Right after buying your first Honda CRF, you ride it through all sorts of terrains. Sometimes, you can’t help it because of how fun it is to ride through rocky trails. But after a few months of continuous riding, you might find several issues with your bike because of how hard you pushed it when you were trail riding.
Suppose the problem lies within the suspensions, no need to fret because there’s a simple solution to that—upgrading them. You can always rely on motorcycle parts stores like Teknik Motorsport to supply different suspension upgrades for all kinds of motorcycles. If it’s your first time upgrading the suspensions on a motorcycle, it would be best to learn how the upgrades work.
Know the Reason for Your Upgrade
There are several reasons for a motorcycle owner to upgrade the suspensions on their bikes. Usually, they replace the stock suspensions with better ones to improve the performance of the bike. And there are other times where the stock suspension broke, so they opted to replace it with a new suspension kit.
Things to Consider When Choosing New or Aftermarket Motorcycle Suspensions
When it comes to upgrading some parts on your bike, you need to expect that there will be a noticeable performance change when you ride it. Doing upgrades like the suspensions can drastically change the way how the bike behaves. When you have an aftermarket suspension, you should expect that it’s slightly different than the stock suspension you had on the motorcycle. At some point, you might even need to change the height of the suspension because you decided to use wider or larger wheels.
Another consideration is how you’re going to drive the motorcycle. If you have an enduro bike, you might need to increase the height and travel of the suspension to give you more stability and grip on rough terrain. But if you drive the motorcycle on smooth pavements most of the time, the best option would be to lower your suspensions to give you a lower centre of gravity. A lower centre of gravity gives the motorcycle more stability at high speeds.
Lastly, the weight of the person also comes into consideration with the type of suspension you upgrade. A good example is the cafe racers, which only have one seat. Other riders would want a pillion installed to have a good suspension setup. The rebound damping and spring rate of the shocks need to be factored to ensure comfortability, no matter the riding conditions.
Choosing the Correct Suspension
When you’re about to buy a suspension kit upgrade, make sure you choose one that suits your needs. Some would want to buy new suspensions for aesthetic purposes, while some need the upgrade for better performance on their bike. You can choose between mono or dual shock type suspensions, depending on what suspensions your motorcycle has.
Nowadays, some suspensions let you adjust the ride height, spring rates, and dampers on-the-fly, which is important when you’re switching from one terrain to another. Most adjustable suspensions are expensive, but they are worth it if you want to make your bike perform better.
When talking about motorcycle upgrades, you should choose only reliable stores like Teknik Motorsport. You wouldn’t want your new suspensions to explode after continuously riding on very rough terrain.
