Thanks for your nice comments fikse and plz do excuse my late reply, been pretty wrapped up with work and other things so not spending much time online recreationally.
Regarding a couple of your questions below I must first say that I'm hopelessly inept mechanically, insofar as skills and knowledge.
While I've been riding for over 30 years it's just a fact of my life I can't change. I know when a bike is working properly or not and can certainly point mechanics in the right direction but that's about where it ends. So I get everything done at local shops here in Thailand. The upside is that it's really really cheap to get stuff done here; the downside is that most local mechanics speak very little or no English and my Thai is lame, so more than half the time I don't know exactly what they do to my bikes or how they do it -- I just can know if something is right or wrong after a few minutes of riding the bike. I know that sounds a bit iffy but it's been working for 12 years I've been here, knock on wood.
So I'm sorry that I can't tell you exactly how they got in the DZR shock but it's in there and works fine, much stronger than the stock, though yes it's A LOT higher (but I have a 36-inch inseam, so no problem) and not sure how much compared to the SV650's (though yes, I'm sure it's softer given the DZR's off-road inclination.
Because the seat height was much higher and was forcing me forward toward the tank too much, I had to have the seat re-done (which I had already made quite higher than stock). So for just $10 I had the seat completely re-scultped recently (into a nice 2 level jobby) and it's just about perfect, but I have to take take it back and have him add a bit more height as he took off too much (making it about normal AX-1 height, which is too short for my long legs). I'll take a pic after I get the seat re-done again soon.
Regarding brake lines, I forgot to mention in my mod list that my master brake cylinder is also not stock, (frankly I'm not sure what bike it's from, a case as per above of little communication with my mechanics, but it works
. But yes you are correct, it's a straight line from the reservoir down to the brake.
The master brake cylinder I have on there now is pretty good, especially with the braided lines and good pads, but I'd like to put on something even stronger -- can anyone recommend something that would work. I asked the guys at one shop if an XR 250 mbc would go on there but they weren't sure and said they'd actually have to get one and try it. Any advice about this would be appreciated.
I'm quite sure the Supertrapp isn't specifically designed for the NX/AX-1, in fact I'm personally not aware of any aftermarket exhaust specifically for these models, though there could be. I'm not sure what bike this Supertrapp was originally designed for, perhaps an XR?? It works good and sounds great but I can't really say for sure I'd recommend it. Frankly since I've had that on, the bikes peformance (I ride it hard like all my bikes) has not been as consistent compared to the stock, though I'm not sure if that's related to the Supertrapp or to not just having the carb properly tuned (which mechanics aren't super great at here compared to back home).
Thx for the advice about the KTM made in India! I've been thinking a bit about getting a new 690, but I'm pretty sure the KTM we'd get in Thailand here would be made in India....And you're right, overall you just can't be Honda quality, I love my little gixxer and Ninja 650 too but at heart I'm a Honda guy.
Good luck with the NX re-build -- it'll be worth it!
Again I'm not Mr. Mechanical but anything general or not too complex I'll be glad to help if I can.