Suspenison recomendations

Looking for some advice for suspension upgrades for by Z500/z550 is a 1983 B4 equivalent to the A4 for the kz550

What started this was the a recent ride to putty road in NSW, The bike was very light at 100 KPH and was a bit unstable and wild, it took all my energy to wrangle it to where I wanted it and not off the road, bumps also really upset it. This really hindered by ability to go faster and feel confident/safe going around corners not to mention uncomfortable.

Current suspension is all stock.
Rear: 4-setting SHOWA shocks, one leaks oil, other does not, dampening settings work at the time I had them set to 4.

Front, Stock air assisted shocks, 11.5PSI, very soft, recently realised that the noise I was having under moderate to heavy breaking was the front fender hitting the exhaust :huh:

So I was looking at replacing the rears with Hagon's

As for the front I am unsure, I have a set of Z500 B1 shocks that need rebuilding and arn't air assisted, I could also get a pair off a GT550 that are at a local wrecker.

As for the hardware in my current shocks the oil is 10 weight changed after the ride the previous "Liquid" was this nasty thick Grey Brew. The springs are Linear not progressive, and are about the same size, I had previously removed the previous owners attempt at preloading the springs which was washers and some short sprints which looked like they were out of a clutch.

Any advice would be much appreciated I am planning ongoing on a 1000km in April and would like to get this sorted by them. Any advice or suggestions are appreciated

Lewis

I have Hagons on my '77 KZ650 and I love them. I've had them on there now for about 8 years (15,000+ miles) and they still look and work like new. Dave Quinn (see link below) can set them up for you based on the bike, your riding style & weight, etc. Ed

davequinnmotorcycles.com/cgi-bin/webc.cg...GON_TWIN_SHOCKS.html

Cheers Ed Ill give the Hagons a go.

Any suggestions for the front

The front forks on my KZ650-C1 are stock. I've been using 15w Bel Ray fork oil for about 30 years, changing it every year or two, and it works really well. Also, if you want to try different weights of fork oil Bel Ray is really a good choice. It comes in a wide range from 2.5w up to 30w (see link below), and you can blend the different weights however you choose to come up with what's just right for you. Ed

www.belray.com/bel-ray-high-performance-fork-oil

I have some Progressive rear shocks that work nicely and are inexpensive.

Z1 Enterprises have some nice shocks that my buddy bought for his Kz550A2 (Same basic bike as yours). Oops, never mind, they were the Hagons like you mentioned.

For the front, I cut down the springs to stiffen the rate, then make up the distance with a spacer. It works out nicer than the spring kits I've tried, and costs almost nothing.