[cfaddict]

didnt know where else to post this, but it made such an impression on me today I had to share.

today I was riding along a regular road that has a nice tight off ramp for lack of a better description....its a down hill right hand 180* curve that has a speed limit of 25mph....

anywho earlier in the day I felt like i got the shaft and stuck behind a 15mph cager and idled down the same curve with a feeling that I got screwed out of a few seconds of g-forces and fun...

fast forward a few hours and I find myself heading towards the same curve at a healthy 50ish mph with no traffic at all...and thought.. FINALLY.. I can just dip in and slide down the little ramp with some steam and lean angle!...

well it turned out I was moving a little quicker than I anticipated and felt the "oh shit I am going wide" feeling... I muscled the bike down lower (literally..I even grunted) and felt plenty of grip that I wasnt expecting to still be there...and kept the throttle steady so not do disturb the grip at all... and ended up with a grin on my face and a..."1 more time!" feeling...however... (enter the question)

I did notice the front feeling like it was wandering a bit...a little wagging left/right as I was working on holding my line...which I have felt other times while I was on the gas hard comming out of other corners. would this be corrected with any compression/rebound adjustments? they are set pretty well as directed by the 08 owners manual (sag is setup nicely though)...or do I just need to work on being a bit more smooth?

if I hadnt done something similar back in 2002 on my f4i where i did go too wide..hit the curb and ended up dismounting and trying to slide/run instead of fall on the grass.... I probably would have hit the brakes...stood the bike up and ended up wadding it up right there..that was a good lesson learned for sure!

 

[jpracing39]

Dude, I am going to answer this because its been a while and no one else has offered any advice for you. First and foremost the street is NOT your personal test track. Do yourself and the bodywork on that nice 08 a favor and try not to diagnose suspension issues from street riding. The variables are many:
Debris/substance (ie. oil or diesel) on the road
Your tire pressure
The awful recommended settings from the factory
Your body position...etc...etc
Do yourself a favor, relax on the road. Expect the unexpected when it comes to on and off ramps (why do you think all those skid marks are there?!)
Find someone to professionally set up your suspension (the stock suspension is very good no matter what ANYONE says) save your money for a track day and really enjoy the handling of your motorcycle in a safe, controlled environment. Good Luck!

 

[THEJMAN]

fuck that everywhere is a race track some of you bitches need to man up and ride as for your encounter on your bike sometimes it takes that for you to realize how far you can lean that bike you should be able to drag the bank sensors before you need to worrie about anything

 

[jpracing39]

fuck that everywhere is a race track some of you bitches need to man up and ride as for your encounter on your bike sometimes it takes that for you to realize how far you can lean that bike you should be able to drag the bank sensors before you need to worrie about anything

Wow..okay, I stand corrected! Apparently THEJMAN has all the answers for everyone riding out there. In fact, he spends so much time "dragging the bank sensors" that he doesn't have time for proper grammer or punctuation. Quality advice, people. :th_SmlyROFL:

 

[ant...]

Im with THEJMAN to an extent. Its TT time here and you dont get good a racing the north west 200 or the isle of man by sticking to the track. IMO cfaddict was using some caution by running a road he knew, which was one way, empty as far as he could see, plus it was free from pedestrians.

Saying that, i dont know how the hell you would start to fine tune your suspension without doing laps on a track.

 

[jpracing39]

That's my point exactly...why "fine tune" your suspension for one incident on one corner, on a freeway! Makes no sense....however, lets keep in mind that the NW200 and the IOM are racetracks...they are just on closed highways and roads, and they ARE monitored and swept and are 99% clear of debris and other issues.

This guy said his suspension was set up according to the owners manual, which as we all know....

 

[alexcbr2008]

Hi all.
A friend of mine was having issues with his gsxr1000 so i recommended him to someone i had dealt with previously to setup his bike. I had always been happy with my suspension (standard) but since i was there i decided to get mine done also. I wanted to go with 30mm sag for a track/road setup and he set it up for me. I weigh 85kg so the springs are in the correct range for me(maybe should go 1.00) in the front. As we all know the 08's steer real well but after the correct adjustments and some fine tuning, all i can say its so much better than before and before was very good. Worth spending the small amount of money ($100 Aus). But the most important factor is that you must be able to explain what your feeling or not feeling and let them work there magic. Also as you get quicker (maybe 5 seconds a lap) your suspension will need to be adjusted again to suit.

 

[ericT43]

CF,
As it has already been said...street riding is not nearly intense or rigorous enough to "fine tune" your suspension. In all likelyhood, the wandering front was caused by your inputs to the handlebars during your panic maneuver. A lot (maybe even most) of the handling "problems" that I've seen can be fixed by rider technique. Kenny Roberts went way faster than you or I on comparatively primitive machinery and tires that would be considered worse than crap by today's standards.

Once you get the right springs and sag set, there's not a whole lot of improvement left to be made. The damping is just icing on the cake.

 

[cfaddict]

thanks for the insight.... well I have since attended a track day and got a nice 35ish mph lowside under my belt.... guess I am not wsbk just yet...lol

anyway I am thinking now it was more just input error like mentioned above...I did leard a few things from my experience....now I just cant wait to go back!

 

[1000rr_au]

Just a quick question, if you don't mind...Was your lowside the result of losing the front or the back of the bike?

 

[cfaddict]

front... I used too much track comming out of turn 5 and had poor positioning for my speed going into turn six... so as I was leaning into the turn I trail braked a little too much for a little too long and the front washed out..

 

[1000rr_au]

I'm going to take a guess here, but would it be right to assume that you have trouble changing direction and for most cornering, you need to maintain a reasonable amount of force on the bars to hold any given line? i.e. turning left then need to keep pressure/input on the left bar and failing to do that would let the wheel turn into the corner and force the bike to stand up

 

[Moforose3]

Tune your supension and go have some more fun on the street. Why have a sportbike if your going to ride like a girl? Check out youtube for videos on supension tuning, a user by the name of scudman have some informative videos.

 

[cfaddict]

I'm going to take a guess here, but would it be right to assume that you have trouble changing direction and for most cornering, you need to maintain a reasonable amount of force on the bars to hold any given line? i.e. turning left then need to keep pressure/input on the left bar and failing to do that would let the wheel turn into the corner and force the bike to stand up

yeah to a point...changing directions isnt too difficult but I do have to keep pressure on the bars to keep my line. more so if I am going a bit slower though. but you got it... do you have some suggestions?

 

[Moforose3]

yeah to a point...changing directions isnt too difficult but I do have to keep pressure on the bars to keep my line. more so if I am going a bit slower though. but you got it... do you have some suggestions?

Put weight on the inner footpeg, push in on the tank with the outer knee, shift body/weight to the inside of bike, counter steer. Do this all in a fluid motion to keep the bike as stable as possible.

 

[JM1]

Put weight on the inner footpeg

Why would you do that?
Try deliberately weighting the outer footpeg and see how that feels.

 

[REDrum]

SET YOUR SAG, and the rest will fall in place!!!!

 

[REDrum]

of course in order to set your sag, you'll need the right springs and since your changing springs, might as well upgrade your fluid and valving. Then set your sag and go drag some bank sensors!!!! You'll be alright!!

 

[REDrum]

OH, Yeah, Take a freakin' class on how to corner a motobike!!!! Or read a book written by a reputable racer.

 

[cfaddict]

SET YOUR SAG, and the rest will fall in place!!!!

READ THE FIRST POST... sag is set...

my body weight is farily good for this bike.. so no new springs needed for playing around... if I get more serious then yeah sure..