pre road trip, also fitted some stiffer springs in the front forks. well, i´d bought mine second hand, with about 19,000 on the clock, nearly 10 years old as well. even tho the guy i bought it from had a service history for the life of the bike, was clear he wasn´t too much of a fiddler (well, not a bad thing really i guess!) and the front end tended to feel rather soft when pushed thru bumpy corners, so while the forks were out for the customary oil change, thought what the hell and slid in some uprated springs - 10% or so over stock...sourced them from a firm in south west england, and the price was right - less than £40 for the pair! and the diffence was instantly noticeable. now that soft front end feels rock solid, and no wallowing thru bends either, vast improvement..highly recommended take it easy out there - it´s a jungle