suspension set up

[STEALTH52]

anyone know of anywhere not too far away from braintree that does suspension set up? want to get it done properly

[SDM]

I would suggest Southern Cross, but they are in Kilburn, London

[stusgsx]

there is a place in bishops stortford, he races bikes and has a rolling road also. he will be doin some work on mine soon

[Perilous]

Darren at MC Tecnics in Stowmarket is about your best bet locally.

http://www.mctechnics.co.uk/

[v8-powered]

Darren at MC Tecnics in Stowmarket is about your best bet locally.

http://www.mctechnics.co.uk/

+1 for MC Technics. Know a good few lads who have had their bikes set up there....

[harriebird]

he did a blinding job on my 748 :grin2

i'm just trying to get the cash together to take my GSXR up to him - althought since i got my 180 back tyre instead of the 190 i'm a lot happier with it :grin2

quickshift, albere had loads of bits done to his CBR400 including fitting a new shock and doing a set up on it, by silverex in braintree. i'm not sure where they are but have heard others say good stuff about them too.

[STEALTH52]

i took my cbr there there for servicing, they are good, i'll bell them tommorrow!

[Lateshift]

Harrie what has changing the section of a tyre got to do with suspension?

It might feel like it tips in quicker given the slightly narrower track of the tyre but it will have nothing to do with the suspension and how the suspension reacts, the tyre still carries the same air pressure so will feel exactly the same ;)

The standard suspension on your bike is too stiff for your weight and you will feel a massive difference once its softened up for you ;)

[Perilous]

Dunno much about Silverex other than on top of the parts it cost me nearly £100 labour to get a new front wheel and mudguard put on a guys CG 125 I reversed over in my van so they either charge a lot or they are the slowest at changing front wheels and mudguards in the known universe.
However that aside, I've heard lots of good reports about them but if your after a proper suspension set up (rather than some one just setting your sags etc, which you can do yourself) then make sure they do actually do that sort of stuff. Mosrt run of the mill bike workshops, however good they are usually have limited knowledge of spring rates, varying air gaps etc etc.
Depends how advanced you want to get but if your thinking of trackdays and stuff too I'd still give MC Technics a ring while you're at it.

[STEALTH52]

it's mainly a confidence thing really and i dont know where to start myself so thought id get it set up properly for my weight etc, it just doesn't feel 100% at the moment & want to get it set up prperly. i'll give them a ring tommorrow.

cheers

[FACESLIDER]

I had mine done at southern cross on saturday, I went in for a new chain and sprockets. When they were done they spent another 15/20 mins setting up my suspension for free,and explaing what to do and what to look for.They droped the forks 2 rings and said that the rear was 15 clicks out. Bike feels lovely now. It used to wobble when going fast round bends, thats all sorted now. Great bunch of blokes down there. It took me about an hour to get there from Brentwood, but I did go through the city:grin2 :grin2

[Lateshift]

it's mainly a confidence thing really and i dont know where to start myself so thought id get it set up properly for my weight etc, it just doesn't feel 100% at the moment & want to get it set up prperly. i'll give them a ring tommorrow.

cheers


First things first, most bikes these days come with a setup that is designed for your average rider, in most cases thats around 10.5 to 11 stone unfortunately.

Secondly if you havent ridden one of these bikes before how do you know its not your riding that is causing the problem? how do you know what to look for in that particular bike?

(these are just comments to get you to start questioning other possibilities and not to knock your experience in any way :) ).

Thirdly get an accurate tyre pressure guage, this in a lot of cases for the average rider sorts stuff out, go by the tyre manufacturers tyre pressure and not the bike (all too often these days people stick to using the sticker on the bike or the manual, which is fine if its the same tyre, but as others found with the 2CT's it can change to something you arent used to) :)

Lastly, the biggest influence on suspension is the sag settings, if they are out, then forget about all the other stuff like oil weights, spring and damping rates, sag sets the bikes geometry for riding, the rest of it sets the comfort and grip levels.

Before you go getting it checked, read an article that actually explains how suspension works and explains the different symptoms of badly setup suspension, without the feedback that you are able to give to a suspension technician all's he/she can do is set it for your weight, it doesnt mean it will be set for your riding style ;)

[Jetski]

Secondly if you havent ridden one of these bikes before how do you know its not your riding that is causing the problem?

Technically speaking - I know ****e all about suspension :grin2

However, I did read, that one of the biggest things that affects suspension is throttle control. Sounds obvious I know and most on here will probably have a good firm grasp of that kind of stuff, but personally, I need a little more help to understand stuff like that :reading

However, like I said, I read that basically, one of the biggest issues with suspension is throttle control. Something that most of us (apparently) aren't aware we are doing necessarily which is based on our instinct to survive, but do, as a survival reaction, is throttle off - which of course loads the front wheel, unsettling the smoothness of the corner.

The throttling off survival reaction is usually just lack of confidence - seeing an unexpected bump, or thinking you might be too wide etc and is usually not necessary apparently as usually keeping gentle throttle actually has a more positive reaction.

Just something else to think about.

[Perilous]

H'mm someone's been reading Twist of the Wrist. :grin2

The Lat and Jet duo:grin2 are right though. The biggest cause of hassle to a bike is the rider.

