2007 Z750 suspension

[Deleted]

I have read in test reports that the 2007 Z750 suspension is pretty rubbish and after my ride out to Chichester on the back roads I have to agree!
It was like riding a pogo stick!
I have bumped the settings right up but still not great

Any suggestions would be gratefully received!

[Deleted]

Pissed off with mine too, made a ride interesting at first but now it gets on my nerves. Done Wales on Sunday and some B roads yesterday and although I don't think the zed was made to ride with ktm's, being wallowed around and made to feel sea-sick just aint right! Will be watching this thread as I want to change mine. Have tried search on here but other than getting zx6r or 10r shocks, I don't really know what to do next?

[Deleted]

I've got a hyperpro fork kit (progressive springs and new oil) in my thou and it has made a big difference. Added to a ZX10R rear shock and a 20mm jack up and it's much better and the bits cost about £160.

[planemaker]

thinking about doing something with my suspension as it's also bouncy!
wrote to Maxton who are not far from me and this is the reply I got!

KAWASAKI Z1000 2003



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FRONT

The front forks on the Z1000 are an unusual set up, they have springs in both legs but they only have damping in one leg. The springs that are in the forks are too soft so the bike dives under braking, it may also bottom out. The valving inside the one damping leg has a lot of compression damping which causes the bike to "kick" off small bumps in the road. The fork also does not have enough rebound damping this causes the bike to spring back at you when you let go of the brake, making the bike difficult to turn in to corners and also run wide when exiting corners. The other problem we found was the cartridges inside the forks are designed to give only 80mm of fork travel, our internals would give 120mm. Because the forks do not have damping inside one leg we only supply new cartridges for these forks, we manufacture new Maxton cartridges that are adjustable for preload and rebound and are sprung and valved to suit the riders weight, we have to modify the orginal fork tops to take the new cartridges and dampiing adjusters. The cost of the conversion is £295 plus VAT plus seals which cost £20 plus VAT, and bushes if you need them which cost £20 + V.A.T.





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REAR

The rear unit on the Z1000 unlike the forks is actually very good for the average rider weight and use. The spring if anything is a little on the hard side, but not so that the ride would be too harsh. The damping inside the rear unit is very good, it has the correct rebound and compression damping, the only problems are there is no range of adjustment in the damping screws and over time the damping will fade due to the units design. We can respring the unit to suit the riders weight, this costs £55.00 plus V.A.T or we can supply our own Maxton unit. The replacement Maxton unit is a fully adjustable, alloy bodied, high pressure gas unit that adjusts via shim stack system. The unit has a ride height adjuster and a spring to suit your rider weight and to suit what type of riding you do. The unit is suited to high temperatures because it adjusts via the shim stack not via a needle in a hole system like Ohlins. The unit costs £405.00 but we also make a piggy back remote reservoir unit that has a second compression adjuster which costs £490.00. ALL PRICES EXCLUDE V.A.T.

[Deleted]

zedkid said:

I've got a hyperpro fork kit (progressive springs and new oil) in my thou and it has made a big difference. Added to a ZX10R rear shock and a 20mm jack up and it's much better and the bits cost about £160.

I might try that kit on my Z750 how much did it cost? would the ZX10 shock fit my bike?

I have heard some great things about maxton but not too sure if I could really warrant the cost of their sevices!

[Deleted]

Blimey, #500

Zedkid's sounds a better option - I don't think I have a problem with the front, just seems to be the rear that annoys me.

[gman]

Remember the 750 has different suspention to the 100.

Fire a 03-04 636 shock on it and it transforms the bike. Only problem is it then shows up how crap the forks are. I'm moving from the 10w oil and 130mm standard to 15w and 140mm. This will slow the damping down a bit at the front and stop it pogoing so much. It really needs to have a preload setting so the front sag can be properly set, but i'm too tight to spent £100 for fork springs and the adjustable tops.

