suspension options / opinions please

[budd]

Now I know this subject as probably been covered at length over the years but if you’ll bear with me I just want to run down the options available re improving the OE suspension.
Initially I want to concentrate on the front end but I realise the rear shock is equally important and I’ll deal with that once the front is improved.
I’ve had my VTR just over a week now and while I like the bike its stock suspension does leave a little to be desired, the forks appear under sprung and bottom out easily, the bike is difficult to turn and doesn’t want to hold a tight line, I’ve raised the rear end with a 5mm spacer on the damper mount, this as improved the turn in the trade off is a small (acceptable) loss of stability, I fiddled with the preload and damper settings this as improved things a bit but I don’t seem to be able get enough static sag, beef the preload up to lose the bottoming out and there’s not enough sag, set the sag at 30mm and it bottoms out, new springs required, the damper setting are no real help either increase compression (droop) and the rebound increases to much.
So what are the options ?
Retaining the std forks means replacement springs and oil , springs tend to be around £90 (Ohlins, Hyperpro, WP, Wirth, Race Tech) although I did find Hagon at £60 but I think I rather go with one of the others listed.
As anyone any preference ?

Next is damping, I know it’s possible to re-valve the forks, but I’ve read about DIY mod to the damper rod that basically involves grinding off a ‘step’ on the tapered end, this I believe allows the increase of the compression damping while limiting the increase in rebound, as anyone tried this ? or is the best option to re-valve.

The other option is to replace the front end, am I right in thinking a ‘96/7 Fireblade front end is a relatively easy fit? Is thre any other front end that’s a straight forward fit?
I’m guessing I’d need forks, yokes, wheel spindle /spacers, and bars, is this all I’d need or am I missing something?
Once I’ve gone to all the trouble bolting on a ‘Blade front end is it going to give me a worthwhile improvement or am I going to have change the oil wt or springs to really make it worth while?

I’m sure many forum users have considered / implemented the above options and while I realise bike riding /handling is very subjective some informed opinions would be most welcome.

[tony.mon]

Ask Roger at Revolution.
He'll tell you the same as he's told all of us; that even with a Blade front end you'll still need to have work done changing the damping and springs/oil.

I fitted some Hyperpro for a member the other week and was quite impressed, they came with 7.5 wt oil of good quality.

[budd]

Ask Roger at Revolution.
He'll tell you the same as he's told all of us; that even with a Blade front end you'll still need to have work done changing the damping and springs/oil.

I fitted some Hyperpro for a member the other week and was quite impressed, they came with 7.5 wt oil of good quality.

I did wander about the blade forks, I'm sure they are a improvement over std simply because of the seperate damping adjustment, but it would have surprised me if they were fit and forget, after all they are from another machine so some fettling to get them perfect is to be expected.

I've read good things about the Hyperpro springs in this application, they are progressive right? are all the aftermarket springs progressive or are some a single rate? and how do the 2 compare? pros and cons. Looking at costs a springs and oil job would be costing around £100 (more with non DIY damper mods),
So the more I look at it the more I'm tempted by the Fireblade front end, judging from prices on our favorite auction site it should be possible to do the conversion for around £200, it doesn't appear to be much of a job to actually fit it so assuming the used kit is in good condition £200(ish) buys a much improved front end with potential to be even better with tweaks AND a leaves a spare set of VTR forks to either sell on to re-coupe some of the Fireblade forks out lay or simply to keep as spares.