99Birdman

I'm no suspension expert but, according to Maxx at Traxxion Dynamics, if you are having trouble entering the turn, it has to do with the front suspension. Exiting the turn will generally be rear setup. There are a couple of reasons for running wide on the exit, both generally associated with rear end "squat". Basically, the rear is settling when power is applied and causing the front to lighten and increase trail. Either the swing arm angle is too shallow, which you can work on by increasing your rear shock length by 3-4mm at a time, or you can add some compression damping. If you've lowered the front by moving the forks up in the trees, you have effectively decreased the swing arm angle (this is why it lowering the front isn't the same as increasing the length of the rear shock or adding spacers on a stock suspension). First thing I'd try is dialing in a couple of clicks of compression damping. If that doesn't help, return the damping setting and try increasing rear shock length. Take notes and try to use the same turns for comparison. Just my .02 BTW - 2 up will definitely increase rear squat so that would explain alot (I assume you adjusted spring preload to get correct sag when 2 up).

FWIW - I went through the same thought process when my '99 RR failed. I went with the R1 unit with the Honda as a backup for trips. The R1 regulates to a lower voltage (about 13.8 vs 14+ for the stock RR) which puts less stress on the rest of the electrics. I wanted to deal with the splicing while in the garage (instead of on the road), so I spliced the stock connector to the R1 RR. That way, if I have to use the Honda RR as a backup on the road, I don't have to deal with splicing or rework in the field - it's simply plug and play.

Agree with Brett. Done all of the above and the most time will be spent on r/r the forks which you need to do to get the head bearings done and to change fork oil properly (getting the torque settings on the lower triple can be a PITA because of clearance). Using a vacuum bleeder for the brakes will speed things up a bit. You can do 1,2,6,7,8 in 1-2 hours. 3,4,5 are the time consumers.

Here ya go: Charging System Trouble Shoooting Guide

Great explaination and procedure here: Suspension Setup Guidelines That said, I've found I can do it fairly closely myself without additional hands. For rear sag, tie a string to the swing arm at the axle and place a piece of tape on the rear cowl directly above where you tied the string. With the bike on the center stand, mark the string where it meets the tape on the cowl. Take the bike off the center stand and, while sitting on the bike (only lightly touch toes to maintain balance), pull the string tight and hold with your fingers where it meets the tape. Get off the bike and mark where you are holding, then measure between the original mark and the new one to get rider sag. Admittedly, this is less accurate than having someone hold the bike while you sit on it and someone else measures the distance but, hey, if you're by yourself ya gotta improvise. For the front, measure the distance from the top of the lower fork leg to the lower triple clamp while the bike is on the center stand. Take the bike off the centerstand and lightly tie a zip tie around the fork above the lower leg. Sit on the bike and allow the suspension to compress. Once off the bike, measure the distance from the lower leg to where the zip tie ended up with the fork compressed to get front sag. Again, not nearly as accurate as using multiple people but, it has worked to get me very close.

The guy who reworked my forks (Dan Kyle) recommended 25-30mm rear, 35-40mm front. Of course, whether the static sag (without rider) is correct will make a big difference (the combination will determine whether you have the correct spring rate). IIRC - rear should be 0-5mm without rider. I didn't ask about static sag on the forks since I was having him respring them for my weight anyway. FWIW - the fact that you have it shimmed will make no difference in what the sag should be.

+1 and FWIW - I had no problem at all routing the hose directly from the shock around the subframe and attaching the reservoir to the subframe under the grab handle on the left. I have to remove the seat to adjust the damping but it's not like you do that every day. Used the stock mounting spacers and clamps sent with the shock.

I've heard both - though probably leaning more toward the "cooler" than the "performance" side of things. Something along the lines of better heat dispertion, etc. I'm sure there are others that can explain it in much better detail, but that's my understanding. Cheers, Kevin I think they look tits but, the guys on the suspension forum don't seem too impressed: Wave Rotor discussion They seem to know their stuff (at least as far as suspension is concerned). Both Jim Lindemann and Dan Kyle are regular contributors.

