This article isn't geared toward the highly accomplished rider or racer. It is geared towards the less experienced street rider who has heard how much better aftermarket products are than the original factory equipment. In many cases, the relatively new (or uneducated) rider may make a major invenstment in these parts because an experienced, though not necessarily a GOOD rider, tells them how much better the bike will work. The real problem may not be with the bike at all. More than likely, it is the rider's lack of skills causing the problems. You can learn how to become a highly skilled rider for a whole lot less than a $400 Race Tech front end and a $1200 Penske shock. Anytime I have to make a choice between spending money on the bike or becoming a better rider, I'll pick spending it on improving my riding skillls everytime. Someday you will sell your bike. The chances are you won't get one extra penny for your aftermarket parts when you do. Typically, a stock bike commands a higher resale value than a modified one. On the other hand, you will carry your newly acquired riding skills with you for a lifetime and can apply them to every motorcycle that you own. In fact, you may realize you don't need to spend money on the aftermarket parts because you have become good enough to "ride around" your motorcycle's deficiencies.

We will all agree the Suzuki SV has a huge amount to offer and one of the best values on the market. At it's price, sacrifices have to be made somewhere. The biggest offender, as seen by many, is it's suspension. While this is easily "fixable" at costs ranging from extremely reasonable to absolutely ludicrous, I'm going to suggest a different approach.

When I mentioned to Roger, a friend that builds race bikes for a living, how many street riders have spent $300-400 for the Race tech forks and $1200 for a Penske shock, he was amazed. According to Roger, the ONLY way a Penske shock can be set up is with on-board telemetry and a professional suspension tuner. He says it's that complicated. I don't have any experience with a Penske shock, so I'll pass along his opinion for what it's worth.

Personally, I haven't had any real trouble with the stock suspension. The front forks are a little soft and lack damping, but it's no big deal. The chassis is good enough that even if the front end is moving around, the bike always maintains control and doesn't do anything scary. It's handling also deteriorates when the tires get worn, but, again, there is never any real lose of control. The chassis on the SV is amazingly competent.

My different approach and the main point of this article is simply this: KISS (Keep It's Suspension Stock) your SV, and you will become a better rider for it. By increasing your riding skills, you can learn how to ride in such a manner as to minimize the chassis' being upset by the soft fork springs. Control and smoothnes are the skills that will allow the "weak" suspension to virtually disappear beneath you.

Forgive my penchant for ancronyms (it's a personal problem), but instead of BIPping (Bike Improvement Program) your way through life, how about RIPping (Rider Improvement Program) along instead?

The soft front forks can actually make you a better rider if you give them a chance (What the hell is he talking about?). To make this work, you must make the investment in becoming a better motorcycle pilot. It is easy to blame the machinery for your lack of performance. Just when you think you've got all the excuses lined up for the bull seesion at the local hangout, some old fart on a completely stock bike will ride around the outside of you, midturn, and leave you for dead (under the controlled conditions of a track day, I hope). There are no excuses left. This puts the responsibility squarely on your shoulders. Forget spending the money on your motorcycle. Spend a lot less (but with a lot more work) on becoming a better rider. Not needing excuses is a much better (and far more rewarding) alternative.

It goes something like this:

1) Take the basic MSF course (approx. $150), even if you've been riding for 20+ years. You will still learn (and probably unlearn) a lot.

2) Practice for a couple thousand miles.

3) Take the MSF Experienced Rider Course (about $75-100).

4) A couple thousand miles more practice.

5) Get your grubby little mits on good riding articles such as Nick Ienatsch's "Pace" articles published in MOTORCYCLIST and SPORT RIDER. They are also available off the internet. Devour them religiously, several times.

6) More practice.

7) Invest in Keith Code's "Twist of the Wrist II" (less than $20), NOT the original "Twist of the Wrist" or "The Soft Science of Roadracing Motorcycles." In my opinion, they offer very little (zilch) in the way of specific riding techniques. "Twist II" has some very valuable information to offer, but teaches some techniques that I would question (check out his chapter on "Pivot Steering"). It is still a good read, and after trying his different techniques, you can decide what works best for you. This is a book that you will have to read several times to get the maximum benefit from it. You will learn something new every time you read it. Good stuff. Several other articles have been published teaching cornering techniques, some advocating late apexing as the "cure-all" for proper turning. Conditions on the street are always changing, requiring different inputs dependent on these conditions. Sometimes late apexing is truly the best approach. Other times, it may be deadly. I suggest you seek out as many different articles as you can find, read about different techniques, practice them, and see what works best for you. You won't know until you try them.

8) You guessed it--lots more practice. At this point, you've spent about $120 over the basic MSF course, lots less than a Race Tech fork fix, not to mention a Penske shock. If you've been practicing as religiously as you should, you are a far better, smoother rider than before you embarked on your RIP.

Once you have mastered the basics and have a good grasp of the more advanced skills taught in the "Pace" articles and Keith's "Twist II," if you really want to become a top-notch rider, invest in a rider school taught at a race track. I have been to Keith Code's California Superbike School (3 of them), Reg Pridmore's CLASS schools (2), and a Suzuki Endurance School (1). Without a doubt, the best of these is Reg Pridmore's CLASS schools. He stresses street riding techniques and smoothness. He is also a genuinely nice guy that wants you to have fun while learning. You will learn more from his school than the other two, especially if you are not race oriented and want to improve upon your street riding capabilities. The cost is around $325-350, and he travels to race tracks throughout the country. It is the best investment you can make. I found the Suzuki Endurance School to be virtually useless. The instruction is pitiful, and some of their instructors were downright dangerous on the track, racing each other rather than instructing. You can certainly learn from Keith Code's California Superbike School, but in the interest of making more money, he runs three sessions: one in the classroom, one on the track, and one group sitting around doing nothing. Most schools run two sessions: one on the track, and one in the classroom, to keep you learning the whole time you are there. I feel the CLASS schools offer a much better venue to gain the necessary street riding skills compared to the other two I have attended.