I recommended Darren because I assumed you were past the basics of sag etc.
That is the diffrence between a suspension specialist and yer average bike shop. Any of them can set the bike's basics up for you but you're much better off to learn that yourself (it's not rocket science) then if you tell him (or her) how you ride etc (they''ll actually ask you the questions) then if you have a basic grasp of it (there's shedloads of articles on the subject) you'll get much more back for your money.

There are about 6 11st 7 riders in SB400 on a similar pace and not one of us runs the same fork settings or spring weight (ie the bit you change for your weight in theory).

[DoodleBug]

There are about 6 11st 7 riders in SB400 and not one of US runs the same fork settings.

You wish!! :)

[Jetski]

H'mm someone's been reading Twist of the Wrist. :grin2

The Lat and Jet duo:grin2 are right though. The biggest cause of hassle to a bike is the rider.


Yes t'is true!

I'd recommend it to anyone :)

[Perilous]

Oi Oi Doodlecrash:grin2 it's actually 11st 5 now if we're gonna split hairs but i like a couple of pounds burger leeway. :grin2

Mind it would have helped if I hadn't of had this years leather's fitted bwefore I got back down to size. Got enough room in the for the parachute now.:grin2

[Lateshift]

[commentators curse mode on]

tsk tsk, the parachute will only be needed to slow the bike down, its a missile!

[/commentators curse mode off]

:D

Although for the first few races you might want to sling a cushion off the sofa down the back just in case, not quite as rigid as a back protector but probably more comfortable ;)

[DoodleBug]

Oi Oi Doodlecrash:grin2 .....

Do you mind, I strongly resemble that remark!! ;)

[Perilous]

It most certainly is for a 400. Embarrased afew 600s on the straight.:grin2
trouble is every one else will be on a missile too.:grin2

Back to the importance of supension basics.

On my first track day at Brands on an early fireblade I'd done nothing to the sag or anything which was bad realy as I knew how but most of my road riding then was two up so I'd got it more for that.

Anyway, in my first couple of sessions I was struggling to get under the minute (mind to put it in perspective as things move on I was shouting at the two MCN instructors to get out of the way from in my crash helmet.) .

As James Cambell Wilson was there (Set Up Suspension, used to do a fair few articles for Superbike etc and was doing Rob Elesmeres supension (front runner) a couple of years back) I though I'd be bone idle and get him to do it. Sags OK but rebound and compression were a bit more difficult without a few sessions.
First thing he did was tip the bike up on its side stand and loosen the steering heads then he set the wheel alignment (most swing arm marks tend to be out except the ZXR 400 funnily enough.
Then once we'd done the sags etc he asked me few questions on what is was doing (Front boucing, rear bouncing, patter pushing wide etc) then set the rebound and compression.
After I'd been out I came in whining because the bike felt slower to which he said "You've just run constant 56s." (You didn't have to hide the stopwatch at track days then:rolleyes: )

So just by setting the basic set up he'd knocked four seconds a lap off.
After that though, as I got faster on track days, the standard suspension on the blade (rear) wasn't up to the job and it used to just overheat and turn it into a pogo stick.

Slightly contradicts what I said about knowing yourself I suppose, but there are.

Further on suspension over power. On a properly set up race RVF 400 I lapped Snetterton (complete with its straights) nearly for seconds faster on the 400 than I could on the Blade on the same day.

[STEALTH52]

Lastly, the biggest influence on suspension is the sag settings, if they are out, then forget about all the other stuff like oil weights, spring and damping rates, sag sets the bikes geometry for riding, the rest of it sets the comfort and grip levels.

righto im going to get the sags set up myself first & see how i go from there, it's all part of the learning curve after all! i've read a couple of articles on it how do i set them up? one for latey i reckon!

[Lateshift]

This lot should give you something to read in the mean time :)

Suspension settings

http://www.sportrider.com/bikes/146_suspension_settings/index8.html

Bike suspension guides

http://www.moto-racing.co.uk/Guides/motorcycleSuspensionSetup.htm#SET%20UP%20BIKE%20TO %20YOUR%20WEIGHT

http://aprilia.rsvmille.home.comcast.net/bikes/suspension_guide.htm

http://www.vtwo.demon.co.uk/firestorm/suspension.htm

http://www.motorcycle.co.uk/articles/suspension/basic_suspension_setup.html


Bear in mind that there is a lot of reading to be done to understand not just how the suspension works but also how it reacts to different inputs, this is where it all starts to get scientific and seem like a black art :)

But its by no means rocket science :)

[harriebird]

Harrie what has changing the section of a tyre got to do with suspension?

It might feel like it tips in quicker given the slightly narrower track of the tyre but it will have nothing to do with the suspension and how the suspension reacts, the tyre still carries the same air pressure so will feel exactly the same ;)

The standard suspension on your bike is too stiff for your weight and you will feel a massive difference once its softened up for you ;)

it doesnt have any effect on the suspension at all, the bike turns in quicker which was what i wasn't totally happy with before.

having felt the difference in my 748, although i am happier with my GSXR now, i know it will feel all the better after darren's attentions have been lavished on it. and given he rides the same bike as his road bike, i have no doubt that it will be absolutely divine once it's done.

at the moment it's a money thing, the bike feels ok, i know it can be better but can't afford to do anything about it. £80+VAT isn't a lot (or wahtever he charges now), but that's a weekend's entry fee at the moment so it's all about priorities!

anyway, it's in parkys still at the moment so it's all academic :grin2