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suspension upgrade...


erixx

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Hi all XX fans,

I read all the wonderful stories about how marvelous upgrading the suspensions is...

BUT, i only feel the need to upgrade during 1% of my riding time...

and that is on the track, and ONLY IF there are some sh*t bumps in a turn, and that is only at one point at my usual track (Albacete, Spain)

For the rest of my time everything is perfect... Yeah, the roads here in Spain are generally all new and first class...

Note: i have already done a hardening job front and rear (precharge), and elevated the rear and lowered the front a bit.

My XX has 60.000 km on the counter, maybe someday the NEED to change springs etc. will get obvious, but for now.... I'm I missing something or am i just fairly squareheaded? :-)

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Rafagaxx!

Note: for the curious, my bike's website www.geocities.com/erixweb/moto :grin:

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BUT, i only feel the need to upgrade during 1% of my riding time...

That's because you don't know how much better it can be. I said the same thing you did until I did a minor upgrade, and started to realize how much it really needed.

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It really depends how you ride. One thing that might motivate you is put a zip-tie aorund the fork tube and then go slam on the brakes. Then see how close to bottoming the forks are---the last 1/2-1/4 of travel is accomodated by the internal bumpstops---dampening is less than ideal here. Picture yourself hitting a down hill pot hole at full lean---it wont be pretty. Of coure alot of this depends on how much you weigh. Bla, Bla, bla

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hehe, is my english that bad? maybe to much forum reading and not enough good books? excuse me for that...

Back to the subject, i've just send an em-mail to Hyperpro, they offer a 'kombo kit', that is front and rear progressive springs... If i get a good price, maybe i'll fit them.... :roll:

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Erixx, I just become a member of the spanish SuperBlackbird :cool: . It will be nice to have other comments from you guys in Spain, by the way I know the Honda sales director in Barcelona, if you ever need somthing there. I have modified the suspension, use RaceTech products, but there are also some other brands as Ohlins, which I know is really a good brands. See their website www.ohlins.com, there are very useful information there, and if you would like to know about my findings with RaceTech, with pleasure I let you know. :shock:

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It really depends how you ride.

Not really. At last year's meet someone asked me about my suspension mods without even knowing I had done any. He said when he was riding next to me on the freeway his bike was bouncing around while mine was just solid. It's an improvement you can feel everywhere.

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It really depends how you ride.

Not really. At last year's meet someone asked me about my suspension mods without even knowing I had done any. He said when he was riding next to me on the freeway his bike was bouncing around while mine was just solid. It's an improvement you can feel everywhere.

Swampy :) , I have that problem in my rear shock only (Works Shock). What should I adjust to prevent bouncing off my seat? Should I turn the knob or loosen the main spring thingy? As you can tell...I don't have a clue :oops:

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Quote:

It really depends how you ride.

Not really. At last year's meet someone asked me about my suspension mods without even knowing I had done any. He said when he was riding next to me on the freeway his bike was bouncing around while mine was just solid. It's an improvement you can feel everywhere.

This is the very comment by C-Los that sold me on the suspension upgrade. :grin: I went the Racetech route, and it was difference was absolutely unbelievable. :shock: When I was contemplating the mod. I didn't think I was a good enough rider to feel the difference (since I don't drag a knee, but no chicken stripes of course). I actually felt the diff. when I got on my bike and just bobbed the front end up and down, not to mention riding out of the parking lot. The point is, you feel the diff. everywhere, no matter ability. It is similar to golf shafts as no matter your ability, the right flex is imperative.

On my favorite set of twisties there is a certain corner that has a severe bump right in the middle of the perfect line. I used to hate that turn, and now I can hardly remember where it is. When you are at lean, the suspension literally soaks up the bumps. :grin

LE

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I followed a guy at Laguna Seca a few weeks back that was running about 1:48s on a box stock 99 XX. It was kind of funny to watch him as the rear would break loose when he tipped it in on the brakes(linked brakes), had to pass him as I didnt want to get taken out when he went down---BUT- 1:48 is pretty damn fast (about top 25% of typical A group). Granted Laguna Seca is pretty smooth. But the stock suspension can be pushed pretty hard. I am not arguing that it is anything close to optimal---but I can ride mine pretty damn fast thru the twisties with the stock forks---the most freaky thing is hitting bumps at full tilt--the front does tend to skip a tad---as the forks are most likely knocking off the bump stops---but it is doable

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thanks again to the new posts. It's over a week that i wrote to hyperpro without getting an answer... (i already got prices from race-tech: 400 Euros for front springs, rear 'preparation', oil and minor pieces)

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  • 2 weeks later...

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