Suspenders, confusing init?

[martybabe]

I have recently acquired a GSX1400 Suzuki and I gotta say I'm pretty happy with it but...

It blew around like a scooter in a gale in the slightest of breezes.Clearly not right for such a big heavy naked bike. I checked the head races ,tyre pressures etc to no avail, so I decided it must be the tyres and looked forward to the day they needed changing.

In the meantime (beyond) gave me some suspension settings to get the most from the 14 in the twisties ,as this scoot comes from the factory a bit on the squidgy side. I dialed the settings in yesterday but it was pissin down so I took her out this arvo.

Here's the thing, it handels brilliantly now, a true carving machine but it dawned on me at some point during the ride, it was really windy, I noticed because I was blowing around like a flag but the bike was totally unaffected, even in the strongest gusts. It is a totally awesomely different bike, a precision missile.

:wari: I've just had the ride of my life, 20 mins turned to three hours, me ass was killing me but I didn't want to go home.Its like being born again, Woooooo fackinghoooooooooo. :banana:

Question.......in simple terms, what the hell just happened how the heck can suzzy settings affect how the bike blows around in the wind. I am confused but euphoric. :2thumbsup

p.s. Big thanx to BEYOND p.p.s If your kind enough to answer my question,please don't be giving me, if a wheel was in two parts the bottom part moves faster than the number I first thought of. It'll be wasted on me.

[beyond]

Hey, I'm pleased I could help. That's what we are all here for mate :)

As I keep saying to people with GSX1400's the factory settings really are crap. Once you get the right settings dialled in you are as close to sport bike suspension settings as you are going to get. I have found the factory suspension to be ideal for all types of riding once dialled in correctly and these bikes are a dream in the tight stuff.

Even the ground clearance (which isn't bad considering the comfort levels) can be gotten around by just using upper body weight to leverage the bike around the corners. It looks funny but works when you need that bit more cornering speed.

I don't know why the new settings have cured your wind buffeting problem but pleased to hear they have. I suspect that with preload and damping at standard things are really just too squidgy and the new settings have dealt to that.

Enjoy your riding mate. You'll be hard pressed to find a bike as versatile as these :)

[jrandom]

... can be gotten around by just using upper body weight to leverage the bike around the corenrs.

A bit like this then?

<img src="http://i26.tinypic.com/9pvn8y.jpg"/>

:2thumbsup

Right, this thread is now officially a GSX1400 Owner's Club zone, everyone else can now piss off while we congratulate each other on having such fuckin great taste in motorcycles.

:laugh:

[beyond]

A bit like this then?

<img src="http://i26.tinypic.com/9pvn8y.jpg"/>

:2thumbsup

Right, this thread is now officially a GSX1400 Owner's Club zone, everyone else can now piss off while we congratulate each other on having such fuckin great taste in motorcycles.

:laugh:

:2thumbsup
Not quite hanging right off knee down like that. Better for the track than the road but if it floats your boat go for it :)

Yep, a few of us here know a great bike when we see one. :first: :first:

[jrandom]

On another note, while what beyond says about the stock suspension is absolutely correct (it's really quite good when set up right) I myself, unlike beyond, am a crap rider and need bling to make up for it, so I'm going to be getting a set of bright blue Penske bouncies off Shaun Harris later this month.

I shall be sure to report on what (if any) difference they make.

In fact, beyond, I'd be quite keen to plop you on Betty and see what your comments are on how the Penskes feel, too.

[kiwifruit]

A bit like this then?


AyIPlDjUGYo

[jrandom]

I've just had the ride of my life, 20 mins turned to three hours, me ass was killing me but I didn't want to go home.Its like being born again, Woooooo fackinghoooooooooo...

Yeah, GSX1400s are like that, aren't they?

Did you see the review I wrote (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=62880) after I rode one for the first time?

[beyond]

In fact, beyond, I'd be quite keen to plop you on Betty and see what your comments are on how the Penskes feel, too.

Sweet. Be honoured mate :)

[HenryDorsetCase]

AyIPlDjUGYo

criminy, what a dreadful song.

nice to see knee down on a bohemiath like the big 14 :2thumbsup

[jrandom]

criminy, what a dreadful song.

kiwifruit has a veritable library of such material.

