Interesting, there is a lot of chat about them (the HyperPro) in the Ninja forums right now. The early word (not a large sample size yet) is that they're good on the street but entry level at best on the track...which is fine for most folks anyway. the high- and low- speed adjustability is nice and that's really what your getting with aftermarket anyway...greater adjustability. I think I neglected to mention earlier that I had past experience with Penske, just not on bikes. We used Penske suspension components on two different track cars with great results. Something to always keep in mind, regardless of the "brand" seen on bikes at the track (especially in pro) you can be assured that they have been custom built to the rider, bike, and usually track+weather. For us "normal" riders it's actually all about compromise, and that's where adjustability comes into play. The more compromise, the more adjustability comes into play. If 100% street riding you only need to have enough adjustment to set to a single preference. If street+back road there's more adjusting, if street+backroad+track there's yet more adjusting. A stock suspension on a bike sold in the U.S. has been optimized for a 170lb rider on the street. Even the top supersport bikes have been configured for a 170lb rider with a 90% street bias. That's why the vast majority of motorcycle owners never even really think about the components, and certainly don't change them. The compromise works well enough for them. Engineers, tinkerers, and certain others will change stuff out more often largely because they can. I'm willing to bet that if they were given a blind test they wouldn't be able to tell which components had been changed or which settings had been modified. They MIGHT...big MIGHT...be able to feel a difference, but doubtful they could accurately describe it in terms of any of the components and really unlikely to identify the actual cause. But new shiny stuff does make us feel better :-)

The Ohlins has been installed and set up. They did have to fashion a custom bracket to accommodate the remove preload adjuster, but all in all it's a very clean install. Everyone I talked to there said I would notice an immediate and significant difference in the way the bike handles. No lie. I don't think I would have believed that a rear shock and spring swap would make such a big difference. Even at the lowest preload setting, the Ohlins is significantly stiffer than the Progressive. The bike seems to ride at, what I perceive to be, it's stock height. I had always thought the Progressive caused the rear of the bike to ride too low throwing the geometry of the bike off. With the Ohlins the geometry "feels" right to me. The tech said that improving the rear suspension can have a significant effect on the front end, counterintuitively. In many ways it feels like a different bike. It leans differently. On a few corners I surprised myself because the bike cut into the corner sharper than I'm used to. I don't know jack about suspensions, but it feels like the rear end is coming around faster, if such a thing is possible. The ride is stiffer but not uncomfortable and over hard bumps the shock seems to give more than the Progressive. I talked to the tech about the front end. He took it for a test ride and said it felt right to him. I still say something is not right with the front end. It may even just be the tire. These bikes are crazy sensitive to tire wear and pressure.