Suspension upgrades on a budget?

What are you 5th gen guys doing with your bikes, suspension-wise? My front end is way squishy, so I figure a rebuild is in order, and I'd love to upgrade it while I'm in there, but I don't want to spend a mint. I'd love to be able to make the bike handle better and not dive so much for something in the $500-1000 range for both ends. Any tips on what I should be looking at? So far, looks like Progressive doesn't make springs for this bike... RaceTech appears to have some stuff. Anyone else?

Thanks!

 

Forks: go for a set of good fixed rate springs for your weight - racetech, traxxion, etc. many spring mfr's
as a note, i heard to keep away from progressives

Shock: i think the CBR 929 shock is a direct fit with the 5th gen, it's fully adjustable. or you can have JD rebuild your shock and respring it for your weight.

check this out
Daugherty Motorsports - Motorcycle Suspension Performance and Modification

FYI JD is a member on this forum

 

I just had Jamie Daugherty rebuild my fork and the stock rear shock. New springs and race tech valves on both ends and it was only about 600 total for both ends. He is also coming up on his 500th shock rebuild so you may get it done for free! The bike now performs better than new. Highly recommended.

 

Thanks for the info on JD. I don't really have a good spot to tear my bike down and send off parts (I live in SF and don't have my own garage) but perhaps I'll pick up a shock and have him rebuild it, then swap it out. I've emailed him for particulars.

 

Did this include shipping costs to and from? I am trying to figure out suspension on my '85, whether to do it myself or send everything to Jaime. $600 total sounds very enticing to just ship everything out!

 

Shipping is extra, but rarely is the total over $650. That's today, for readers of this thread in the future you will need to contact me for an updated quote!

Please understand that your VF700F is a different situation. I have several options for your bike but they involve a different set of modifications. You can't really do much with the fork internals besides emulators, which are a good upgrade over stock but still sub-par by today's standards. I can replace the internals completely to convert them to actual cartridges. There is some cost associated with doing that. There is nothing you can do with the rear shock - it needs repalced with something else. Check out my site for more details on that.

 

Email sent. Thanks.

 

Jamie did the shock and the forks on my 500. He also converted my forks to cartridge which is so much better the shity internals the bonds puts in them