I have a '16 duke, I am about 150lbs with gear on, and I ride the filthy streets of New York daily which might as well be the surface of the moon. I find myself literally airborne, bouncing off of the seat on some bumps/dips in the roads on my commute. Would the r6 rear shock conversion make a difference for me?
I was under the impression that the stock suspension would be designed for someone around my weight. I also find that the front suspension is very soft and I will probably put a thicker shock oil in there if that makes a difference. Cartridges are out of my budget.
Looking forward to hearing some opinions on the upgrade. Thanks
I’m well over 200 pounds with gear on my 2017. I found adjusting the rear shock to 7 as perfect for NJ streets, which are not much better than NYC’s. I agree that front shocks are too soft, but try first with the rear ones, it will improve handling tremendously. Google for adjusting “Sag” to find your right setting, or just do trial and error (bump it up by one, test ride, bump up another one, test ride... until it gets too hard, then dial back one and you’re set).
I'm about the same weight as you, and the R6 shock is much better IMO.
You can easily get different springs for the R6 one if you needed to dial it in even more for your weight and use, but mine is only on the 3rd notch of the preload and is much more compliant than the original, so you'll probably be fine on the standard R6 spring. It's also adjustable for compression and rebound so lots of opportunity to make changes.
The original KTM spring covers a wide range of rider weights and is limited to preload adjustment.
It's also not that expensive to upgrade and reversible if you don't like it.
Thanks for the link. I think you've convinced me to try the conversion especially since its so cheap. Should be a fun project this winter to powder coat my wheels along with the r6 spring.
Best value for money upgrade I did so far Once I'd ridden a while and was happy with the spring I also had it powder coated white.
What colour are you thinking for your wheels?
I'd look around for a low use, clean one. The bump stops can fall apart with age, so that's something to look out for. You can always get it rebuilt once you're convinced it's right for you.
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