My DDC modification story, heavy rider modifications.

[sweatmark]

Originally Posted by RideRedWA

Subscribed to this. I'm your same weight and going through the exact same thing. I love all of the tech on this bike but it is not working for me right now. Willing to put some money in to get it sorted but would prefer to not drop in loads of cash.

Same here, on all counts.
Disappointed that there's no factory support for suspension adjustment outside a limited range of rider weights, per the sag spec.

[ren]

If your in Oregon, just want to let you know that Kyle Racing down here in California has a few sets of Ohlins forks for the S1000R (and obviously shocks).  I talked to the owner and I have bought fork mods and shocks from him before.  I have a heavier spring on my factory shock and Im not convinced I need ohlins up front yet because I just got the bike, but if I feel the DDC isnt cutting it I will go full ohlins and not waste much time doing it.  If you have a 2017 I will say the DDC settings I felt on my test rides of that bike were not to my liking.

[sweatmark]

Originally Posted by ren

If your in Oregon, just want to let you know that Kyle Racing down here in California has a few sets of Ohlins forks for the S1000R (and obviously shocks).  I talked to the owner and I have bought fork mods and shocks from him before.  I have a heavier spring on my factory shock and Im not convinced I need ohlins up front yet because I just got the bike, but if I feel the DDC isnt cutting it I will go full ohlins and not waste much time doing it.  If you have a 2017 I will say the DDC settings I felt on my test rides of that bike were not to my liking.

Thanks. I've got a 2016 DDC. Will try a heavier shock spring, plus the analog RR right-hand fork with stiffer spring. It's tempting, but I cannot justify the full analog retrofit for my combination of riding conditions and skill. I'm mentally comparing the R with a track bike set up by Dave at GP Suspension, which was a bit stiff for bumpy mountain roads but great for track days; I want a lightly softer version of that suspension, and hope that DDC (plus tweaks) will suffice.

[Noggie]

I'll just fill in with some new information as we just had a couple of days of good enough weather to ride.

I have been playing with the modes and suspension settings and I'm really struggling to find something that works.
The rear is vague and something as simple as leaning over through a traffic circle or accelerate hard out of said traffic circle or similar feels really nervous, for the lack of a better term.
I have tried all 3 suspension settings and nothing really works.
The issue being the soft rear and hard front, the bike feels really out of balance and I do not dear to push it.

I decided to give the "two helmet" setting one more try.
And to my surprise running "soft" in "road" mode now felt pretty good, my confidence was greatly improved and the bike felt much more stable and balanced.
It's far from perfect, but at least I'm not worried about cornering, would not take this setup to the track though, but on the street it appears to be OK.
My guess is that with the rebuilt shock it will be great fun to ride this bike.

[Lowrance]

I can attest to the fact when the suspension is close this bike is an absolute blast to rip on as you get to use that sublime (if a little vibey) motor to its potential.

[Noggie]

Originally Posted by Lowrance

I can attest to the fact when the suspension is close this bike is an absolute blast to rip on as you get to use that sublime (if a little vibey) motor to its potential.

Yes, I'm quite sure that will be the case.
I have done about 10.000km on the bike now, so I know it quite well.
Stock it was far from perfect, but at least the bike was predictable and I could push it to some extent.
With just the front springs the bike became very unpredictable and I did not dare to push it as hard as stock. The two helmet setting and "soft" got me close to the stock feeling of predictability, albeit a lot stiffer.
The front feels better, but with the soft rear it's like you get that feeling in the corners that there is very little weight on the front wheel and you really don't want to push it as the fear of loosing the front is too great.

My reasoning for just doing the front was a combination of things.
My bike was due for a 20.000km service and I planned to do a fork service so it was a good time to swap springs.
Delivery time on the springs were short and they would be swapped when the bike had the service done.
My shock ha'd to be removed, sent in to Wilbers, be modified and sent back. Potentially 3 weeks where I had no bike, and the season was getting close to the end.
So I decided to wait and have that done during the winter when the bike would be stored.
Looking back I could have just gone ahead and done it as the last half of this years season pretty much rained away and I did not get to do much riding anyway.

Next year should be a blast.
With much better suspension, an RR converted exhaust, maybe an engine tune and some visual mods.

[Noggie]

Well guys.

This thing came in the mail today.....

Still a fair amount of snow outside, so plenty of time to do the install before the season starts.

Made a quick unboxing video too for those who might be interested.

This will kick-off a series of suspension videos on my channel on modifying the S1000R DDC suspension for a heavier rider.

[S1000R concuestC]

Looking forward to hear your verdict 
 I want one too 

[Noggie]

Originally Posted by S1000R concuestC

Looking forward to hear your verdict 
 I want one too 

Should not be a problem.... Neighbor...... I live in Verdalen, Klepp 

[S1000R concuestC]

Should not be a problem.... Neighbor...... I live in Verdalen, Klepp 

I know👍
We should meet up in the spring to share experience