SUSPENSION DAY -- Sat. May 4th and Sun. May 5th, 2002

[Chuck]

SUSPENSION WEEKEND
Dates: Saturday, May 4th & Sunday, May 5th, 2002
Time: 9AM-12PM
Place: Motomarket, Rt. 2A/119 (481 Great Road) Acton, MA
RSVP appreciated

In the parking lot we can do front and rear preload (static sag) setup and get everyone's bikes set to factory stock settings (or whatever starting point you'd like). For those with steering dampers and adjustable length rear shocks, we can adjust these too. [we should be done with these adjustments around 10:30AM and will leave MM then].

After those adjustments have been made we will need to find a road that has small and large bumps as well as tight and open turns. (Basically a twisty shitty backroad). The best such road is Rt. 62 through Hubbardston, MA. (although it's pretty far from MM) It reallllly sucks!!! I think this is the worst road in the state. Rt. 27 through Acton was lousy for a while, but they repaved it (not good for our suspension setup needs). Let me know if you know a suitable road closer to MM than Hubbardston. We will adjust front and rear compression and rebound settings while taking notes and making runs back and forth on the selected road.

Make sure to get your tires properly inflated prior to starting the suspension tuning. I run 32 front 34 rear in my Dunlop 207RR's. Pressures higher than 36psi might make the tire last longer, but do nothing for ride comfort or contact patch maximization, so reconsider running pressures that high if you do.

Please bring:

your tool kit (since you may need specific wrenches and sockets to adjust your particular components)

your owner's manual (so your bike can be initially set to stock factory settings)

Properly inflated tires (hopefully they aren't down to the cords)

A full tank of gas (this will alleviate the need for you to bring a tankbag full of junk and will get the preload set to proper weight-bearing).

Your NORMAL riding gear. (Again, so that preload is set to proper weight-bearing).

There will be hand-outs for your to take home with you so you can tweek the fine tuning with proper guidance any time you'd like. : )

Finally, please RSVP if you are planning on attending this event(and on what day), since I need to get an estimate of how many hand-outs to print out.

-------------------------
Chuck
2002 Ducati 998S Bostrom

[Cooter]

Count me in for Saturday.
Thanks in advance.

[oreo_n2]

wow!
i will try my best to be there on time. If i cant make it though i will let you know ahead of time.

sounds like quite the workshop, i cant wait.

[GadgettR1]

Bummer I'm working Sat and Sun is the blessing of the bikes....

[benVFR]

I'll be there.

Not that my bike has any adjustments other than rear preload, but it sounds interesting and I need some bike therapy.

I also wouldn't mind if someone could help me check the sag so I'd know what I should do to my suspension if I decide to change the fork oil and/or springs.

Ben

[Degsy]

Chuck, I will try my hardest to be there. The race bike is very well set up, but the RC51 could do with some tweaking.

degsy

[SilverSurfer]

Chuck, I can be there on Sunday. Has there been ANY interest for Sunday?

[RevHappy]

Chuck, I can be there on Sunday. Has there been ANY interest for Sunday?

Not If you show interest teehee!

[Chuck]

So far about 15 people for Saturday and 5-6 people for Sunday.

Chuck
'02 Duc 998S Bostrom

[SilverSurfer]

Chuck,
Thanks for doing this, it was very helpful. Perfect example of someone giving back to the riding community.