I recently had my 94 ZX9r (B-1) in for suspension service and the mechanic advised me that my fork design was right out of Bedrock. When I asked about upgrades he said that before I spend big bucks on an aftermarket drop-in kit or try to replace forks/wheel/brakes, etc., that I try to find a cartidge and internals from a more modern sportbike. While cheaper, this is a bit of a homework project and various forums have been little help. I know this bike wasn't ever raced much, but does anyone have any idea where I might turn for advice? Thanks.
First thing that I might look is for a different mechanic. Yes, the fork design on your '94 is not the "latest and greatest" but it can be made to work just fine. Heck, there are a lot of guys on here running around with '72 forks (and no emulators) and they do just fine. set your sag to your weight. Experiment with some different weights of fork oil and oil levels and have fun riding your bike. Tracy
Nothing wrong with the mechanic. He services sportbikes and suspensions for lots of racers, endurance teams and street riders and has had a white plate on his bike for a long time. He also CR's and does free basic suspension setups at local track days. What he said was how working on my fork reminded him of how far forks have come in 17 years. He then showed me the difference between modern suspension components and mine. I was the one who asked about upgrades. I have ridden the Ninja niner at track days as well as on ten-day, 2-up trips, and I do have fun on it. I also ride an '84 Moto Guzzi Monza and have an '89 FZR 400 track bike and a '95 ZX6r track bike with stock forks, and they all get around corners ok. I was just looking to improve my bike's handling without spending a fortune on an 18 year-old bike.
From the added information in your 2nd post I would first ask, Do you think you need to make upgrades to the suspension? If it's yes then I would price out a swap to updated forks or drop ins for these forks such as racetech or ??? and if these options cost more than you feel is appropriate then perhaps pursue OEM parts from another bike. Honestly though it would seem like that would be looking for a needle in a hay stack even if you had access to a huge pile of forks. Normally the first thing with older suspensions is to get the proper weight springs so the sag can be set correctly but it sounds like this should have been taken care of by your suspension tuner. I have a 97 VFR which most likely has a similiar setup and I have thought about updating the suspension a number of times over the years but always end up deciding that it handle ok for the all around type riding I do with it.
