Cruizin Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Thanks for chiming in, John! We look forward to these new shocks! Hello Folks, My name is John and I work for Elka Suspension and have been working with Cruizin to try and coordinate this project to develop a shock for the FJ-09. Considering the enormous demand we had to develop a shock for the FZ-9, we felt it was best to develop both at the same time considering they are essentially the same bike....similar to what Yamaha did with the FZ-8 and the Phaser. I will try and answer as many questions as I can so I can clarify alot of the price and product discrepancies. Stage 4 vs Stage 5... The Stage 4 product is the more common product that we currently use for the Motorcycle market at this time. The Stage 4 offer hi/lo speed compression, rebound, and manual preload adjustability and retails for $799. For an extra $200, you can add a hydraulic preload adjuster if applicable. The body diameter on the Stage 4 is 46mm, and we use an aluminum body with hard anodized components which are red in color. Stage 5- The new Stage 5 technology offers all the same features as the stage 4 in terms of adjustment...hi/lo speed compression, rebound, and preload, however we are using a smaller diameter shock body (36mm), and the compression cartridge has a much higher flow which allows us to completely segregate the compression from rebound....unlike the Stage 4. The Stage 4 technology does not allow us to completely segregate compression from rebound because of the design of the compression cartridge. Although it works well, more advanced riders can feel a slight change in compression when adjusting the rebound. As for the FJ-9 shock development, management is slowly eliminating the Stage 4 development to make way for the Stage 5 technology, however for this particular bike, we will be looking to develop both a fully adjustable Stage 5 shock, AS WELL as a more basic and economical Stage 2 shock, with preload and rebound only. As for offering a hydraulic preload adjustment, we have yet to do any development for a hydraulic preload adjuster for our 36mm aluminum shock bodies, therefore we may only be offering a manual adjustable preload shock....but it is still TBD. The Stage 5 platform is using gun metal grey components for the majority of the product, with red anodized accent pieces...a bit of a different look. Price point for the Stage 2 product will be in the $599-$699 range and Stage 5 will be $1299. When development is complete, I will most probably be organising a group buy with available discounts for a limited time with Cruizin, and I will also be touching base with this forum once we get the bike in here for development and to keep you all up to date with the progress. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. I will answer as promptly as possible. Regards, John Ilkiw Elka Suspension Yamaha FZ-10 Forum Yamaha FZ-07 Forum Yamaha Ténéré 700 Forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eatpasta Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 FYI everyone - I've been in contact with John since 2008 when we did our 1150GS group buy. He's a good guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FigJam-OhNine Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 @elka thanks John for that summary. I'm curious to see how development comes along on these two options. My fingers are crossed for a remote pre-load adjuster, but it sounds like this may not be in the cards. I gather the average rider would probably be fine with a Stage 2 and never miss the added benefits of the Stage 5, but in your experience, could you share some examples of the type of riding each shock is best suited to? The Stage 5 seems overkill for a bike meant for pavement, but maybe that's the point. Is adding a Stage 5 opening up more terrain? I'm curious what a typical development time looks like for this type of project. Can you share a rough estimate? Are we looking at waiting weeks, months, years? I'll keep checking in on the post for the status. Excited to hear you're dedicating time to this bike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eatpasta Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Im lookin for the remote preload adjuster on the Stage 2 as well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elka Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 FYI everyone - I've been in contact with John since 2008 when we did our 1150GS group buy. He's a good guy Dont start any crazy rumors now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elka Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 @elka thanks John for that summary. I'm curious to see how development comes along on these two options. My fingers are crossed for a remote pre-load adjuster, but it sounds like this may not be in the cards. I gather the average rider would probably be fine with a Stage 2 and never miss the added benefits of the Stage 5, but in your experience, could you share some examples of the type of riding each shock is best suited to? The Stage 5 seems overkill for a bike meant for pavement, but maybe that's the point. Is adding a Stage 5 opening up more terrain? I'm curious what a typical development time looks like for this type of project. Can you share a rough estimate? Are we looking at waiting weeks, months, years? I'll keep checking in on the post for the status. Excited to hear you're dedicating time to this bike! The Stage 5 is well suited for the rider who intends to take his bike to a track for example where the demands on the suspension are significantly increased, however for your average street riding, the Stage 2 will do just fine. The FJ-9 is not a very expensive bike off the dealership floor, so we want to make sure we offer a product that will both be significantly better than stock without the massive price tag, which is where the Stage 2 will be popular.Our intention for the Stage 2 is to explore a floating piston internal to maximise performance IF there is enough suspension stroke to allow us to do this. As for the hyd. preload, we will just have to wait and see...however there is ample room to adjust preload manually under the bike in case we do not offer one. I actually own the FZ-8, so I empathise with you "9" owners in terms of the underwhelming suspension it comes with. I HATED my bike all the way home from the dealers simply because of the handling, but with the suspension changed and dialed in, I could not be happier. Once we get the bike in here ( next 2 weeks), we are looking at 5-7 days for physical product development, a day or two of dyno testing, and then creating the BOM ( bill of materials). Once this is done, we can start production which is about 7-10 business days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member ULEWZ Posted January 20, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted January 20, 2015 [div align=left]The prices listed are in CDN. Ah, much better. As of today, $1299 CDN converts to $1087.85 US. $599 CDN converts to $501.63 US. Now were cooking with the same sauce. