| Author | Message | ||
     Frinzo |
Has anyone tried the Free Spirits Extra Trail kit on their bike? Wanted to get peoples opinion on it. If no one has tried them yet I may order them and give them a shot.. http://www.freespirits.it/prodotti.php?lang=2&prod _id=300 I have it installed on my XBR and I think it does handle abit better than before. | ||
| Chessm |
seems unnecessary | ||
| Boogiman1981 |
i can tell you this the extra trail mod's like those need to be used with extreme caution and only if you absolutely know that's your specific problem. chances are if you're asking here it's not. nothing personal. | ||
| Jdugger |
Buell race used to sell a 23-degree rake kit, I think. I know it was a common mod on the bikes for racing. | ||
| Chessm |
race bikes also dont have headlights so lets all remove ours as well | ||
| Tsnake |
Im running it now 300km... more stable at high speed, but something haunted me in my head, I can't convince myself about the alignment. I also lowered the forks, I think that's a bad move... anyone know what's the consequence if trail is too much? | ||
| Boogiman1981 |
for specific high speed tracks such as daytona it is helpful to increase the trail a bit. however for tracks suck as infineon it's more of a hindrance than a help. | ||
| Trojan |
Im running it now 300km... more stable at high speed, but something haunted me in my head, I can't convince myself about the alignment. You MUST make sure these are properly aligned when fitting, which is whyt here is a special fiting tool available (you can 'rent' it from us rather than buy it outright). Provided you have the bearing properly aligned then these work very well. I've used them on the XB and they do make the bike a lot more stable at speed and less twitchy, without any loss of directional stability or quickness of steering. In fact it is the same as running a Ulysses frame dimensions on your XBR or 1125 (which is whta we did on our race bike and it worked well!). If you feel the bike is too twitchy and don't want a steering damper this is a good mod. I also lowered the forks, I think that's a bad move... anyone know what's the consequence if trail is too much? If you have lowered the forks through the triple trees in addition to fiting the extra trail kit then you have probably gone too far. Won't do any damage but steering will be much slower and you will raise the front ride height, which could upset cornering and handling. | ||
| Georgehitch17 |
This seems to be exactly what I've been missing! my bike loves to shake its head at high speed and I always have to just let it do its thing! would you guys recommend lowering the forks before trying this? | ||
| Frinzo |
@ chessm, can u explain this statement... "seems unnecessary" I run the extra trail kit on my xb12r and think it does what it says. I feel alot better comin in and out of turns.. and i think this might be better than lowering my forks in the triple trees atm.. i will make the decision this week after ive ridin my 1125r on the NOLA track. | ||
| Albert666 |
i can't say i've ever experienced the symptoms these are designed to cure | ||
| Georgehitch17 |
@albert666 have you ever been doing triple digit speeds on a bumpy surface and have the front end want to wobble almost like the wheel of a shopping cart when you push it fast! lol | ||
| Albert666 |
george, no i haven't, i try not to go triple figures on the queens highways....very often  | ||
| Xodot |
.... Queen's Highways..... it's been years since I've heard that phrase over here - I love the memories it invokes! Back to your regularly scheduled thread | ||
| Nillaice |
i'm pretty happy with my GPR stabilizer. what is the benefit of the trail kit over a stabilizer? | ||
| Rodrob |
Shawn runs a 1deg or .5deg offset in his 1125 DSB bike.1.5deg seems like a lot. | ||
| Tsnake |
thx, trojan, I got my firebolt windscreen from u after a long wait  seriously considering rent the tool or whatever if alignment goes wrong at verification. mechanic checked the alignment with the tool, seems alright... might be a counter effect of too much trail? bike goes left right itself at a certain speed with only engine braking, feels like it has difficulties sometime on "auto correcting" itself, not always, at only at 50kmh, and after reducing the front preload by 1.5 turn, it feels a lot better, still have a little at lower speed than 50kmh, I will say around 25kmh, but much less | ||
| Trojan |
bike goes left right itself at a certain speed with only engine braking, feels like it has difficulties sometime on "auto correcting" itself, not always, at only at 50kmh, and after reducing the front preload by 1.5 turn, it feels a lot better, still have a little at lower speed than 50kmh, I will say around 25kmh, but much less Check your tyre pressures and tyre wear. Front tyre pressures seem to be pretty critical on all the short wheelbase XB/1125 chassis and can cause all sorts of strange handling issues and 'tracking' across tarmc lines etc. Also check that the fork clamps are tight on the triple trees. This may seem strange to check, but I have seen some that are only hand tight!! The bearing kit should make the bike more stable regardless of speed, so I think your low speed handling issue may be unrelated. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
This seems pretty excessive, but it may be an improvement nonetheless. I run my fork tubes flush with the triple and am happy with the results--the bike seems more stable and easier to turn, which seems counter-intuitive, but it's the end result. | ||
| Tsnake |
update: lowered triples, lower than oem, retorque bolts, feel ok!! low and stable seems my problem was due to excessive trail and front end too high. I do have a rear tire pressure problem... thx, trojan. | ||
| Frinzo |
Question, what is the rake at roughly when the forks are made flush with the top triple tree? | ||
| Clutchless |
+1 frinzo I took the time to check into the adjustments possible with the stock set up. Raising the triple trees on the forks (making the forks "longer") seems to have the effect of slower turning....lower forks will turn faster. or as it seems to me. make sure you adjust this last on your suspension setup as going through the normal settings and working with the shawn higabee (s.p.?) settings will put the suspension in the right direction. Checking your steering head adjustment and then the length of your fork, this should stop the wiggle you feel, or at least help it. Dont setup your bike for speeds your dont acheive as well. Even at the track, if you dont get over 120mph on your local circuts, I wouldnt predict those speeds with suspension. why you would want to put that object on your bike is beyond me. (Message edited by clutchless on June 17, 2012) | ||
| Jdugger |
> Question, what is the rake at roughly when > the forks are made flush with the top triple tree? Depends on the rear ride height, rear tire, preload & rider weight... | ||
| Tsnake |
now I feel good on the bike, except a little hard on front lowered triple 1cm, front preload 4,5 turns, rear at 6, I weight near 90kg |
