SWAY BAR

[fjcady]

Last weekend I put a swaybar from Rons OMG what a big difference it makes... before you spend big bucks on shocks thy this first. I may still get shock upgrades but for the most part problems solved

[donnellpj]

The shocks really go hand in hand with the sway bar, though the sway bar made a major improvement and allowed me to back the Elka's off a little.

I used to run the Elka's at 8.75" preload with rebound set around 15 clicks. I also kept the front tire inflation up around 22 to increase the rigidity up front. I was able to take about eight full rounds out of the preload to 9.25", and reduce the rebound to about 25 clicks, and the sway bar keeps the bike nice and level still. It smoothed out some of the erratic behavior in the the steering, and gave me back some smoothness I haven't had in some time. I'll probably need to tweak some more, but for now it feels much nicer over all.

After I added the sway bar (before the shock mods), I took a ryde up through PA and DE, and back to MD, about 425 miles, and I took a pretty good beating. Although the bike does handle much better (it tracks like its on rails), a lot of the external forces of the environment transfer to the ryder. Something I hadn't fully realized until that trip. If your going to add the sway bar (and I think everyone should), and you have Elka's (or your factory shocks) cranked up to 11, be prepared to consider the front suspension in some fashion.

Just my $.02.

Ryde safe!