:no:

[jrandom]

Better for the track than the road but if it floats your boat...

Nah, you won't ever see me riding like that on the road. I just put the photo up for a laugh, and because I'm proud of it.

:)

(As a matter of fact, the photographer was the previous owner of the Snail, my poor neglected '99 GSX-R750.)

[martybabe]

Yay, I'm in a club, doesn't exactly roll off the tongue though does it, I'm in the gsx1400 club. Should have called it the dozer or blaster blade or blue swift or :shutup:

Anyway, we may be members of the fastest growing bike club in NZ but we're not elitist any one can answer my question, please.

What has wind stability to do with suspension set up? :scratch:

[ynot slow]

Maybe an oil/air cooled suzuki club?

The GSX1400 is a nice beast,still not sure about the naked part for me,but it grows on ya,still with a cc just under half of the 1400,is enough to give me/us a good buzz for the time.:clap:

[martybabe]

Yeah, GSX1400s are like that, aren't they?

Did you see the review I wrote (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=62880) after I rode one for the first time?

yaes I did mate, to the point and not to many big words. Look ya both know you made me buy the bike now stop patting yourselves on the back, I said I'd get the beers in didn't I. :drinkup:

Oh and ditto mr beyond if your ever down the naki you can sling a leg over mine and be all guruish. :D .

[Boob Johnson]

Hey congrats Marty :banana:

Always great to get something like that sorted out so easily. Sorry can't think for the life of me why such adjustments would make that kind of difference.



We have a ride on tomorrow night 6pm leaving from the Caltex on Eliot street if your still fizzing & need to stretch ya legs :scooter:

[smoky]

any one can answer my question, please.

What has wind stability to do with suspension set up? :scratch:

The better the suspension - your tyres grip and stay on the road better, more planted, the bike should be more stable in all condition

[homer]

Has someone got some idea of the settings for the 1200 bandit
i have the rear set on the number 4
and the front on the third mark on top the shocks
it seams fine to me but it could be better i guess

[martybabe]

Hey congrats Marty :banana:

Always great to get something like that sorted out so easily. Sorry can't think for the life of me why such adjustments would make that kind of difference.



We have a ride on tomorrow night 6pm leaving from the Caltex on Eliot street if your still fizzing & need to stretch ya legs :scooter:


Love too but the weatherman he say the sky shall be pissfull :rolleyes: if not should be there. :msn-wink:

[martybabe]

The better the suspension - your tyres grip and stay on the road better, more planted, the bike should be more stable in all condition


That makes sense actually, it felt like the wind was steering the bike rather than trying to blow it over, so if the fronts more planted on the tarmac, and it is, it's going to be less liable to the forces of evil init. Thanx mate. :niceone:

[boomer]

How on earth can anyone have a sore arse after riding a 1400?

teh seats big enough both in depth and length to accommodate king lateefas ass.. let alone Dans.


Harden up ya poof.

[martybabe]

How on earth can anyone have a sore arse after riding a 1400?

teh seats big enough both in depth and length to accommodate king lateefas ass.. let alone Dans.


Harden up ya poof.


Piles, thanks for asking. :msn-wink:

[AllanB]

When I was looking for a naked the Suzuki dealer said the 1400 was the fastest accelerating bike to 100ks Suzuki made! Never rode one - too large for my taste, and the plan was to go naked and slow done a bit.

Are they really that quick!

[xwhatsit]

Are they really that quick!

Thinking about it academically, they've got shit-loads of torque. Below 100kph, fairings don't do very much. And being a naked, I'd guess that it's geared lower than a faired bike?

So maybe not out of the question. Then again, that awful naked Hayabusa has been released, it's probably taken over now.

[martybabe]

When I was looking for a naked the Suzuki dealer said the 1400 was the fastest accelerating bike to 100ks Suzuki made! Never rode one - too large for my taste, and the plan was to go naked and slow done a bit.

Are they really that quick!


Once you adapt your ridding to get the most from the muscle, it is spectacularly quick. not frantic though like some, just a seamless rush of grunt. It's never a question of wringing it's neck like a two stroke, it just delivers massive forward momentum with apparently no effort at all.

Strange but exhilarating and sooo satisfying. :apint:

[jrandom]

Are they really that quick!

To 100?