Taken from Maxton.............
Front forks - what Maxton found
Measured spring rate = 0.948kg/mm. Richard removes the fork springs from the forks and measures them "most people trust the manufacturers spring rate but we dont" he says"We measure all of our springs to make sure everything is exactly right. These forks seemed bouncy when i assessed them earlier and this result wasnt quite what i was expecting. I thought the springs were too soft initially, but the measured spring rate suggests they're probably quite hard for a 13 stone rider. I'd now say the problem is that the springs are too hard and they feel bouncy because there is little damping control"

The solution.
"I'm going to fit 0.9kg/mm springs , so we're going softer on the front. It doesnt sound much softer than the original 0.948kg/mm but it will be noticeably different. For a less sporty ride I would fit 0.85 kg/mm springs. The standard fork oil is 10w but it was allowing the front of the bike to bounce, so i'll use 15w oil and run a larger air gap. The gap was 130mm, which was a bit too much oil, so an air gap of 140mm wil go better with thicker oil. this should allow the front to follow bumps in the road more easily and control the wheel better".

Tis is for the older style 04 model bike, so not sure how much of it relates to the new 07

[Deleted]

I've changed my mind, gman has the exact same bike as me and sounds a cheaper option!

[Deleted]

I know the 750 and the thousand are different suspension.

If you've got a good suspension engineer near you, they can make a recomendation for your bike, for your weight of springs/oil etc. If you don;t know anyone good, then buying the hyperpro kit gives you progressive wound springs (the spring rate varies through the wind, so as you add more pre-load, the spring rate increases) and suitable oil that is way better than stock and a good improvement fit for a variety of rider weights etc.

I paid £97 for mine which seems to be a common price.

[Deleted]

gman i have the same rear shock as you, can i ask what settings you use as mines all over the place. You are right about the front though ! even with the rear set up crap the front is p**ss poor.
Cheers

[gman]

I'll recheck the setting when i get home and post them up. I think i know them off the top of my head but i'll check them just incase, i dont want to give you the wrong ones.

I like my bike quite soft, but the forks are pretty bad. Might just be mine need new oil, but in the warm weather it's almost bottoming out on the odd time when hitting bumps under hard braking. Even grabbing the bike by the bars, holdong the brake and bouncing it, it bounces for ages and settles with miles too much sag. Even on the odd harder landing from wheelies it feels like there's hardly and oil in there, but there are no signs of any leaks.

[gman]

zedkid said:

hyperpro kit gives you progressive wound springs
I paid £97 for mine which seems to be a common price.

Does this kit come with the adjusters on the top of adjusting the sag? I remember there was a more expensive kit, bit i think it has compression and reboud adjustment too. Cant seem to find it on the search.

[Deleted]

The kit is just springs and oil to replace what's there.

Matris do a kit for about £300 which includes more hardware and provides preload adjustment etc. You can probably get them from a few places, but here's one source:

www.pdq1.co.uk/07CAT_FORK.pdf

[gman]

Rear static sag set at 13mm (7 threads showing). Rebound damping set at 3 turns in from fully soft (there are 7 turns to max). Compresson damping set at 2 turns from fully soft (6 turns to max).

I'll prob firm it up a little bit once the warm weather comes in the summer. But the oil is so cold and thick just now, and the roads are so cold it feels good to have a bit movement.

[Deleted]

thanks for that gman, I'll have a tinker in the morning after i've changed the front pads and see if i can get somewhere with it
Cheers

[Deleted]

Is gman roughly the same weight as yourself,as this will make a difference to you if your heavier or lighter,unless your just after ball park settings.
Im in the process of doing the ride mag maxton upgrade,but may fit a 636 shock and then change to the right spring,unless its not needed for a 13stone rider on this shock.

[Deleted]

What does the shock look like for the 636?
I have seen one on ebay for a 2005 636 with the reservoir attached (would show it on here but dunno how!)
There is also one for a ZX6 G/J model but the reservoir is different??

[Deleted]

Hard to explain but usually silver,or gold if newer ones.A 05-06 will fit but you will have to mill 1mm off each side of the shock fork leg to fit,or get the 636 bushes/seals instead .G/J shock will not fit,but an 03-04 636 shock fits straight in no probs.
Is your 07 zed the new or old version,as im refereing to the old style zed 04 onwards that i know these fit.

[Deleted]

olly said:

Hard to explain but usually silver,or gold if newer ones.A 05-06 will fit but you will have to mill 1mm off each side of the shock fork leg to fit,or get the 636 bushes/seals instead .G/J shock will not fit,but an 03-04 636 shock fits straight in no probs.
Is your 07 zed the new or old version,as im refereing to the old style zed 04 onwards that i know these fit.

Thanks for the info

I have got a new shape 2007 model ;D

[gman]

This is an 04-05 636 shock here....the regulator has been turned to stop the multiplug hitting the resevoir...........