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Aftermarket shocks for Night Rod Special

Has anyone fitted aftermarket suspension to their Night Rod Special, and if so, what type, and did it make a big difference to the handling, I read of one bloke putting stiffer fork springs in to cure front end chatter when braking before cornering.
 
I've not had any front end chatter, but man does it need some rear shocks, mine is terrible, especially two up. I was gonna try Ohlins and see if they have anything. Ill watch this thread carefully, I need some shocks badly.
 
The Ohlins rear shocks that you need are the S36K, designed for the V -Rod ,Night rod, they advise you to take the front springs as well, WP(white power) shocks have a similar shock, both makes are excellent and both are in the same price range, I was just wondering if anybody on this site had fitted these or similar and what difference had it made to the handling.

I read of one bloke who went for the WP set up and he was very pleased with the handling afterwards.
 
Have not fitted the rear with new shocks yet, they are not to bad ,but 2 up I can see a must , I found my NRS front end to be extremly soft ,easly bottoms out . I did a proggressive spring upgrade with in the first month of buying my bike I felt it was more of a priority to due a front spring upgrade first , made a world of diffrence up front much stiffer ,no bottom out and handling much improved for what the bike is .most likly one of the best upgrades I did on my Vrod. I fitted my SG with the progressive 440 ias and am very happy with the results and will go with a set of the 440s for my Vrod also in the future.
 
Thanks for info, Im going to get on it this week, If I changed the shocks for rusty bed springs Im sure it would imorove it, to what it is now. Ohlins are always good for me, But like you say Ive heard that white power are making top suspension too.
 
Thanks for the info Crocker, I bought a new NRS about 2 months ago and had to go to work the day before it was delivered, I work in the merchant navy so havent had a chance to ride it yet.
I'm due back this weekend and will run the bike in, going to keep it standard for a while then modify, I've picked up some great tips and advice on this site.

Thanks again.

Bulldog
 
Yep good move ride it for awhile and make your list according to your needs ,like I said the front springs were my first upgrade,because of the road conditions traveling to work, I would just cringe everytime I heard the front end bottom out at 60 mph on the highwey I had to travel going to that job.As for the rear shocks lots of Vrod guys go with the progrressive, Works perf. Olins, or penske, depends on your budget ,but good results with all ,even the cheeper progressive shocks seem to give good results.from what I read .I think they are in the $200 area where as the higher end stuff is in the 500 range except for Penske 1200.and on the higher end stuff most companys will offer a range of coils to match your load (weight) conditions ,if you plan on a lot of 2up riding go for the 225lb and up rating on the coils, but if your weight is under 200 then stick with the lower rated coils. Enjoy your new ride.
 
I've got a 700 mile ride planned for this weekend, 2 up with a load of luggage, so we'll see how the standard suspension copes.......or doesnt, thanks for your advice, its appreciated.

All the best for now

Bulldog
 
Im sure it will be fine and your 700 mile trip is going to let you know what upgrades you will want to due first, the one thing I would reccomend is that when filling up your bike with gas make it a point to reset your trip odometer every fill up and get to know how many miles you can ride before fillup,because 99.9% of all Vrods fuel gauges stop fuctioning correctly and require maintance to fuction properly ,Most Vroders at some point get fedup with the fuel gauge speratic behavior and the time it takes to maintain them to work properly they just forget the gauge and go by the milege.
 
Thanks for the tip, i'll work the odometer, I've ordered the S36K Ohlins rear shocks and Ohlins progressive springs with oil upgrade for the front, cost in UK with VAT added just under £1K but will be worth it in the long run.
I'll do 1000 miles on the standard set up then change to the Ohlins and post a before and after review on the site, the Ohlins set up, designed for the V-Rod family should improve the handling a lot.

Bulldog
 
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