Progressive springs for DR 650....?

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the ruffian

Race Dog
Joined
Jun 1, 2016
Messages
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Location
Grahamstown
Bike
Suzuki DR650
Does one need them? Or should one just change the fork oil regularly , and perhaps go to 10 weight oil?

The context is this:

I’ve done 25k kays on my bike that although it was 6 years old when I bought it had only 5000ks on the clock. In that time i’d Never checked the oil in the forks, and holding to the maxim that “if it ain’t broke don’t fixit”, I learned to ride the bike within its limits, and mine...and loved it.

The bulk of my mileage has been gravel ‘highway’ (most often a complete misnomer!), and washed out empty roads like the side entry to the Baviaanskloof, the Antoniesberg/Grootrivierpoort option, several iterations of the Baviaanskloof itself, old Katberg/Ruitjies/DevilsBellows spec. You get the idea...

Just recently I did a 3000k Northen Cape trip with Ri (see ride report). On it, we carried reasonably heavy loads because we were self-supported, but by anyone’s standards we were pretty minimalist (and it was the middle of winter...). I noticed that Ri was much more planted on her DR. Admittedly, I am cautious and she is confident, but I struggled with the squirrely handling in corrugated sand in particular. About 1500 ks into the trip I noticed that my one fork seal was leaking. I started asking Ri about how her suspension had been specked, and wondered whether mine was lacking...

This then is the question: how much difference, REALLY, would progressive springs and adjusted pre-load on the rear shock AcTUally make? I’m an old ballie and I ride like one, but I have been on bikes for 50 years, and until now i’ve Just dealt with the hand i’ve Been given. But at 65, I’d like to ride for at least another 10 years or more, and on a modest pension I don’t have big bucks for fancy bikes... DR’s and KLR’s are the horizon of my dreams in this respect.

Your thoughts, please?
 
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