve sold my Wing, GS and ZX12R. Quite honestly I miss the thrust of the ZX more than I miss the luxury of the Wing. My wife did say that if I lose enough weight to get down to 190 pounds she won’t stand in the way of buying a Ducati Multistrada or something comparable. If I do the math I could potentially lose enough weight by the end of May.
So for now I’ll likely sit tight and spend any more money on the Vee in farkles. I really like the Vee a lot but wouldn’t mind a bit more thrust at high altitudes. If it would run at 10,000 like it does at sea level I probably wouldn’t consider anything else if I improved the front forks a bit more. OTOH past experience with Ducatis has shown me the maintenance costs and upkeep is substantial. So while the Vee may never be the supermodel of motorcycles it is like the girl next door who is much more appealing the longer you know her. She is much more than you realized when you first met her; sort of the diamond in the rough.
So if you are even remotely considering upgrading/replacing your rear shock you should definitely consider having Jay over at Sasquatch rebuild your stocker. It is far and away the best bang for the buck I've spent on the Vee beside maybe upgrading the stock seat.
