| Author | Message | ||
     Tbowdre |
probably a KV issue but this place gets so much traffic I cant resist. 2 questions 1)what air preasure are people runnin their pirelli diablos? 2) Im looking for a bit quicker "turn in" when cornering. increasing preload one step from factory recommedations helped but Im thinking I might want more so my question is what kind of results have people felt from dropping the forks in the triple clamp a bit? suggestions? thanks | ||
| No_rice |
i run 32.5 in both, but most people seem to run a bit more, like 34 front, 36 rear. as far as moving there forks in the tree's, i wouldnt do it personally, people do, just not me. i ride to hard to put some strain on the frontend and have a fork shove through my head when it slips in the tree. | ||
| Pwnzor |
The thread's title is a bit misleading... I run 36# front and rear, but I'm riding on Metzeler Roadtec Z6 tires. Air pressure, like suspension adjustments, are very personal. According to your own weight and riding style. Just gotta keep dialing on it till you get it right for you. As my rear tire wears a bit, I tend to drop the pressure down to about 34#. $0.02 | ||
| Tbowdre |
sorry to confuse people with the title...? definitly not going to lower the front end. after more reading it seems I need to go back to different tire preasure front to rear. such a minor adjustment! ever get the feeling every ride is a test? | ||
| Slaughter |
In a way, every ride IS a test!! The most valuable item in your toolbox is a notebook - tire pressures, suspension settings and road conditions/temperatures! If your ONLY concern is handling and turning, you will definitely want to set the pressures down lower on the Diablos but you will give up nearly half your rubber life going down to about 30psi though you will improve your traction and handling dramatically. If you don't mind the poor wear characteristics, the Diablo do pretty well with 30 at each end for starting pressures. The factory will never tell you to run lower pressures because of the bad wear characteristics but the Diablo, Diablo Corsa both do very well starting about 30psi The manual's suggestions for suspension settings are only a guide for starting out. The only thing you MUST do is set your preload properly BEFORE messing with damping. The best way to measure preload is to do it directly - there are discussions somewhere around here on all that. The adjustments using the lines on the forks are only going to get you close. You need about 35mm sag in front, 25-30 in the rear. Do not increase damping too much. That's a common mistake. If you wanted to really get into it, buy "Suspension for Mortals" from Traxxion Dynamics. An excellent guide on setting up a bike's suspension and troubleshooting handling issues. Also, ask an experienced friend to follow you and observe the suspension response. I should add that the XB is sensitive to body position. You might try turning in with a butt cheek off the saddle or if you're REALLY pushing it, 2 cheeks. I'm not kidding, it can help (assuming the suspension is already setup properly) - I'm NOT - REPEAT NOT talking knee dragging - just weight shifting. (Message edited by slaughter on November 12, 2006) | ||
| Rsh |
The Pirelli site recommends 2.5 bar front and 2.6 bar rear which comes within less than a half pound difference to what the Buell manual states depending on what altitude your at. As far as quickening up the steering, since you already changed the rear preload up a notch the manual suggests removing a line of preload at the front or you can go with the info from the Shaun Higbee table. Here is a link to the knowledge vault that covers this info: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/107725.html?1159597961 | ||
| Tigerbythetail |
hi.............Tbowdre.........another way to get the bike to turn in quicker is to reduce the mass of the primary sprocket (less mass = less gyro momentum = easier turning). You do not have to go as far as changing it to the Aluminum part from Revolution, but it certainly helps to machine the front sprocket to lighten it (1 Kg lighter can easily be achieved). This modification does cost you very little and is effective. tiger | ||
| Surveyor |
I should add that the XB is sensitive to body position I think this is an understatement, in my experience unless you are fairly radical with your body positioning it's hard to get the best out of the XB chassis. I tried to speed up the steering by dropping the front end but I found it made the bike unstable so I reverted to the stock position and modified my riding technique -problem is its hard work and hard on your leathers/knee sliders but it's worth it as the XB has got to be the best cornering bike in the world and the ground clearance is great. | ||
| Tbowdre |
different front sproket! thats a new one, hmm interesting. yep I notice a difference (improvement) with a cheek hanging off... maybe its time to get a little more active in the seat! thanks for all the great replys.... and links! todd | ||
| Slaughter |
I have actually RAISED the front end and move off the bike more when setting up the turn. I found that under hard braking, the front just got really skittish when the steering angles got REALLY steep when the forks compressed. Surveyor is also very right. Ground clearance is great! I can't believe the people spending $400 and more for "rearsets" when the stock XB9-R & 12-R foot position will rarely have you dragging your toes even racing. | ||
| Tigerbythetail |
hi..............as long as you ride this bike with the D208 it behaves like a pig. When you look at your rear tire what do you see?................30,20,10,5 mm rim of "virginity" at the edges?......... Put the Michelin Pilot Power or Metzler Road Attack on and you get significantly improved handling at an instant. The majority of people I see show too little commitment. Brake and push the bloody thing into the corner smoothly. Make it stick. As long as you shift your bum early enough it stays quite cam even under heavy breaking provided your preload is set correctly. But before you do the hanging of stuff your tire should show use right up to the edge.................when you do the hanging of before you manage to achieve this it kinda looks cool but it ain't fast. Touching the road with the knee ain't it........the road comes to the knee automatically and that is when it really starts to feel great. All of this is possible with a pretty standard XB and a decent set of tires. tiger |