I'd say. Yup. The litrebikes don't out-drag me until the speeds get into the illegal-on-the-road region.

You can get on the power really early on a GSX1400, too - standard practice for me on the track and in the twisties, now that I'm starting to get the hang of the bike, is to hear the howling of sportbikes crawling up my arse as I brake ponderously into a corner and they excitedly swing out and line up for the pass, only to hear the noise fade away again as I find an apex and 120Nm flings me up the road...

:niceone:


Then again, that awful naked Hayabusa has been released...

Well, yes, the B-King's definitely faster. I mean, like, duh. I didn't like riding it much, though. It makes going really fast far too easy.

And it is not as comfortable as a GSX1400.

And it's $8,000 more expensive.

And the pillion accommodation is crap.

Surely I'm not the only guy who considers, when choosing a bike, whether people (and by 'people', I mean chicks) are going to enjoy riding on the back?

[kiwifruit]

The litrebikes don't out-drag me until the speeds get into the illegal-on-the-road region.


:lol: :clap: :third:

[jrandom]

:lol: :clap: :third:

Yes, I figured you'd pick up on that.

Last time we did roll-ons, though, if I recall correctly, the R1 didn't have an obvious edge until it was from 100kph, with engines already on the boil?

I'm not suggesting that a 230kg, 98bhp bike is faster than a 150hp, 160kg bike, but you know how the difference in torque output affects the way a bike rides on the road, so that'll be enough from you, Mr Smartypants.

:Pokey:

[boomer]

:lol: :clap: :third:



bwahahahhah i was just gonna quote him when i saw you beat me to it!!!


classic Mr J Random.. Classic

[kiwifruit]

Last time we did roll-ons, though, if I recall correctly, the R1 didn't have an obvious edge until it was from 100kph, with engines already on the boil?


couldn't help myself, :Pokey:

in top gear, from 70 odd kmh, where we'd expect the 1400 to pull, yes, there wasn't a great deal in it

on the boil? hmmmmm.... by the time "a litre bike' engine is on the boil a gsx1400 engine HAS boiled and has begin the evaporation phase, etc etc etc :girlfight:

[boomer]

..............now that I'm starting to get the hang of the bike, is to hear the howling of sportbikes crawling up my arse as I brake ponderously into a corner and they excitedly swing out and line up for the pass, only to hear the noise fade away again as I find an apex and 120Nm flings me up the road...

:niceone:


lollies.. did you have an implant too..??

[Robert Taylor]

I have recently acquired a GSX1400 Suzuki and I gotta say I'm pretty happy with it but...

It blew around like a scooter in a gale in the slightest of breezes.Clearly not right for such a big heavy naked bike. I checked the head races ,tyre pressures etc to no avail, so I decided it must be the tyres and looked forward to the day they needed changing.

In the meantime (beyond) gave me some suspension settings to get the most from the 14 in the twisties ,as this scoot comes from the factory a bit on the squidgy side. I dialed the settings in yesterday but it was pissin down so I took her out this arvo.

Here's the thing, it handels brilliantly now, a true carving machine but it dawned on me at some point during the ride, it was really windy, I noticed because I was blowing around like a flag but the bike was totally unaffected, even in the strongest gusts. It is a totally awesomely different bike, a precision missile.

:wari: I've just had the ride of my life, 20 mins turned to three hours, me ass was killing me but I didn't want to go home.Its like being born again, Woooooo fackinghoooooooooo. :banana:

Question.......in simple terms, what the hell just happened how the heck can suzzy settings affect how the bike blows around in the wind. I am confused but euphoric. :2thumbsup

p.s. Big thanx to BEYOND p.p.s If your kind enough to answer my question,please don't be giving me, if a wheel was in two parts the bottom part moves faster than the number I first thought of. It'll be wasted on me.

Sidewinds will act on the surface area of the motorcycle and also on your own body surface area. Given that indeed the standard suspension on this bike is somewhat wanting and lacks low speed damping control the ''leverage'' imparted by the wind on the bike and your body will compress the underdamped suspension. Firming it up ( as you have done ) will somewhat negate this.
If you fit the highest quality best performing and best backed up dampers ( such as our Ohlins units ) this will further negate the problem. BUT without compromising ride compliance as will happen with the oem stuff, plus better tyre life.

