This is my opinion based on my riding the for 800 miles stock / stock adjusted for my weight / Penske 8987 Triple Clicker and 1.0 front.
First off I want to say thank you to Nick at Stoltec Moto. Nick is always available to answer questions. The service is great and the products speak for themselves. I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone and you can buy with confidence.
Factory suspension not adjusted:When I received my bike the suspension was 'ok' at best. It didn't kill me, but it definitely did not inspire any confidence. It was twitchy on hard cornering. It bottomed out on rough roads. The front end pushed under acceleration out of corners. Then there was the front end lift under acceleration. Some like it, but I found it hard to modulate. I am not one who likes to ride wheelies. This caused me within 200 miles to go to my local race suspension shop and have them set the bike up to my weight and street riding style. (I'm 245 to 260 in gear depending on load)
Factory suspension adjusted for my weight:Ok, now this made a difference. Immediately the bike felt inspiring in corners. It 'flicked' in and would reasonably hold a line. Accelerating out of corners felt controlled if I was holding the line. The issues for me was a bottoming out on bumps at speed. It was harsh but controllable. The front, for me, always felt as it was pushing the front out of the line on slow speed corners under acceleration. On high speed corners the bike would track well but felt like it would need tiny adjustments as I accelerated.
Overall the factory suspension worked well once adjusted to my weight and riding style. It just was not confidence inspiring under hard acceleration or speed. I always felt like I was pushing it to the limit well below what I knew the limit should be. While I do not ride anywhere near the limits of this bike, confidence is everything when riding for me. I don't like to feel like I'm close to being out of control.
Penske 8987 Triple Clicker and 1.0 front:When Stoltec introduced their new offering I was in as soon as they offered the launch promotion. This is an expensive modification, but to my thinking, suspension and suspension tuning is one of the most important modifications one can make. At the end of the day the bike is only as fast and fun to ride as your ability to corner with it. Without confidence in the bike's ability to corner one can't learn to ride the bike towards the maximum it can offer.
I had the suspension installed and tuned by Road & Track Suspension (http://www.vonhertell.com San Antonio, TX). Keith races and sets up most of the race bikes in this ares. I'd suggest them to anyone who needs suspension work. He will set your factory bike up for $40. My install was $230 (ymmv) and he had in done in about 3 hours.
Keith set sag per my weight. I initially felt that the bike was 'slightly' taller. Maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 in. It was mostly mental in that the suspension was substantially tighter. The balls of my feet where still at the same position on the ground. Keith set the low/high compression tight. The fronts were perfect and needed no further adjustments.
On the ride home I immediately noticed that the bike instantly went in the direction I pointed it. The adjusted factory wasn't bad, but the new set up was noticeably sharper. The rear was noticeably more taught. I was taken back by it. I also noticed that the high speed and low speed compression was very sharp on bumps. On high speed bumps it would bust my nuts and on low speed it would lift me out of the seat a little. The factory suspension did not. The front ate up bumps as if they weren't there. While I could tell a huge difference, I knew that there were adjustments that needed to be made.
On my second ride out I had made a very slight adjustment to the high and low compression per factory manual and it fixed any all the high/low speed issues I felt. I used a bumpy road and made repeated runs on the same line and speeds until I got the street feel I wanted. Now the fun part began. I rode to some known curves that I knew the lines and speeds I felt comfortable at with the adjusted factory settings. I started by repeating my normal ride. I immediately felt like I could increase the speed and lean angle without any feeling of being at my limits. I was able to increase speeds 10-15 mph through the corners. I also didn't feel the need to make minor corrections to hold the line. I could just turn in, hold the line and accelerate out. On low speed corners the front wheel no longer felt like it was pushing out under acceleration. As an added bonus I noticed that hard acceleration wheel lift was reduced. I wasn't squatting as much on the rear. That 6k front end wheel lift feeling was less and I could accelerate harder. It still will lift the front, but it felt more controllable and at a higher throttle position. Again, more confidence inspiring. For me this is what I was looking for. I am not a racer, so I'm well below what others limits are, but I did noticed my chicken strips moved closer to the edges.
On the third ride I just when out and enjoyed the bike. I only get better each ride as I feel more confident on the bike. I cannot say enough about this modification.
Would I recommend this modification? Simply YES, with one caveat. If you have the funds to swing it. Is it necessary to get a lot of enjoyment out of the bike? No. An adjusted factory suspension is more than adequate if your riding weight is 170ish and under. It becomes increasing justifiable as your riding weight moves north of 170ish. If you plan on seriously track riding the bike, I don't see how you can't justify it. If you can afford it.
I am happy with the purchase and am expanding my abilities with the bike. Tires are the next on my list to get faster through the corners.
