I'm quite light at 65kg and found my suspension way too hard on my 996BP, especially on the road. Had my forks and damper re-valved and lighter springs fitted, done by Maxton, which improved things. Anyway that was 16years ago and they have never had a service since! For various reasons I have been doing little riding for the last 10years but am desperately keen to get back into it, intend doing a mix of track and road stuff. I want to get my bike suspension setup correctly by someone who knows the 996 well, this may require a forks/damper replacement I don't know, they certainly need servicing for sure. Any recommendations for someone who knows their stuff?
Where are you based? Drop @PGP a line (Paul Goodhall Performance) ex-Snells guy who really knows his stuff and rebuilds them all, also raced a 996
Fair point, they didn't setup my bike, they just re-valved my forks and dampers based on my weight. Not really sure on their experience of setting up my type of bike.
Hi Duc996bip definately need a service , for your weight rear spring should be fine just less pre-load & front should be .9 's for yourself then setting up with your weight / riding style in mind . The 996 is a slow steerer so what works really well is to raise the whole chassis & bring the steering angle in to track position (as long as you don't mind loosing steering lock ) also make sure you use a 180/55 section rear tyre , this transforms the handling without loosing stability feel free to call me 07733174990 .
This is exactly what I did to mine this year through a process of trial and error. Raised the rear a bit, steering angle to track position and a 180 rear tyre. It works well.
he knows his stuff mate, built a few of mine and it hardly ever needed changes at any track, click here---click there was about it
Putting the bike into the "race" position will loose you your trail and therefore stability and is counter productive. I wouldn't ride the bike with this setting alone. You will be best doing that adjustment hand in hand with a set of 30mm yokes, to get some trail back. I would also look at getting a straight 24 degree steering tube.
Kais in Leigh if you don't mind the trip over (just under an hour from you). Very knowledgable, give them a call for a chat. Sorted out my 1299. Kais Ohlins - The UK's number one performance centre
I have ridden both my 748 ('98 to 04) and 916SPS ('04 to present) with the steering set to "race" position with none of the above additional mods on the road and track with no problems of stability. The one time I did have a problem was when the steering damper from the SPS was removed for a rebuild...I took it out for a spin without it fitted and had a massive tankslapper exiting a roundabout when I inadvertently got the front wheel airborne under power.. The steering damper definitely prevents this type of thing!
I could not tell any difference in terms of stability. It turned faster though. Completely stable in a straight line. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
