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Were all the blue ones the same or did they "improve" them?
Basically the newer 04 one I am getting has a blue one and I have one to replace it with just double checking before possibly wasting any time :)
Thanks
Geoff

Pretty sure (about 99.9%) they were all the same.

OK its not the best shock in the world but not as horrible as many make out. I refitted my Blue shock for a few weeks recently whilst I sorted out some linkages for my Yellow Spring shock and it was OK to be fair.

IMHO the yellow spring Sachs is a definate improvement but not a huge leap over the std shock

F9

I think it depends on the life of the shock - mine had a blue spring on when i bought it - at 17000 miles - it was ok - BUT i noticed a hell of a change when I changed things over

I suspect a low mileage well maintained blue spring may well be not too bad - but I would suggest that any shock with >20k miles on it needs a refurb anyway - and the blue spring shocks, effectively, cannot be refurbed - hence why so many of us change them.....

I still think that a refurbed white spring mille shock correctly set up is ideal for the vast majority of us

I have heard it suggested that they were improved but if that is the case I would hate to have an early one.

My bike was bought new - built 2004 first registered 2005 - so if there is any difference I had a late one.

Fitting the Mille Ohlins transformed the bike - night & day.
There have been a couple of times I have refitted the blue one since and each time I have been sharply reminded of just how poor it is. I could tell between leaving my garage and reaching the road at the end of my drive that the blue spring shock was on there (and, no, I don't live in a country mansion with a 1 mile driveway). Any attempt at a bit of spirited riding down the lanes would have it pogoing all over the place. Probably no worse than many budget bikes but nothing like the Falco can be with a decent shock on there.
I would be able to tell riding blindfold - even before I rode into something I couldn't see.

Aladinsaneuk wrote: I suspect a low mileage well maintained blue spring may well be not too bad

I would disagree .... really

Fair enough lol!

Just hope the white one arrives sooner rather than later or it will have to be the yellow one choices choices

I could not agree more with Mr D.

I bought my 54 plate about 4 years ago with 5.5k on the clock. Blue spring was SO harsh and pogo-y it was unbelievable. Worse than my Hornet suspension. I then lived on Ebay looking for an Ohlins, was lucky enough to pick one up and from then on it was basically a completely different bike. The Ohlins actually has plush, well controlled (damped) suspension - lovely.

In my view there's three proper game changing mods for this bike - Ohlins rear, lightweight OZs, and fuelling (be that PCIII, Gabro, AN Other). All of these mods significally improve the ride of the standard bike in such a way that even a muppet like me can tell the difference in two seconds flat.

Mine has 20k and change on it and it isn't great. Manages to be squishy most of the time but over ripples it's like a visit to Mrs. Spanky. I had to pull over once to see if my spine had actually come out of my nose or if it just felt like it.

randomsquid wrote:Mine has 20k and change on it and it isn't great. Manages to be squishy most of the time but over ripples it's like a visit to Mrs. Spanky. I had to pull over once to see if my spine had actually come out of my nose or if it just felt like it.