@LiveFast...... I’ve just got around to reading the lifeatlean link that you attached, some quite good guidance in there, a good find that one But one statement he makes, seems to me anyhow to be an error, attached below is part of section 10 , finding your setup... For example if your bike is too twitchy because there’s too much weight on the front end, you can’t raise the triple clamps up the fork tubes if they’re already flush with the top of them. In which case you will need to look to lower the rear ride height, either by adjusting preload or lengthening the shock. Increasing preload will help with this too. Here he talks about lowering the ride height to cure twitchyness, but surely if you increase the length of the rear shock that will have the effect of increasing the rear ride height,..or am I missing something??
Yeah that sentence is complete nonsense isn’t it? Maybe he was tired? I skim read most of it with the intention of going back later and trying to work through it step by step. The article in general does show that it’s easy to get lost when making too many modifications to a stock bike. Manufacturers spend years developing the package and then we come along and change umpteen components in the name of improvement but there’s every chance that the cumulative effect of the modifications could screw up the fine balance that they have achieved. I have now changed so many things that I’m not sure I have created something better or worse. Yes it’s lighter and in theory the better suspension, lighter wheels, more power, more adjustable rearsets, etc, should make it a better bike - but unless I get the balance of all of the aspects of setup just right, then I could end up with something that is ultimately less than the sum of it’s component parts.
I hear you there, Live Fast, but unless we are as good as the higher level racers, and have a stopwatch on every mod we make, we'll never know how much 'exactly' we have or have not improved the bike. What we can say for sure, is how the machine feels to us. Starting with moving the angle of brake and clutch levers, gear lever position, and rear brake, the bike now fits us better. When it comes time to grab the brake unexpectedly, the lever being in the 'right place' might save a few metres of braking distance. That could save your life on the road! Moving on from that, adjusting the sag gets the suspension operating in the correct area of the stroke, the feeling of our bike can improve quite a lot here. This alone has not been enough for me. My base 1299 on a B road would feel like the wheels were not in contact with the road, when pressing on, ahem! I don't have the knowledge to do these improvements myself, but having a TL1000S that stuck to the road like glue showed me that these beasts can be improved, a lot. Just a change to Ohlins front and rear, from a Pani R did not cure the lack of compliance I was feeling, though on a track it was great, (AT MY LEVEL, Haha!) . Taking it to an expert is well worth it for me. The way the bike now works when barrelling down a bumpy B road is stunning, the rear wheel drives rather than spins, and the steering accuracy going over bumps is magical. This was absolutely NOT THE CASE before. Yes, the money I spent was a lot. Definitely worth it for me. I had tried the adjustment route, myself, and even had a track expert do the settings at the circuit, but the now way the bike rides on the road is soooo much better with Darren's magic wand waved over it!
