2009 SV650sf - Race Tech

09SV650S

09SV650S

Well-known member
Hey GTAM

Looking at upgrading the front forks with Racetech springs and heavier oil.

Question is.... should I be looking at upgrading anything else while that is being done and what spring and oil should I be looking for? This will be a street bike only no track use.

Rider details
6'4" - 230lbs (yes I can afford to lose a few. its being worked on LOL)

Heard good things about Race Tech but if there are other well know brands I'm open to that as well.

Thanks for any help
 
Hey Jer PM me I have some 095 springs you could buy from me which would be just about right for you, I will even help install them. I would change the springs and oil and see how you like it, if you want emulators after get them from Traxxion Dynamics the pre-mount them to damper rods for you and make the job much easier.
 
Personally, I would change the springs first and stick with the same grade fork oil as recommended by Suzuki. If you then find that your damping adjustment range is unable to properly control your fork, you might move to a 10 weight oil - unless that's what is originally specified. If you need heavier than 10 wt., I would defintely revalve the forks.

Recommended spring rate for your stated weight is 0.90. A 0.95 would work.

Do it right. You'll thank yourself.

Here's a comprehensive link which might help.... http://www.bluepoof.com/motorcycles/howto/svs_fork_oil/
 
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I got .90 kg/mm Racetech fork springs in my GS500. Good investment :D
 
I put RaceTechs in my ride as well.... highly recommend!

Also, get their emulators too while you are at it.

Go with a 15 or 20 wt oil.

Incredible difference!
 
SunnY S said:
I put RaceTechs in my ride as well.... highly recommend!

Also, get their emulators too while you are at it.

Go with a 15 or 20 wt oil.

Incredible difference!
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Thx man. What kind of difference does the emulators make?
 
09SV650S said:
Thx man. What kind of difference does the emulators make?
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A poster on another forum who had his shocks done by the actual RaceTech shop itself in California explains it this way from the RaceTech people.....

"The old-tech damper rods can only flow so much oil and basically can't react fast enough on sharp bumps. Harsh when straight up and dangerous when heeled over - potentially causing the front end to push. Race Tech offers a fix for this. First, the stock damper rods are defeated by adding holes and enlarging the existing holes in the stock damper rods. Then the Emulators take over fluid control and open up on sharp bumps flowing much more oil than the stock damper rods ever could. The Emulators can be tuned to your riding style by adjusting the pre-load spring on the emulators and oil weight adjusts rebound. According to the Race Tech shock dyno, the Hyperpro springs start out their stroke at a .86 spring rate (softer than stock) and finish at 1.0 - too stiff. Tony at Race Tech recommended a .95 spring rate and 15 w oil. The front end feels really nice now and soaks up sharp bumps without jolting the chassis. Very, very nice. Race Tech is a great company to work with and I am very happy with their knowledge, customer service and professionalism. In my opinion, short of installing a cartridge fork, this is the single best mod to my bike."


So if you are going to stick in stiffer springs, might as well put the emulators in as well.

.
 
SunnY S said:
A poster on another forum who had his shocks done by the actual RaceTech shop itself in California explains it this way from the RaceTech people.....

"The old-tech damper rods can only flow so much oil and basically can't react fast enough on sharp bumps. Harsh when straight up and dangerous when heeled over - potentially causing the front end to push. Race Tech offers a fix for this. First, the stock damper rods are defeated by adding holes and enlarging the existing holes in the stock damper rods. Then the Emulators take over fluid control and open up on sharp bumps flowing much more oil than the stock damper rods ever could. The Emulators can be tuned to your riding style by adjusting the pre-load spring on the emulators and oil weight adjusts rebound. According to the Race Tech shock dyno, the Hyperpro springs start out their stroke at a .86 spring rate (softer than stock) and finish at 1.0 - too stiff. Tony at Race Tech recommended a .95 spring rate and 15 w oil. The front end feels really nice now and soaks up sharp bumps without jolting the chassis. Very, very nice. Race Tech is a great company to work with and I am very happy with their knowledge, customer service and professionalism. In my opinion, short of installing a cartridge fork, this is the single best mod to my bike."


So if you are going to stick in stiffer springs, might as well put the emulators in as well.

.
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That's awesome feed back. But who is qualified enough to tune and adjust it well? Or is it something I'll just have to play with over time?
 
I raced a SV650 in 02 and 03 and rebuilt it last year for my oldest son to get him out on the track. Both He and I are around 180 and I used .95 race tech springs and emulators with 4 turns and 20 wt oil. I also put a Elka shock in it. I'm within 1.5 seconds of my ZX6r time around Nelson. It made a big difference and the bike is about 50 hp less than the kawasaki

If you to the emulator route check out Zoran's instructions at TWF for where to drill the rods. I went with the race tech recommendations first and didn't like it as much.
 
