RGV ride height

**curious george** · 29th October 2003, 20:48

Just wondering if anyone here has had any experience with adjusting ride height at all.
I'm interested in the relationship between the amount of height and the changes in handeling (things like head angle).

How much is enough? Too much?
Dont mess about with it at all, you fool?
Where is this ride height measured from?
Any easily place to get reliable reading?

I guessed something like, by raising the rear, = steepens head angle = sharper turning.
But, also probability of tankslappers, or instability.
What are some limits to go by?

Any help/advice much appreciated.
George

**wkid_one** · 29th October 2003, 20:51

Heh heh heh - I played with the R1's the other day and dropped it 5 mm through the forks - let's just say I quickly returned it to standard.

I was playing wif my new headstem front stand.

**curious george** · 30th October 2003, 06:25

Heh.Bit twitch then? I was wondering if by raising the back it would do the same, so raising the forks might temper the effect a bit.

**wkid_one** · 30th October 2003, 08:55

Raising the back does - and it doesn't effect the ride height/ground clearance adversely. The VTR worked well with an 8mm spacer in the rear - made it turn a lot better.

**Hoon** · 30th October 2003, 09:57

If you are after quicker steering then you can drop the forks (i.e. more of the forks will protrude out the top of the triple clamps).

My RGV has about 10mm showing and it is very quick to steer in (almost too quick sometimes). The trade off is that you lose high speed stability because of the lesser head angle but I barely push 200kph anyway so its not a problem for me.

My bike is track only though and I wouldn't suggest doing it on a road bike. The first time I rode my race bike on the street like that (quick test blat around the block) I almost ran up the inside curb on the first left turn as the bike just fell into the corner so quickly.

On the track I have the same problem falling into the corner at hairpins but I don't mind it so much as it reminds me I need to be on the power a little more instead of coasting around.

Be careful with suspension mods and only make little adjustments at a time and then test. If you don't notice any difference then don't keep cranking it out until you do as you probably aren't going hard enough to notice it and when you eventually do it'll go in a big way.

I actually learnt alot about suspension from drag racing my TL1000s at Meremere. Doing 10-15 runs a night you get to do a lot of fine tuning/testing and although more rear suspension orientated it was a great way to learn about the close relationship between suspensions settings, rear tyre pressure/grip and how it affects wheelspin and wheelying.

**Racey Rider** · 30th October 2003, 10:43

Originally posted by HO-Hoon
If you are after quicker steering then you can drop the forks (i.e. more of the forks will protrude out the top of the triple clamps).
My RGV has about 10mm showing and it is very quick to steer in (almost too quick sometimes). The trade off is that you lose high speed stability because of the lesser head angle but I barely push 200kph anyway so its not a problem for me.

Drop the forks? Rasie the forks? I've always wondered which wording was correct to make the steering quicker. Yes the top of the forks should be further above the clamp, but don't you rasie the forks (lift them up higher) to do that? (ie, drop the clamp lower on the forks)? funny wording! My upside down forks are set flush with the clamps at the moment. Is that abnormal?

I was disapointed at Manfield to not get to 200kph on my RGV. Down the back straight, my electronic speedo showed 194kph before I had to wimp out and get off the power. I think a more experiaced rider would have got it there, but I was still building up faith in the cheap tyers that were on it. I would like to get my 250's up to Puke to try a longer straight at some stage.
Racey.

**curious george** · 30th October 2003, 13:46

It's not just quicker steering I'm after, but more the 'feel' of the bike.
It's alwasy felt a bit flat at the back, but not to sure if this is because of stuffed rear shock (being rebilt as I type), or just not made for a six footer.

Besides, it's what the racers do, so.........J/king

So year, the back feels like it's being left behind in corners.
Maybee a 5mm shim under the top shock bracket may make a smaller difference.
At the moment, I was going to turn the bracket around-HO-Hoon may know what I'm on about?

**750Y** · 30th October 2003, 14:22

Originally posted by wkid_one
Heh heh heh - I played with the R1's the other day and dropped it 5 mm through the forks - let's just say I quickly returned it to standard.

I was playing wif my new headstem front stand.

I may be wrong but I thought they were raising the front to good effect on the r1.(that was on the track tho).

my gsxr front is lowered & rear spaced up. It handles nice. never slaps or gets unstable. Experiment & note other peoples settings & work it through OR send it to an expert and open your wallet.

**Hoon** · 30th October 2003, 14:39

Yeah you can try raising the back but like you say theres no ride height adjuster on the RGV so you have to jimmy it. There is a race kit adjuster available which pokes thru the bottom of the airbox if you get keen.

Try cranking up the rear preload for a bit of poor-mans raising just to see if it feels any better then at least you know you are on the right track before throwing money at it. Might pay to check your static sag as well just to make sure you are in the middle of the suspensions range if you haven't already.

As always be careful as bumping up the rear preload I noticed more of a tendency to stoppie when braking for the hairpin and on the sweepers I swear my rear felt lighter too just before it stepped out and put me into the armo

**wkid_one** · 30th October 2003, 17:31

Originally posted by HO-Hoon
On the track I have the same problem falling into the corner at hairpins

Si has that problem - nothing to do with adjusting fork height tho

**wkid_one** · 30th October 2003, 17:32

750 - i dropped the yoke down 5mm - so effectively sharpened the head angle - not a great thing on an already twitchy bike - was entertaining anyway....I think I managed two corners before I had a slapper

**750Y** · 30th October 2003, 22:03

Originally posted by wkid_one
750 - i dropped the yoke down 5mm - so effectively sharpened the head angle - not a great thing on an already twitchy bike - was entertaining anyway....I think I managed two corners before I had a slapper

yeah it's amazing how much of a difference a seemingly small amount of height adjustment can make, particularly at the front.
I over spaced the rear at first and it was a pretty awful test ride. I jacked it up then came down in 2.5mm increments till it felt about right then carried on down to be sure & came back up to the spot. it took me half a day. when i rode a stocker after that it felt flat as a pancake & slower turning & more recently I tried another mate's one with a much lower front & that was really fast steering but a tad twitchy.