I've found that the length of my rides make more difference than the type of riding I do. My normal commute is about 7 miles with some surface streets and if that is all the riding I do on a tank of gas, I get about 31-32 mpg. Probably because I spend a significant amount of gas at startup and idling at lights etc., even if I baby the throttle. OTOH - if I ride hard for a couple of hours on the weekend, twisties etc., I'll get 34-35. I imagine if most of my riding was distance, I could get in the high 30's or better. FWIW - may sound crazy but, my milage went up almost 10% when I took off the Heli bars and put back on the stockers. I was really looking for better cornering but apparently, at about 6', the Heli bars put me more up into the wind and less aerodynamic. I'm using a MagicalRacing double bouble screen. It may be possible that your height may have as much effect on mileage as weight.

Both are very highly regarded in the performance and suspension community. They will take your forks and revalve/shim them, polish parts to reduce stiction, and spring them for your weight and riding style. I ordered my Penske shock from Jim Lindemann and had Kyle rework the forks (mainly because he was cheaper the Lindemann). Both do great work. Both will spend whatever time you need on the phone to make sure they understand what you need and you understand what they will do. Dan Kyle Lindemann Engineering If you do a search you'll find both come very highly recommended.

If you don't want to pop for the Traxxion cartridges, I'd strongly recommend you send them off to someone like Dan Kyle or Jim Lindemann and have them revalved as well as sprung for your weight. A lot will depend on how much you weigh. Personally I didn't see much difference fron simply changing oil and springs, probably because I'm close to the weight the bike seemed to like already. The fork rework, OTOH, is like night and day.

Jeff (Byrdman) has done an outstanding job of integrating 'Busa forks on his. Front end swap thread Plus, as he's said, the Busa forks are setup to carry a bike of about the same weight as the BB.

Could be wrong but, I believe that's because the factory bolts come with a locking compund on the threads which they want you to have. Just add a little blue Loctite and you'll be fine. At least it's worked for me through several remove and replace the last couple of years.

FWIW - I've been running the stock bulbs behind the smoked lens'. They are plenty bright for turn signals and I prefer the slightly less bright effect for running lights. I can also turn off my HID's and still have white "daylight running lights". I know, makes me less visible, but cagers here in Cali don't see me anyway.

Don't need one. You only have to remove all the preload from the spring and you can access the retainer at the bottom of the shock. Presto, old spring off - new spring on. No special tools required.

Here's a good write uo on the R1 swap. I believe the R1 is a direct wire for wire matchup with a carbed 'Bird except that Yamaha uses white wires where Honda uses Yellow Swapping an R1 Rectifier to the Blackbird

I ordered mine from Lindemann. When I found the incorrect shock this weekend, I emailed both Lindemann and Penske since I know Lindemann orders the shock shipped from Penske built to his spec. Received an email back from Penske first thing this morning. They are sending me a new spring overnight express and just told me to send back the one I have after I get it exchanged. Overall, a very positive customer service response. I assume Lindmann called Penske this morning and found out they were dealing with the problem. Prior to purchasing the shock, I had several conversations with Jim Lindemann regarding what he would suggest for the type of riding I did, Great guy and very helpful.

Not yet. I checked the shock over before installing and found the spring had "1200" painted on it. Emailed Penske, and they said it should be a "1000". Hopefully, they will overnight a "1000" to me so I can get it installed before this weekend. I'll keep you posted.

Just my personal experience and I'm sure some may disagree: If your weight is more than 180, you will probably see a big improvment from just changing your fork springs and oil (cheapest mod). I weigh about 170 and didn't see a big difference in the front end from just changing springs (changed at about the same milage your at). Some change but, when I had the valving rework, then it was night and day (cost $440 including new spring,oil etc.). Most have said the biggest change comes from a different shock but it's also the most espensive. Can't comment on that yet as I'm in the process of installing the shock. YMMV.

FWIW - as far as forks go, I couldn't afford the Traxxion cartridges right now so, I sent mine off to Dan Kyle for rework. Just got them back on today and it is incredible the difference it makes. Soaks up the little bumps much better but signigicanly reduced the dive under braking as well as just feeling more planted over all. Haven't had a chance to try them in the twisties yet since I'm now tearing it down to mount the Penske.