Delboy said:
I raced a SV650 in 02 and 03 and rebuilt it last year for my oldest son to get him out on the track. Both He and I are around 180 and I used .95 race tech springs and emulators with 4 turns and 20 wt oil. I also put a Elka shock in it. I'm within 1.5 seconds of my ZX6r time around Nelson. It made a big difference and the bike is about 50 hp less than the kawasaki

If you to the emulator route check out Zoran's instructions at TWF for where to drill the rods. I went with the race tech recommendations first and didn't like it as much.
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Nice!!!! sounds like it made a huge difference!

Are emulators a must? some advice has been no not just for street riding (cost vs benefit) is to high?

Also is a 20WT oil not to heavy especially for colder weather riding? or that doesn't matter bc of my big boned 230 lb body LOL
 
09SV650S said:
Nice!!!! sounds like it made a huge difference!

Are emulators a must? some advice has been no not just for street riding (cost vs benefit) is to high?

Also is a 20WT oil not to heavy especially for colder weather riding? or that doesn't matter bc of my big boned 230 lb body LOL
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It transformed it. You could try the springs first and then the emulators later if you think it could be improved more.

Race tech recommend 20wt so that's what I went with. I believe once you drill the rods it needs thicker oil to provide the required dampening and you need to drill for the emulators

All and it it was $300 well spent. It's not going to be a cartridge fork but it did make a big difference
 
Delboy said:
It transformed it. You could try the springs first and then the emulators later if you think it could be improved more.

Race tech recommend 20wt so that's what I went with. I believe once you drill the rods it needs thicker oil to provide the required dampening and you need to drill for the emulators

All and it it was $300 well spent. It's not going to be a cartridge fork but it did make a big difference
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drill the rods? Something I can do pretty easily myself? I didnt see that on the web site.
 
09SV650S said:
Also is a 20WT oil not to heavy especially for colder weather riding?
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The change in damping characteristics due to temp changes you'll encounter using 20 wt would be significant. However, you seem intent on taking hearsay advice instead of consulting professionals so I'll simply wish you luck.
 
BC1100S said:
The change in damping characteristics due to temp changes you'll encounter using 20 wt would be significant. However, you seem intent on taking hearsay advice instead of consulting professionals so I'll simply wish you luck.
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Easy buddy. "hearsay"? some of these guys that have given me advise have been tracking bikes for many years and I've seen their work on their street bikes. They do have good advise.

I'm taking in all the info and will make my own decision when instal time comes.

I appreciate all opinions. Especially if they seem genuine.
 
09SV650S said:
drill the rods? Something I can do pretty easily myself? I didnt see that on the web site.
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Yes, with a drill press and a little jig, made by cutting a slot into a block of wood or by just using a vise, it should be relatively easy. You might need to have a shop pull the bottom bolt from the forks for you, unless you have access to a good quality impact gun.

You really want to go the emulator route, rather than just upping the fork oil weight. Changing the fork oil weight alters both the compression and rebound stroke characteristics, giving you no real control over damping. Lighter weight fork oil allows the valving of the emulators to control the damping. Here's a pretty good write-up on the whole thing: http://www.fjmods.btinternet.co.uk/emulators.htm
 
I have an '06 SV650S, and weight about 180 - 185 with gear. Street riding only. Before adding emulators, I tried firming up the front a bit by going to heavier oil. I was completely unsatisfied with that. The thicker oil does not pass through the standard damping rod as efficiently as thinner oil. Because of that, sharp bumps became very jarring as the forks would essentially hydrolock (the oil couldn't pass through the rod orifices fast enough to react to the bump). Because of the inability to react to bumps, the front end became noticeably more skittish when encountering bumps while leaned over.

I put Ricor Intiminator (http://store.ricorshocks.com/product_p/sv-041-20-1001g2.htm) emulators in my forks. Stock springs, and 5W full synthetic oil. HUGE difference. The bike doesn't dive nearly as much under braking. The front wheel follows the bumps in the roads when leaned over, rather than hopping. The front-end "clunk" is gone when hitting sharp bumps.

The Ricor Intiminators work very similar to the RaceTech/Traxxion Dynamics emulators but are much cheaper (especially at the current sale price of $180). They don't require you to drill or replace your damping rods (which means you don't have to remove them in order to install the ricors, but it probably wouldn't hurt to completely clean your forks anyway). Ricor recommends using thin 5W oil so the damping rod orifices play no role in the damping process, and simply allow the emulator to handle all the damping duties. They are "tunable" with different shim stacks.

