CKT, Race Tech front and Ohlins rear, money well spent!
Ok, this is my opinion of what difference spending a little over 3k on decent suspension can have on an 07 R1.
Like many of you reading this I have a production bike purchased second hand that someone has spent a fair amount of money on. Carbon fibre this that and the other, a gell seat, an exhaust system, slick set of mirrors, tail tidy, pazzo leavers blah blah blah etc. The previous owner claims up to 10k's worth of extras!!!
Dont get me wrong the bike looks and sounds stunning and I'm well pleased with it but.........for all the bling it still handled like an 07 R1. Those that have one or have ridden one in anger will be aware they handle ok but they do 'dive' when hitting the brakes hard, squat when grunting out of the corner and skip a little on the power or judder on uneven surfaces. Mid corner there is a slight vague feeling from the rear while you wait to get more upright to give it some throttle, the transition from side to side gives you an exaggerated compression and rebound feeling (if you know what I mean).
I sent my forks to Rob Taylor of CKT for Race Tech internals to be fitted in the forks and he built an Ohlins TTX36 rear shock for me. the whole process took a little over a week to complete and couriered by the fastest little Kiwi currently in the IOM.
A simple job of swapping over the rear shock and bolting back in the forks took about 2-3hrs to do.
I had given Rob details of my weight inc gear on and tyres I use and type of riding (85kg,Michelin,Track/fast road) what I got back was my suspension pre set up based on Robs knowledge, static sag was perfect, inc rider perfect! The test ride proved he was spot on, the front forks dived progressivly, hard on the brakes, no bottoming out, increased feel and control, I could brake deeper into the corner with confidence, the transition from upright to lean was more linier. There wasn't any of the feeling that the rear shock was being compressed but you could feel the rear tyre gripping the road, getting on the power earlier was possible because of the extra feel and confidence it inspired. There was also no noticeable squat.
If there was a need for a bit more brake pressure mid corner the bike stayed planted and tracked true, no sitting up or falling down. At all times the I was aware of what grip was available and was able to concentrate on lines. It wasn't until after the test that I realised what I wasn't experiencing! There was no juddering from the front over harsh ripples or surface patches, no compression and rebound pogo-ing during left and right transitions, just controlled, progressive and confidence inspiring. I contacted Rob and gave him the feed back and he suggested a couple of clicks of the compression and small amount off the pre-load. Tiny adjustments but a massive difference again, even better!
For $3250 just over a third of what the previous owner had spent I have succeeded in totally transforming the handling of this bike. In my opinion the first blinging mod you should do to your bike is to upgrade your standard (often made to a budget) suspension. Standard sports bikes in this day and age are great out of the crate but stick up-speced suspension in them and they are awesome.
The intention is to race this bike, I haven't raced for a while so will be putting it and more importantly me through some track days/open practice first, to see if I still have what it takesJust in case I haven't got my point across, Buy suspension before you buy anything else Its the best bang for buck, you will make a massive difference to your riding experience.
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Originally Posted by Kiwi Graham
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