I just got back from doing Pocono East. Good time and good weather, just a little cold.

I will go over a couple of my mods and my track experience.

New 15 gear in the front. Much better drive but also much more sensitive to the throttle. Lurched it a couple times.

New Racetec tires 120/70 and 190/55. Very sensitive tires to cold tearing. I got a tiny tiny tiny hard on the gas coming out of a turn and it left a mark. Once warmed up, (no warmers/ 50 to 60 degree weather / 2 laps) I had no complaints. Excellent grip and feedback. Much quicker turn in and grip compared to the 190/50 Corsa.

Vortex rear sets GP shift. Less leg room ( all the way up and back ) but more grip. Never missed a shift.

Vortex clip ons. Closer together and more comfortable. At track speeds inputs didn't change.

Ohlins shock. Night and day difference. Absorbed everthing. Problem is I now realize the stock forks are really garbage. Were the front would bounce and pack the rear was composed. Before any exhaust or bling suspension must be first. I was lucky and had a suspension pro working with me all day trying to figure the forks out. Finally got them close but will be working some more tommorrow. In defense of the forks the rear shock was also dialed in but that only took I adjustment.

Good of the day. Got faster. Mind you I haven't ridden since I crashed. I was going faster that I ever have. Bad of the day and I don't understand this: Even though I was going faster (Lapped a few people in the 1st and 2nd group) I STILL HAVE CHICKEN STRIPS EMBARASSING. I am being real smooth but still gun shy I guess to dive into turns. Exiting turns real good though. Small chick strips (1/4 inch) but they are there. Old stock set up on 190/50 and I had no chicken strips.


Special note with the Ohlins shock the front felt tuckish and had to be adjusted greatly to get rid of the feeling. No other mods to affect the suspension other than the rear shock.

So what did the suspension expert end up doing to get your forks better dialed in? Do you have a way of giving me the settings or counting the rotations for me?

I bet it felt tuckish with the extra height of the Ohlins and the 190/55. Did you dial down the rear ride height any?

Give me the details bro!!!!!!!

You must have got lucky with the weather like we did on Friday. It rained like a son of a bitch here until about 3:00.

I will post all details on the suspension tommorrow as I will still be working on it some more. Height on the rear was left as it came from the factory. Guy really knows his stuff. He is in charge of all bikes for Keith Codes school and has raced full time.

Sweet!!!! I'll be waiting with my wrench in hand!! I'm gonna set mine up exactly like yours since we weigh the same and I'll tell you what I feel after I ride it hard this weekend.

I also did braided steel lines. Definetly a better feel and less effort. Puig double bubble, a lot less wind turbulence, wind blast no longer hitting me in the face. Shawn I just unloaded the bike and haven't done anything. Settings were so spot that had forgotten to set the sag. When we went to set it nothing had to be adjusted as sag was perfect at 38 front and rear.

So our sag in the front is the same. Get me those comp and rebound settings if you can.

My rear sag is set to 30mm. Did you set yours to 38mm to lower the rear because of the height of the 190/55?

how much free sag vs rider sag do you have on your bike...

u need to have free sag so the bike will feel the road for you.

also.... the added hieght on rear should not make it tuckish, all stock street bikes should be raised, and should have some sort of static rate linkage, the stocks are progressive rate and you dont get all the movement and travel in the rear that is needed for the track. the 06 linkage is this type (sweet).

also u guys need to watch suspension for mortals,

i have a copy on vhs, i can get it to someone to host on here if they can turn it into a file

suspension for mortals is starring ya'lls favorite person.... max mcallister and traxxion dynamics, but in a whole the video is pretty good.

with the profile of the tire and the lines you take and also how well you get off the bike you should see less wear on the edge of the tires where the chicken strips lay.

I had a buddy following me at Road America that didn't have any strips left yet he was slower than I
he freaked at how fast I was at cornering and how I still wasn't using all of my tire yet

I get off, down and into it best I can as needed

but I will admit, I've stepped it up even more since then and now, yes, I have no more strips. front or rear. true wear, not just scuffed.

now all I need is to master exiting without spinning up the rear while on this stock suspension.....



Thanks for your writeup nem. big time.


I have some race compound tires and no warmers and have been wanting to try them out and not wreck them or the bike with trying.......

also.... the added hieght on rear should not make it tuckish, all stock street bikes should be raised

Not true when you are talking about the 04-05 1000RR's. It's common knowledge that these bikes go against traditional thought when it comes to suspension setup and prefer to be set up very flat. They become ill-handling when the rear is raised or the front is lowered. 99% of the faster track guys will tell you the same.