You're a fair bit heavier than me, so you'll likely need new springs regardless, but if you're going to take the next step and add emulators, don't overlook the Ricor's. Do a search over at SVRider.com to get additional feedback.
 
beverage said:
I have an '06 SV650S, and weight about 180 - 185 with gear. Street riding only. Before adding emulators, I tried firming up the front a bit by going to heavier oil. I was completely unsatisfied with that. The thicker oil does not pass through the standard damping rod as efficiently as thinner oil. Because of that, sharp bumps became very jarring as the forks would essentially hydrolock (the oil couldn't pass through the rod orifices fast enough to react to the bump). Because of the inability to react to bumps, the front end became noticeably more skittish when encountering bumps while leaned over.



I put Ricor Intiminator (http://store.ricorshocks.com/product_p/sv-041-20-1001g2.htm) emulators in my forks. Stock springs, and 5W full synthetic oil. HUGE difference. The bike doesn't dive nearly as much under braking. The front wheel follows the bumps in the roads when leaned over, rather than hopping. The front-end "clunk" is gone when hitting sharp bumps.

The Ricor Intiminators work very similar to the RaceTech/Traxxion Dynamics emulators but are much cheaper (especially at the current sale price of $180). They don't require you to drill or replace your damping rods (which means you don't have to remove them in order to install the ricors, but it probably wouldn't hurt to completely clean your forks anyway). Ricor recommends using thin 5W oil so the damping rod orifices play no role in the damping process, and simply allow the emulator to handle all the damping duties. They are "tunable" with different shim stacks.

You're a fair bit heavier than me, so you'll likely need new springs regardless, but if you're going to take the next step and add emulators, don't overlook the Ricor's. Do a search over at SVRider.com to get additional feedback.
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NICE! thanks for the help.... another GTAMer suggested the same thing... So 5WT oil is still recommended regardless of rider weight if using Race Tech 0.95 springs and Ricor Intiminators? From what I read by using the Intiminators and staying with a lighter weight oil it wont be as temperature sensitive to colder weather riding as well?

Thanks again
 
09SV650S said:
NICE! thanks for the help.... another GTAMer suggested the same thing... So 5WT oil is still recommended regardless of rider weight if using Race Tech 0.95 springs and Ricor Intiminators? From what I read by using the Intiminators and staying with a lighter weight oil it wont be as temperature sensitive to colder weather riding as well?

Thanks again
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The springs are so you can achieve the proper sag for your weight. The Ricor's are to control the up and down damping action of the forks, otherwise those springs would be like a set of pogo sticks.

The damping rod in the front forks have a certain size of hole that essentially controls the flow of oil through the fork as it compresses and extends. In simply terms, the flow rate controls the damping action. Thicker oil would flow through the holes more slowly, thus changing the damping of the forks. The idea with the Ricor's is that you no longer want the damping rod to control the damping action. Instead, you want the oil to flow 100% freely through the damping rod, so that the Ricor and its stack of shims/deflection plates and blow by valve completely control the damping action. Therefore, you need to use a thinner oil in the forks when you install the Intiminators, regardless of your weight or what springs you're using.
 
BC1100S said:
The change in damping characteristics due to temp changes you'll encounter using 20 wt would be significant. However, you seem intent on taking hearsay advice instead of consulting professionals so I'll simply wish you luck.
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Paul Thede at Racetech provides "Hearsay Advice" :)

Don't take this this wrong way, but Paul Thede is one of the 10 best suspension guys in North America. Google him

The reason you need 20wt oil when using the Racetech Emulators is that the Damping rods are drilled to prevent them doing any damping at all. The Racetech Emulators are designed to work with 20wt oil out of the box, thats why they recommend 20wt. They do the damping, not the damping rod.

Damping in the emulator is controlled by a screw and a spring that preloads the damper, not the oil weight. Normally about 2 turns for the street and 4 turns for track.

Here is the racetech web page with recommedations for the SV. http://racetech.com/ProductSearch/2/Suzuki/SV650 A, S, SA/2003-09

Here is a link to Zoran's site. http://www.twfracing.com/ As Delboy said above, he has good information on installing the emulators and proven results on the track.

If you do the emulators, you will need 20wt. At least for Racetech. have not used any others.

I race 3 bikes in the VRRA, all with Racetech emulators, all with 20wt oil and am really happy with the result. John Sharrard did my RZ350 and FZR600.

Give the guys at racetech a call. They are very helpful and will spend the time discussing
 
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