Q If you had to make a choice as to which to buy first would it be the front calipers or the rear shock and why? atm i'm only a road user and not doing track days just yet! but was wondering what differences would i find in each compared to the stock item and what would others choose to buy first, Or would it just be down to personal choice! Regards Ian
For the road I'd prob just invest in good tyres. But for track then shock first. Calipers are more than good til you're racing or tracking in the fastest group
Aos, are you feeling your bike is lacking when your out riding it? Is the shock doing something you don't like? Kicking you out the seat or just a harsh ride? Have you tried getting the suspension setup for you by either a professional or by trying different settings out yourself? Most people myself included firmly believe that a good setup suspension system can transform a good bike into a great bike with no more than a couple of screw drivers! You don't mention what bike year model you are riding, but the newer 2012+ BPF and shock work really well for on the road without spending any money at all or very little for a suspension company to setup for your needs. But depending on the riders/your weight may benefit from new springs to suit as current ones may be too strong or not strong enuff to allow the suspension to work in its most effective range. Are you having issues with your brakes or are you simply reading all the new threads about ohlins suspension and brembo stuff and think that the factory installed brakes and suspension are not up to scratch and should be swapped out for new aftermarket stuff? The answers to your questions for me solely depend on how the bike feels when your out riding it, why spend hundreds possibly thousands £££ if you are perfectly happy with the way your bike feels, handles and brakes at the moment?
Aos I would have to agree with Shiny! Properly set up suspension can transform a bike, I do notice you don't mention doing anything about your forks? These sometimes can be more of the problem than the rear shock or brakes. Because if the forks aren't set up properly or are tired you can't use the brakes to there best ability. Many places can set up suspension for about £40
tbh, unless you want 'bling' factor - on the roads neither are going to make much difference. plus both items will increase your outgoings, pads are way more expensive and you'll need (should) get the shock serviced regularly. I had stock callipers (and even stock lines) at Monza this year and had no issues. In terms of overall % benefits of aftermarket i think you are looking at 5-10% maximum performance over the stock items. Im with Souleh - tyres are probably a better "bang for buck" item.
Just really to echo what others have said really. I wouldn't waste my money on either unless you're really spending a lot of time on track. On the road the stock suspension is fine as long as you get it set up for your weight. I got this done for less that £50 and it made the biggest difference to the feel of the bike. Braided lines aren't a bad idea. They really do make a difference in terms of brake feel. If you're still after monkeying with the suspension then you could get someone to change the internals on the standard front shocks. The place I use will do this for less than £300. The guy (ex-BSB suspension tweaker) suggested that I do this before even thinking about touching the rear shock. Can't remember his exact words but they were along the lines of, "I'd always do the front suspension first before replacing bits of the rear. The rear shock's less important. I'd rather have a predicatable, well-sorted front end on the bike"
leave it stock nothing wrong with brakes and shock on most bikes..i only change if for track or racing where its a must or just to addi would put a q/s on first and have some fun
Many thanks guys for the reply's , i'm a Yorkshire lad who doesn't part with the cash too easily these days especially now i'm getting a bit older tbh the wife offered me a few quid to spend on the bike but me being conscious in what i spend the money on, I thought it would be good to have others opinions i didn't want to waist money on expensive parts just for the sake of it unless it showed a vast improvement to me,and tbh the ohlins and brembo's were the only things i could think of to really change on what is already a great bike, the tyres are still good so will leave for a while longer and i never thought of having the suspension setup done, i think that as you say would be best. Does anyone know of anyone around S,Yorks that would setup the suspension? My apologies for not mentioning in my first post the bike is an 07 blade. Thanks for all your answers and good advice. Regards Ian
The guy I (and a few others on here) use is just north of York. I'm guessing that might be a bit too far for you. I'm sure that someone will pop up with a name of someone closer to your location. If it's not too far then........ Reactive Suspension Motorcycle Suspension Specialists Nice bloke and he did a cracking job on mine.
I'd say get your suspension set up and stick some braided lines and a brembo MC on with some decent pads and the brakes will be transformed. Then if yo have any left buy yourself a second hand shock, or if your bike is older than 2012 pick up a 2012 shock, theyre meant to be fairly good.
Echoing (again) the above the OEM set-up is more than adequate, it’s only when they start wearing out or you start to stretch them (track days and racing) you may find the need to upgrade them. I wouldn’t change them until I had an issue with them and knew they could not be improved by correct set up. Suspension wise just make sure it is setup correctly and it’s helps if that person knows what they’re doing. As said a pro would cost about £40. If you needed a replacement or upgrade it would be forks first then rear. Sometimes the more flashier stuff is less suited to the road so do your research when choosing. Tyres and tyre pressures make a massive difference on their own. For this time of year I’d recommend Pilot Roads3 when the weather gets a bit better and the track season starts some Pilot Pure3s. There’s a mass debate on what pressures to use, but mine is a couple PSI lower than recommended. Brakes, the suspension and tyres will limit the amount of braking force you can apply before it locks up so sort these out first. Make sure the levers are comfortably in reach and correctly adjusted. Give it a bleed first with decent fluid then maybe experiment by changing pads. If it came to it calipers would be the last upgrade in the braking system. If you wanted to go further I would upgrade in this order lines/MC/rotors/calipers, but again I would not change unless you had a specific issue. Again choose your gear appropriately, some for the top end stuff will not work well on the road eg higher end calipers run w/o dust seals so would become gunked up on the road pretty quick!. Obviously some track/racing pads need a load of heat to work properly. I’m predominately a road rider but dabble in a few track days a year. I intend to keep this bike and do more track days, when it gets retired it will become my dedicated tracker hence when the OEM part wears out I replace with something appropriate that meets my requirements (riding style, weight, budget etc) Hope this helps!
Calipers will be a bit of expensive bling only. The stock Nissan calipers are very good. I'd recommend a good set of race pads (If tracking/racing it otherwise OEM is as good as anything!), braided lines, Brembo 19 RCS Master cylinder and flush the fluid regularly. That is what I have and we have a very demanding part of our local track. (270km/h down a steep decent braking into a sharp 90 degree right hander) and I have never had fade. Again suspension is just bling unless you are pushing the limits of the standard gear (which is also pretty good) and the most important part is being able to set it up correctly. You can throw an Ohlins on it and it could feel a lot worse if you have not set it up right