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Bikes: 2015 FJ-09, Seat Concepts seat cover and foam, Cal Sci medium screen, rim stripes, factory heated grips, Cortech Dryver tank bag ring, Modified stock exhaust, FlashTune with Graves fuel map, Cree driving lights, Aux power socket. 2012 Street Triple type R (Wifes) 2007 FJR1300 (Sold!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruizin Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Pricing isn't set in stone and we will be chsrging US dollars. [div align=left]The prices listed are in CDN. Ah, much better. As of today, $1299 CDN converts to $1087.85 US. $599 CDN converts to $501.63 US. Now were cooking with the same sauce. Yamaha FZ-10 Forum Yamaha FZ-07 Forum Yamaha Ténéré 700 Forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member jetfixer Posted January 20, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted January 20, 2015 Depending on time frame, I would be interested in the stage 2 shock. Even though I haven't had many miles on the bike I'm sure I'll need it but at the moment I can't commit. Keep me updated. Bill 2015 Heeled by the hands of Nel's @ 2WheelDynoworks K-Tech forks and shock lots of other expensive unimportant stuff. The "Ex" 2003 FZ1 Ride more, worry less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfjniner Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Thanks John for putting that together, will be looking for the new products when you are ready to put together a group buy. Ken, Candy Ass L.D.R. Sleeps 8 hours (2)2005 FJR1300abs: 230,000 m 2015 FJ-09: 114,000 m (Replaced engine at 106K) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deersSlayer Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 @elka thanks John for that summary. I'm curious to see how development comes along on these two options. My fingers are crossed for a remote pre-load adjuster, but it sounds like this may not be in the cards. < snip > < snip> As for the hyd. preload, we will just have to wait and see...however there is ample room to adjust preload manually under the bike in case we do not offer one. < snip > I understand that hydraulic remote preload adjustment cannot cover the full range of a shock spring's preload adjustability, but that it's enough to cover having full luggage vs none. The reason I prefer the hyd. preload adjustment is you don't need very clean shock threads like you do with manual adjustment. The idea is I'm on a 2 week trip, but stay 2 or 3 nights in one location that has great local day rides. I want to ride without luggage on those day rides, and want to adjust preload without rigorously cleaning the shock threads. That's worth an extra $200 to me, for either the reasonably priced 2-stage, or the more costly 5-stage. My fingers are crossed too! FJ-09, 690 Enduro R. Back Roads. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabefzr6 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I understand that hydraulic remote preload adjustment cannot cover the full range of a shock spring's preload adjustability, but that it's enough to cover having full luggage vs none. The reason I prefer the hyd. preload adjustment is you don't need very clean shock threads like you do with manual adjustment. The idea is I'm on a 2 week trip, but stay 2 or 3 nights in one location that has great local day rides. I want to ride without luggage on those day rides, and want to adjust preload without rigorously cleaning the shock threads. That's worth an extra $200 to me, for either the reasonably priced 2-stage, or the more costly 5-stage. My fingers are crossed too! I agree completely! The availability of hydraulic preload on the fully adjustable stage 5 would tip the balance over any of the other shocks that I am considering. 2008 Street Triple G 2015 FJ-09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducbill Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I'm still not committed to FJ-09 yet but have lived with remote hydraulic preload on Vstrom and electronic on Ducati MTS (Ohlins semi active) I recommend going with hydraulic adjust on shock as rear ride height can be used to adjust cornering response regardless of load carrying ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsteely Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 As with FigJam-OhNine, I'd be looking for a remote preload adjuster as part of any shock upgrade I'd be considering. And I also agree the stocker isn't bad. I'll be putting it to a better test this weekend on an extended ride. Our temperatures are supposed to be in the upper 70s on Saturday and Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfjniner Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Suspension is so individual based on how you ride. I have seen individual on the FJR that are totally stock and yet have other bikes that have all the bells and whistles, including top grade suspension. What gives? Depending on how you ride a specific moto, can and should determine what kind of suspension you need. I might ask, how do you know until you have ridden a bike for a while? On my ride last week, I found the suspension quite good and thought that I may not need to change it, but will wait until summer when I can ride on good warm asphalt with good and warm tires, and time to take a few long trips to see how it works on the road. I may be slow at making these decisions, but I think that Yamaha learned something from their mistakes on the FZ and fixed them on the FJ, ie stiffer springs. I would wish that people make educated conclusion from the FJ and post their insights, which would be vastly more informative than just posting from the gut. Ken, Candy Ass L.D.R. Sleeps 8 hours (2)2005 FJR1300abs: 230,000 m 2015 FJ-09: 114,000 m (Replaced engine at 106K) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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