Any SV owners with Kawasaki shocks?

All the SV boards talk about how great the 636 and ZX10R shocks are. Well, I put a ZX10R shock on, and while the damping is nicer than stock, the ride height is too low. I only weigh 150, yet I have to use up 3/4 of the preload just to get it up to stock seat height. And that's not a good thing.

What about you, has anyone else tried one of these? I would switch to a 636 shock if there is proof that it's longer or stiffer than the ZX10R shock.

 

I measured and it was longer and stiffer.than I woke up.

 

When you say the ride height is too low, did you measure eye-to-eye on each shock to measure the difference in shock length? I just measured the Penske on my SV last weekend and compared it to the stock shock length. I think the difference in eye-to-eye length amounted to ~16mm (just over half an inch). Together with raising the forks 2mm in the triple clamps you net a 25mm difference on the rear shock over stock (using the 1mm change in the front equals a 5mm change in the rear equation).

I wouldn't ditch a shock that I liked if I had the front end ride height to spare.

 

you never said what year SV you have this shock on?

 

My buddy put a 636 shock on his 99 SVS. Said its great, and I rode it, better than the SRAD shock I ran on my SV back in the day.

Ken

 

1st gen

 

It was within 1mm

So I'm thinking that either the ZX10R's spring is softer than the SV, or it comes with less preload tension built into it.

Raised rear ride height + stock or near stock front height = better way of doing it cuz you get more clearance.

Stock rear ride height + lowered front height = less clearance (no thanks)

 

first generation stock spring is at around 510#.
636 shock is at around 560#.lenght is about same as 99-02sv -+2mm.
both are soft.

 

cool then maybe it would raise the bike