| Author | Message | ||
     Beachbuell |
I just replaced the stock Dunlops with some Pirellis and man does the bike handle different. More noticeable in the front wheel, seems it does not steer as fast. I'll wait till I get the Pirellis broken in, but it seems a suspension set-up change may be needed. Anyone else experience a change in suspension/front wheel handling when putting new rubber on? | ||
| Eat_a_duc |
Yup... almost every time and maybe its just me but it seems that some tires have different characteristics according to their shape and compound. I have always had to tweak a little when putting some different treads on. | ||
| Tpoppa |
Different tires have different profiles, some taller than others. When I moved from the 207's to the Metz Z6 my steering was WAY too sensitive ( due to the taller Z6 rear) I had to reduce rear preload to compensate. | ||
| Donutclub |
These bikes are very sensitive to minute changes in the geometry (ie:tire dimensions. Try the below to improve corning quickness: Adjust the front preload to show an additional line (turn counterclock wise). or Increase the rear preload by one position. Basically, your trying to decrease the front height or increase the rear height. I usually try to not monkey with the rear, because it will make for a harsher ride. | ||
| Tunes |
I just spooned on a set of Michelin Pilot Roads. Bike handles MUCH better than the Dunlops. Didn't have to change the suspension setup either. Just lucky I guess. | ||
| Slaughter |
I'd stay away from changing suspension settings until you've really ridden the bike at a constant (and proper) tire pressure through the same turns a bunch of times paying close attention to how it turns in, (if you're comfortable trail braking) how it turns in under braking and how it exits under power. Don't plan to make changes until/unless you have a definite REASON for the changes. DO NOT make more than one change to your suspension at a time - and by changes, I ALSO mean tire pressure. You'll just confuse yourself if you change more than one thing at a time. If you change both tire pressure AND preload and then go for a test-ride, you might notice changes but won't be able to say for sure where they came from. Changing preload isn't always the best way to increase/decrease ride height to compensate for different tire geometry because you are not just changing the geometry of the bike but are also changing the way the suspension responds Each tire has a different "personality" and just because it's different doesn't always mean that it's worse. We all tend to instinctively compensate for the way the bike handles and you'll definitely notice a new tire if you're used to a set of tires after a couple thousand miles! You don't have to wait to "break in" a set of tires more than a couple dozen miles before you test for suspension settings. The tire is going to be changing as it wears. Oh - and the bad news - you can use up a set of tires by the time you really feel you have a totally setup suspension. You can get a kinda/sorta "feel" for how a tire/suspension combo is working but you really need a track day or find a road with isolated, predictable and consistent set of turns you can use for repeated runs one after the other - same day, same conditions, same temperatures with suspension and tires warmed up (damping changes as the oil warms up in the forks/shock. This is actually more fun to tune a suspension than tuning an engine but the basic list of things to consider (probably pretty obvious that I've got too much time on my hands today) and it pays to take notes of your choices and settings for the following: Tire Choice Tire Pressure Front Preload Front Compression Damping Front Rebound Damping Rear Preload Rear Compression Damping Rear Rebound Damping Note: you can also kinda/sorta adjust front ride height (by sliding the forks up/down in the triple clamps - which also changes the trail. Aftermarket shocks such as Penske, Ohlins, Works also have ride height adjustment (and also in Penske and Ohlins can add high speed and low speed damping adjustments too!) Gotta go get some lunch - I'm stuck out of town this weekend with too much time on my hands. I've got some articles that I've used for suspension setup guidelines that I'd be glad to email if you wanted them. PM me through my profile here and I can send you the articles. They're full of really good information. |