Lindemann Engineeering has them for $715 set up for your weight and riding style. Plus Jim is a great guy to work with. Lindemann Suspensions Is that the 8981? It didn't say on their web site. Also, does it have ride height adjustment too? And how important is it that it doesn't have high-speed compression/rebound? Thanks. It is the 8981 with ride height adjustment. Personally, if your not a suspension super expert (I'm not), I think the lack of high speed compression (doesn't effect rebound) adjustment is negligible at most, particularly since the shock comes valved for your weight and most of us aren't racing these bikes anyway. Others may chime in. If you do a search, everyone with this shock seems happy with it. A couple of people said they preffered it over the Ohlin's IIRC. I just got mine this week and the workmanship is excellent.

Lindemann Engineeering has them for $715 set up for your weight and riding style. Plus Jim is a great guy to work with. Lindemann Suspensions

Not being able to affford the Traxxion cartidges for my forks, I shipped them to Dan Kyle to have them reworked. If you're not familiar with who Dan is, do a search here but he is highly respected in the perormance community. He has been highly recommended by sevearl board members who have worked with him in the past. I just spent about 45 minute talking with Dan about suspension in general and our forks specifically and he pointed out several things which seem to run counter to the conventional wisdom I have seen: The stock CBR1100XX forks are very undersprung and underdampenned. I know the general thoughts have been that they are overdamppened but he says that is not the case. He believes Honda and most other manufacturers rely on too soft a spring with too much preload (effectively creating a stiffer spring with less travel) and too heavy weight of oil. The stock spring is a .92kg and very mildly progressive (as opposed to the .89 most of us thought it to be). This is based on multiple measurements he has taken with a calibrated measurement tool. His put in an Ohlins spring equivalent to a .97kg for my weight (170-175). This is interesting since the spring recommended by Wilburs in the group buy was a .9kg which means I actually went softer. Add to that, the fact that I used the recommended oil weight of 2.5 and he said my oil looked terrrible and might as well have been water (this after less than 2000 miles). He also recommend as sag range of between 35mm-50mm (mine are set at 40mm). 30-35mm is way to little he feels. Another interesting point he made was that riding 2 up or with alot of luggage frequently would actually call for softer fork springs rather than stiffer due to the location of the passenger above or behind the rear axle which actually takes weight off the front end and causes stiff springs to be topped out often. As far as the rear, he said the stock springs are not bad, but the linkage is designed to accomodate, as much as possible, the fact that Honda could not anticipate the weight of the rider and uses way too much preload to achieve proper sag. They rely on a very progressive linkage to achieve close spring rates at extremes of suspension travel. For a lot of twisty riding, a less progressive, more linear linkage would be better. While he has used Blackbird linkages on F4's in the past, he couldn't, offhand, recommend a swap that would improve ours. In general, Dan is a great guy to do business with and he will spend as much time as you need to make sure you understand what he does to the forks (from polishing components to changes to shim stacks). I shipped mine to him on Monday and will have them back Friday (we're both in California but he turns them around in 1 day). Total cost was $440 including Ohlins springs plus shipping. Add the Penske shock comming in tomorrow and I'm ready for track day next weekend.

Stock forks to date? Maybe I'm misinterpreting what you're saying... how are "setting" sag on these? Swapping out different spacers, or..... :icon_think: When I installed the Wilburs springs, I cut the spacers to give me between 30-35mm sag. Ended up with about 34mm. Stock forks other than WIlburs 1.0 springs and 2.5wt oil. He also asked how Wilburs rated their springs (kg. or Nm.) Isaid I thought it was Kg. At my weight, he suggested a 900 spring which he said would be about a .97 if measured in Kg. Wasn't the stock spring a .95 Kg?

I've been running about 34mm sag on my forks since installing the Wilburs springs. I am preparing to send the forks off to Dan Kyle for rework and was talking to him on the phone today to get everything worked out as to what he would be doing. The topic of sag came up and he said 35 was way to little and recommended 40mm. Is anyone running this much sag? I know Dan knows his stuff and many on here swear by his work