[jrandom]

You're nothing but a big bunch of meanies.

<img src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/images/300/baby_crying_closeup.jpg"/>

Now be nice, or I shall hold my breath.

[martybabe]

Side winds will act on the surface area of the motorcycle and also on your own body surface area. Given that indeed the standard suspension on this bike is somewhat wanting and lacks low speed damping control the ''leverage'' imparted by the wind on the bike and your body will compress the underdamped suspension. Firming it up ( as you have done ) will somewhat negate this.
If you fit the highest quality best performing and best backed up dampers ( such as our Ohlins units ) this will further negate the problem. BUT without compromising ride compliance as will happen with the oem stuff, plus better tyre life.

That's a bit clearer thanks,The fact that it's more stable in winds is just a very happy coincidence for me, I would never have made the suzzy/stability equation. apart from winding up the rear to carry the bride,I've never bothered with setting a bike up much. Cool it's good to learn.

Half an hours twiddling has transformed this into a different bike, the improvement is that marked. I shall cease to be an ignoramus and will henceforth investigate suspension dynamics as a real science not just something bike mags make copy out of. :scooter:

[smoky]

Sidewinds will act on the surface area of the motorcycle and also on your own body surface area. Given that indeed the standard suspension on this bike is somewhat wanting and lacks low speed damping control the ''leverage'' imparted by the wind on the bike and your body will compress the underdamped suspension. Firming it up ( as you have done ) will somewhat negate this.


eat more chips and maca's - get fat, then your body weight will be sufficient to counter the wind effect. Worked for me.

[martybabe]

eat more chips and maca's - get fat, then your body weight will be sufficient to counter the wind effect. Worked for me.


:lol: I am trying dude. :apint: :apint:

[Robert Taylor]

That's a bit clearer thanks,The fact that it's more stable in winds is just a very happy coincidence for me, I would never have made the suzzy/stability equation. apart from winding up the rear to carry the bride,I've never bothered with setting a bike up much. Cool it's good to learn.

Half an hours twiddling has transformed this into a different bike, the improvement is that marked. I shall cease to be an ignoramus and will henceforth investigate suspension dynamics as a real science not just something bike mags make copy out of. :scooter:

Yes, a lot of bike mags write fiction so that advertising dollars are not withdrawn....

[martybabe]

Just as a final tie up to the windy problems I experienced.

I adjusted the front suzzys first and it handled better but it was when I adjusted the rear that the windy problem disappeared completely.

I still dont fully understand why the rear suzzy settings would change a bikes susceptibility to side winds but it did.Maybe putting more weight on the front planted the front wheel more and therefore less likely to get blown off track. I am a sex god not a suspension god so I dont know the whys only that it worked, and I mention it only because it may be of use to someone with similar windy probs.

All the best and thanx for your input. MB :wari:

[PrincessBandit]

Uuuuhhhhhhhhhh, am i the only one who read the title of this thread and thought "Yay! I love suspenders" (obviously not the type you guys are all thinking about......) :Oops:
Sorry, didn't mean to imply that any of you guys in the big bikes club might have any dodgy vices :blink:

[martybabe]

Uuuuhhhhhhhhhh, am i the only one who read the title of this thread and thought "Yay! I love suspenders" (obviously not the type you guys are all thinking about......) :Oops:
Sorry, didn't mean to imply that any of you guys in the big bikes club might have any dodgy vices :blink:

:rolleyes: The suspenders we're talking about get adjusted cause they bounce around.The sort your on about get adjusted and then you bounce around. Easy mistake. :love:

[smoky]

Uuuuhhhhhhhhhh, am i the only one who read the title of this thread and thought "Yay! I love suspenders"
No not the only one


Sorry, didn't mean to imply that any of you guys in the big bikes club might have any dodgy vices :blink:

I like dodgy vices - only to look at, not for myself you understand, I'll leave that kind of kinky stuff to the guys who ride Hondas

[martybabe]

suspenders for bikes and suspenders for girls both have there place but both are crap at doing the others job! :rolleyes:

Sorry if you were misled by pom speak, hope this will cheer you up. :lol:

[smoky]

I've been distracted from the real topic of this thread - but hey, why not, they're both sexy

[smoky]

Rainbow suspenders on a chic can indicate she is gay!