Change the springs, install a cartridge? 150lb rider!

[Amethi]

Hey all,

I'm wondering if it's worth me changing the fork internals, or springs on the OEM fork? I'm 5"10 and weigh 150lb's and find the bike hard on the road.

During the week I ride a GSX-R 750 2008 model and that's lovely great on the road; handles the bumps in the road real well, inspiring confidence, but the BMW is not giving quite the same level of confidence.

I plan on getting in a few trackdays this year, but the bike is by far and away mainly a road bike, used for ride-outs and the like.

The manual says the bike is setup for a 187lb rider, so that's a fair bit more than I weigh.

The suspension has already been setup by a friend who does this for a living, and he said the fork springs will probably be too hard for me as is, but I'm not so sure about that? He thinks I do more track riding than I actually do I think.

I used to have a GSX-R1000 K5 and used to track-day that a lot, and upgraded the suspension to Ohlins R&T and shock and that was significantly better, but obviously doing the same to the BMW is going to cost a lot of money and I don't want to go that far this time, I just want to get a good middle-ground between the bike handling well and not spending too much cash on replacement suspension.

What would you do?

[S1000RR ROB]

replacing the suspension in short will always on any bike be one if not the best mods u can possibly do.........

all that said without implying u haven't tried, really try to dial it in spend a month playing and twizzling all the nobs and writing down how it feels and where the setting are at, i only say this because a lot of blokes complain about suspension and never really give it a go only YOU can make it right for you......

give it a go if u haven't because in truth unless your road racing the suspention on the bm in my opinion is quite good..........

if your an avid track say nutter and are quite fast then cartridges are the way to go, altho id suggest having to setting one for the road one for the track.....

[djhartm]

Originally Posted by S1000RR ROB

replacing the suspension in short will always on any bike be one if not the best mods u can possibly do.........

That's a pretty broad generalization. I see a lot of people here throwing huge sums of money on suspension assuming (incorrectly) it will make their bike handle better 'hands down'

The majority of the suspension upgrades such as FGRT forks are not optimal on the street; they come into their own when the bike is ridden at track speeds, and really, more specifically racing speed.

For the majority of people who spend 80%+ of their time on the street, and they 'know' what their specific suspension issues are, a retune by a competent suspension house is all that is needed and will yield better results.

[Amethi]

Thanks guys. Though to be honest, I've never been one for adjusting suspension. I just don't have the time for that (i.e. to take time to really understand the range and the effect the changes have), so I'll speak to a couple of more suspension outfits and see what they think.

I'm also quite likely to change over to Michelin Power Pure tyres as I've found them to be brilliant on the road with the GSX-R.

[DanQ]

Take it to a track and pay the suspension guy there to try to tune it. Ride it afterward and keep track of what it does or doesn't do. This info will help you to get a builder or tuner to get you a good baseline for you. In my opinion it covers:

• sag - get a baseline that establishes good working geometry for the machine.
• rebound - set the rebound to a point where your chassis can settle and allow you the control and traction you need given a set of conditions.
• compression - set the compression speeds to balance the front ant rear of the chassis so they act similar.
• recheck rebound.

Overly simplified, but it's the basic info tuners will work with to improve the handling on your machine. There are many writeups that you can search for that can help you with these. In my opinion, again, stay away from absolutes. Unless you ride exactly like someone else, and weigh the same as they do, in the same conditions; it's all variable. What you might want to look for is adjustability through the conditions you ride through.

When you better know what you expect or will encounter, you'll make it easier for the pros like Dave Moss, Dan Kyle Graves Motorsports, Traxxion Dynamics or the many other places you can turn to, to help you get the best of what is available for what you need.

[Triple Threat]

Originally Posted by Amethi

The manual says the bike is setup for a 187lb rider, so that's a fair bit more than I weigh....

I weighed 187 lbs when I purchased the bike, now I'm down to 175. Le sigh.

Michael

[Amethi]

Thanks Dan! The weather's really picking up here now, so I need to get a track-day booked in quickly

[AMRRA12]

I;m a HUGHE fan of sorting suspension before you spend even one dollar anywhere else!

That being said its the BEST investment you can ever make for you and your bike, as far as cartridge kits go there are a few choices out there K-tech AK-20, AK-gas, Ohlins 30mm kit and so on


and I must admit I knew very little about the Ohlins 30mm stuff and was only going by what I read and heard from other tuners, but I had a nice phone conversation with Dan Kyle yesterday and he made me a very impressive offer one that I don't think anyone else would do, he said he will set up forks for me and let me race them if I liked anything better he would buy the cartridges back for all the money........ that to me tells me every thing i need to know about them.... sending my forks out this week.

[Amethi]

I hear you AMRRA12! I learnt the hard way when younger by spending loads of money on other flashy things before giving suspension the first look.

I've not modified the BMW yet, beyond some different levers. Suspension is next on my list (and then shortly after the exhaust/bazzaz unit).

I've had the stock suspension set-up for me but am always looking for a bit more feedback from the bike. I just don't feel as much of the road as I do with the GSX-R 750, hence this post, which admittedly, did come out in a bit of a mess.

I've asked the UK Ohlins distributor, Harris Performance for a costing of the 30mm kit as they don't publish prices for it.

Annoyingly, the Ohlins (888 model?) is double the price of the Ohlins shock I bought for the GSX-R 1000! Inflation huh, what a bitch.

[dazoo]

Amethi,

Kais UK will fit the Ohlins cartridge for about a grand, 2-3 day turnaround. Mine go out to them on Monday.

I'm not sure I would go that far for a bike that spends 90% of its time on UK roads, unless you know how to get away with riding very far outside the law! My bike is a track bike though and I think I'll get the confidence I'm lacking in the front from the upgrade.

Good start? Get Colin at 100% to assess your bike at your next track day. He'll start with some base settings and fine tune after every session. You don't tell him you need preload/compression bla bla - you tell him what the bike is doing and he'll know how to fix it. It obviously isn't the level of tuning a top racer would expect, but he has always found improvements in my bikes and will give you your options regarding where to go from there. £45 well spent and at the minute he's doing 2 days support for the price of one.