Suspension upgrades on 4th gen 95vfr750

I'm have a hard time finding info on rear shock upgrades on 4th gens, seems like all the search results I find are about the 3rd gen. My 95 750f has the stock rear shock and has 55k miles on it, and its spring is a little saggy, but worst it the poor compression and rebound control. The forks are not much better. Its all serviceable, but not great.

I plan on upgrading the forks with a Race Tech gold valve setup, I've done it before on another bike with great success.
For the rear - is the ZX14r shock still the "go-to" for an affordable upgrade? I want rebound , compression, and preload adjustments. It would be nice to find a shock that is rebuild-able, but that's probably a bridge too far.

From what I have found, a zx14r shock *should* bolt in my bike, and not need any other mods. Is this true?

And...is there a fork upgrade that can be done besides the CBR600f3 swap? Anything newer out there that provides adjustable comp/rebound and doesn't require a whole front end?
Just for reference, I have a mc lift, more than a couple rollaways of metric tools and a small lathe, so making spacers, bushings, doglegs etc is not out of the question, and a little custom work is fine- this ain't no pristine 4th gen.

 

I didn't know the ZX14R was ever the "go-to" shock upgrade. Those reports were not very well documented in my opinion as far as actual performance improvements beyond, "it fit" and "it worked". I would be VERY surprised if the spring rate and dampening was really appropriate for the VFR.

Penske makes (made?) a shock for the RC36-II that would be an actual, fully adjustable upgrade. Also keep an eye out for a Fox Twin Clicker II. One for the RC36-I is also adaptable no problem with just an eyelet type lower mount. Perhaps look into Nitron too, I have one for an 86 VFR750F that is fully adjustable. YSS may have a fully adjustable option that could be assembled for you as well. I would contact FireFox Racing in the UK, they are the UK R&D Center for YSS.

There are some fully adjustable cartridge inserts available for the forks too. Andreani I think?

You are now easily over $2000 I think.

Careful buying F3 internals, the top adjusters a very often frozen and very hard to free up. I have some F3 and '94 F2 cap internals soaking in "stuff" hoping to realize some movement.

 

Kroil, ( or just acetone and atf aka angel pixx), works wonders.
Probably just going to go with proper fork springs and gold valves, I doubt that I'll ever put this bike on the track again or ever find the limits of the front end on the road.
I am surprised how good the stock front end is, and how terrible front forks are in general from that era. At the same time, mountain bike forks on $900 bikes had full adjustability. I think I keep looking for a used upgrade shock like a penske or ktech. Although, the zx14 shock is cheap enough that I could give it a try.

 

I put a YSS shock (from Firefox) into my ST1300; that has transformed that into a very tidy handler; I also have the full GoldValve and spring upgrade goodness up front.

 

Thanks, I'll give that a go. Currently in a penetrating fluid and Marvel Mystery Oil concoction.

 

Like this one? bought used off of a scrap yard, sent to Penske in 2013 for a rebuild and new spring. 2024 sent in for a rebuild. Money well spent, if I gota explain it, you don't get it. Other gen 3 bike has a Fox Shock I bought new that was rebuilt, EX500, Works Performance Shock. Some things I don't stint on.

 

Question, while in there has anyone run the rear brake line through the swing arm, similar to Hawk mod?

 

The Hawk swingarm doesn't have linkage and a shock running thru it that gets in the way of a nice, easy exit thru the big grommet in its swingarm to head over unincumbered by exhaust to the rear master. It needs to be well thought out and properly fed thru reasonably created holes to make its way cleanly over, while not being fouled by the suspension thru its travel or the rear exhaust manifold that exits out and down right behind the rear master on a VFR.

 

jeezus, I forgot how different the swingarm are.