Fork travel

[jeantarrou]

So I had another amazing day at Tony's Razee day, was feeling very comfortable and really really enjoyed myself. What I did notice was that I was only using a little more than half of my available fork travel, but as I said, I felt super comfortable all day long. So, I figure my options are...

1. Don't mess with anything because the bike felt great.
2. Adjust the suspension so I get more travel.
3. Brake harder.

Thoughts?

[theducman]

Matt, first off, it was great to meet you the other day. If you feel comfortable on what you are riding, than why change it. If you do make changes, make sure to record what you do and what you started at.

[loudbeard]

Matt, first off, it was great to meet you the other day. If you feel comfortable on what you are riding, than why change it. If you do make changes, make sure to record what you do and what you started at.

Agree on the second part, not the first. Get a notebook and tabulate all of your changes. Make sure you include tire pressures and general weather conditions. Don't be scared to twist the clickers, just need to know where you're going and where you've been.

[Petorius]

1. Set your sag appropriately or as close as you can get it to a good number. You can Google how to do this, or any of the suspension shops can help. If you can't get both your static sag (rider on bike) and free sag (weight of bike alone) into appropriate ranges by adjusting preload alone, then you may need to consider different springs. Again, google this and it will make more sense. You are basically just setting your starting point at rest in the range of suspension travel (how much travel you have available to absorb bumps vs extend into dips).

2. Brake harder regardless!

[OreoGaborio]

Something tells me if you ask our resident Suspension Guru, Peter Kates the conversation would go something like:

- What's this for, Pete?
*points to zip tie 1/2 way down/up fork leg

- That's there to say "Brake harder, you pussy!"



Ask me how I know

[jeantarrou]

"Brake harder, you pussy!"

I intentionally didn't post this on his subcategory, hoping this thread goes unseen too...

But really, braking is still my weakest skill and probably if done properly would work those forks as they should be.

And about setting the sag, I've done some research on settings other Hyper owners have been happy with and they're all over the map. This, combined with the very long travel of the Hyper's forks (165mm), makes finding a sweet spot trial and error I guess? A lot of recommendations put the static sag at ~45mm, I've got it set at 35 right now.

I downloaded and printed a bunch of suspension setting templates for recording current setting/changes/etc. Next track day (next year ) I'll do some tweaking I guess.

Mike, great to meet and hang out with you too, such an awesome part of track days that your paddock mate becomes your new buddy.

[Paul_E_D]

On long travel forks, I don't think you are looking to use it all. Measure how much travel you did use. 120mm seems to ring a bell as what most roadracing bikes use. You don't need to use it all. (that's what SHE said)!

[Kurlon]

You don't need to use it all. (that's what SHE said)!

Someone's lying in this story...

[TTD]

For trackdays, I would say don't worry about braking harder.

We have enough throttle jockeys as it is.

If I'm not trying to outbrake someone, then I probably brake at 75% on most laps (at the end of the straight). I see lots of riders that go for max acceleration and max braking, only to blow turn 1 in a variety of ways.

I'm not going for a specific lap time, so I'd rather try to nail turn 1 as smoothly and quickly as possible... and that is easier when not max braking.

Anywho... I encourage everyone to get their suspension set for their weight fairly early. It's OK to learn how to ride around some suspension issues, but it's also nice to have one less thing to worry about.

[Rambunctous]

Buy and read Sportbike Suspension Tuning by Andrew Trevitt. Then if the day comes you want GMD to do something you can actually convey to him what you are trying to accomplish. Andrew will give you a methodical approach and he explains things in very simple even I can understand terms.....Doing your suspension tuning here is doing it by committee.

[loudbeard]

I think it needs moar cowbell

[union]

On long travel forks, I don't think you are looking to use it all. Measure how much travel you did use. 120mm seems to ring a bell as what most roadracing bikes use. You don't need to use it all. (that's what SHE said)!

I use about 2/3 on my supermoto where on the R6 I would use 9/10ths

[jeantarrou]

Thanks for all the insight guys, very helpful. At this point I think I'm going to leave the suspension alone, for many of the reasons stated on this thread, and also I was thinking that increasing the travel would also increase the front end dive which was something that was really bothering me on the street until I until I adjusted the forks as they're currently set up.

[Schramm]

Something tells me if you ask our resident Suspension Guru, Peter Kates the conversation would go something like:

- What's this for, Pete?
*points to zip tie 1/2 way down/up fork leg

- That's there to say "Brake harder, you pussy!"



Ask me how I know

Ha, Pete sounds like a cool dude. I'll have to meet him this weekend. I had the opposite at our last round, I was complaining to my tire vendor about front end push. Then he looked at the zip-tie jammed into my axle carrier. My bad :S

[jasnmar]

Sorry to wast your evening new guy.
http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/...0-pk-isms.html

[Schramm]

Sorry to wast your evening new guy.
http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/...0-pk-isms.html

OH man....

[union]

OH man....

It's all in fun. Too bad you missed the real fun years