Nemesis and I are both running Ohlins shocks with stock forks. The Ohlins shock is longer eye to eye than the factory shock and ends up raising the rear. On top of that I'm running a 180/55 which raises the rear a tiny bit more than the factory 190/50. Nemesis is running a 190/55 so his is even higher than mine. This does give the bike a tuckish feel. I got this on my first real street ride with the new shock and Nemesis called me after his first ride and had the same comments.

Most track junkies on these bikes are lowering their Ohlins by shortening the lower heim joint on the shock. Another cure is to either have the factory forks lengthened internally or replace them with aftermarket forks like Ohlins which are longer and allow you to drop them through the clamps a bit to raise the front.

My half assed cure was to dial in a bit more preload in my forks from 42mm of sag to 38mm. Turns out that is also what Nemesis was told to set his sag to by the suspension expert at the track. This pretty much took care of the tuckish feeling but I know the bike could stand to be a bit more level to give it a more neutral steering feeling. I could lower the rear by changing the sag from 30mm to 35mm or so but I'm really happy with how the shock feels at 30mm. When I get my forks done I'll have them lengthened internally like a few others have done. Then I'll figure out what tire size I like best (probably a 190/55 since they are offered in DOT race rubber) and set my rear to suit the forks and rear tire height.

This bike is a tricky beast. I'm just glad a few smarter folks than me have already done most of the homework to set us in the right direction.

Boy, that was long winded:rofl:

So our sag in the front is the same. Get me those comp and rebound settings if you can.

My rear sag is set to 30mm. Did you set yours to 38mm to lower the rear because of the height of the 190/55?

I tuned the bike until I got a neutral feeling. I didn't shoot for any specific sag.

with the profile of the tire and the lines you take and also how well you get off the bike you should see less wear on the edge of the tires where the chicken strips lay.

I had a buddy following me at Road America that didn't have any strips left yet he was slower than I
he freaked at how fast I was at cornering and how I still wasn't using all of my tire yet

I get off, down and into it best I can as needed

but I will admit, I've stepped it up even more since then and now, yes, I have no more strips. front or rear. true wear, not just scuffed.

now all I need is to master exiting without spinning up the rear while on this stock suspension.....

Thanks for your writeup nem. big time.


I have some race compound tires and no warmers and have been wanting to try them out and not wreck them or the bike with trying.......

It was just unnerving as this was the only riding I have done since my lowside that was caused by me cranking it over way to much. I did finally scub the entire side of the rear but that was only after someone stuffed me 3 TIMES. I then got a little agressive and passed him but got black flagged. First time ever I was less than curteous and I got caught. Mind you I don't condone being rude but I wanted to kill him.

Racerboy I don't know anything about suspension other than when I don't like something. I saw people that get paid to teach others go to this suspension guy for adjustments. They would tell him what they didn't like and he would make adjustments. This is what I did. Why he did specific adjustments I don't now. I am trying to get suspension for mortals from a friend. Believe me though even at low speeds the front was tuckish.

Also exiting hard out of a turn on the stock suspension to me was spinning the rear tire. The Ohlins rear only let the rear tire slip once and that was because I got overly eager. Dot race tire will give you a lot more grip but what I think is more important because of the softer compound better feel. The tires just need 2 laps at most to get get up to temp.

i cant really say much, i know about my setup and what works, but im racing a 954 a couple friends race 1000rr's tho. i run a 195/70 rear tire and penske 8981 rear shock, which i did have to lower, u are suppose to get ur angle of ur swing arm and chain to a difference of something around 12-13 degrees, i think, i will double check that and get back. but it has to do with keeping proper movement of the rear, letting it squat when it needs to and not squatting the rear on the gas, once it squats you lose all movement and the rear will push or slip out while the front tracks right through

fyi, what you do to the rear of your bike effects the rear at a rate of something like 5 and the front at rate of 1, so i was a little off key, and vice versa if you chagne your front it will effect the front at 5 and the rear at one.... so if your bike is not turning in fast, dont change the rear, the rear of the bike controls how u exit on the corners. too often we hear all these guys saying well lower ur rear, or up ur rear to help turn in.... well it will help ur turn in but it dramatically changes ur exit speed which is what really matters :)

but seriously you need to have something like 10mm of free sag in the rear and 20-25mm in the front, thats free sag tho.

also the chicken strips could have a lot to do with nothing, ie set up of the bike, air pressure in tires, weight of rider, counter leanin his bike, i know when i ran michelin slicks i was running faster than i had ever run before but the front had a one inch chickenstrip on it, i dont know if it was some funked up profile or what but gee man, i get to the edge of almost every front tire now.

anyway im leaving right now for jennings, fl there is a wera race there this weekend and i've gotta go show some love for the home team

Good luck at the races racerboy. Be sure to post up your results!