Here is a list of specific skills that I feel will make you a better street rider:

1) Look where you are going, looking far enough ahead to anticipate potential problems. Looking farther ahead decreases your sensation of speed, giving you more time to react (as an experiment, look down, just ahead of your front tire. Doesn't the ground seem to be whizzing by at a much faster rate than when you are looking ahead? Scary, huh?) Look as far through the turn as you can, and keep scanning for those never ending hazards. In my opinion, the # 1 rule in motorcycling is you will go where you are looking. Every input you make is based on your perception of what is going on around you. This is the most important skill you will need since everything else you do is dependent upon it.

2) I strongly urge you to ride your line-of-sight. If you can't see the end of the corner, slow down until you can. Ideally, you should be riding in such a manner that you can stop safely in the distance you can see in front of you. If you ride in this manner, you will never be the victim of going off the road in a decreasing radius turn that caught you by surprise.

3) Use your controls smoothly. Learn how to brake, shift, apply the throttle with a gentle roll-on, and turn your bike in this manner. The less you upset the bike with harsh inputs, the less the chassis will "pogo" back and forth. Once you acquire this degree of smoothness, you will be amazed at how much better the SV's forks work than you originally thought. Your riding skills are the most determinant factor in how well your bike will work. Once you know how to ride smoothly, you won't need that excuse about the forks being too soft. Your newly acquired skills have made them work properly. Pat yourself on the back--you have arrived!

4) Smoothness isn't used only when you apply the brakes or throttle. It is just as important to release them smoothly, especially when you are releasing the brakes and applying the throttle at about the same time. You must know how to upshift and downshift smoothly or your bike will end up hopping & skipping, wobbling & weaving down the road. The same goes for steering inputs. I believe in quick steering, but it can be done quickly and smoothly at the same time. The smoother your inputs, the better the chassis will work.

5) Get your braking done before you turn the bike. Brake firmly, but smoothly. Turn the bike into the corner and apply the power as soon as possible, with a gentle throttle roll-on. Your bike is most stable under gentle acceleration while leaned over in a turn. If you roll off the throttle or, apply too much power, your bike will run wide towards the edge of the road. Continue looking through the turn, gradually applying more power as the bike comes to full vertical. As far as I am concerned, deep, late braking and trailbraking have no place on a sane street ride. These are last lap, last ditch racing techniques. The only exception to this is if you are in way over your head, and you have no other option. If such is the case, I dearly hope you have practiced this technique and know how to use it properly. Asphalt is not a particularly buoyant surface to land on.

6) Stay in your lane. Going off the road or veering into the other lane means you have lost control. You may get lucky, or it may kill you. I rarely use my whole lane. I always turn a little tighter, keeping some reserve for unseen sand, hostile animals, or errant oncoming traffic. Once you are a skilled rider, it's also more fun (I'm a lean angle junkie) because you are using a steeper lean angle, but at a safer, slower speed.

7) I believe hanging off is a racing technique that has no place on the street. It attracts negative attention from those that issue high-speed driving awards for their occupational jollies. It signals a lack of control, or at the very least, is just showing off for the sake of it. The only time it might be necessary to hang off is if you are grinding chassis parts and are in danger of running off the road. At this point, you are already in WAY over your head and have nothing to lose. The fact is most people haven't the foggiest idea how to do it properly. Hanging off well in advance of the corner and getting completely in position before making any steering inputs is the key here. Done improperly, it severely upsets the balance of your motorcycle.

8) Keep your straight line speeds reasonable and don't tuck in. Any idiot can go fast in a straight line. It attracts attention from the gendarmes and creates a bad image for our sport. High straight line speed also ruins your depth perception when coming to a turn. You will almost always overbrake and enter the turn too slowly. It's lots more fun to keep a sane straight line speed, use less braking, carrying more speed (and more lean angle) through the turn once you know what you are doing. Keep in mind, it takes a professional racer over 600 ft. (two footbal fields) to stop from 120 MPH. If you are insane enough to run at these speeds, you have been regularly practicing stopping from them, haven't you?

At the racetrack, it's funny how many "racers" complain about how their suspension, brakes, motor, etc. aren't working right. There's always an excuse. Invariably, those that complain the most, are the slowest around the track. If they were given a perfect bike, they would still be slow. The greatest racers in the world had to deal with less than perfect machinery, yet they were fast and found ways to win by compensating for the bike's deficiencies with their superior riding skills. The greatest investment you can make is increasing your abilities as a rider. All of those previous excuses made up about why your bike was the limiting factor will vanish. You are now in control, not the motorcycle. Control and smoothness should be everyone's goal. For those that want to ride fast, acquiring these skills is necessary to achieve that end. Get the smoothness and control down, and the speed will come. Kenny Roberts once said, "You have to go slow to go fast." You will find yourself having more fun, at a far safer level than you ever imagined possible. Spends the bucks on yourself first. You deserve it. And so do those riding with you.

The End