I’ve had my monster for just over a week, I’ve always lusted after the 1100s (you know how it is) Anyway, riding home from the shop where I bought it, to say I wasn’t impressed would be an understatement. The power is fantastic, as is the torque. The brakes are brilliant, as are the new Pirelli’s. I couldn’t help feeling however that it was going to have me off! I hadn’t test ridden it prior to purchase, if I had I might not be writing this. The feel of the bike was unpredictable, the forks and shock felt wooden. Into corners it was ponderous and sometimes scary, it would push wide and if you hit anything then whoa it’s tippy toe time. Even on a smooth surface there was no feel, other than that of impending doom. I’m now thinking, how much money is this going to take to fix, or is this the way these things are until you get to warp factor 3... A member here ‘Borgo Panigale’ recommended I contact Teut at TW Suspension Tech in Preston. I did, and arranged to go yesterday; the weather was shite, anyway, arrived after an hour and a half of terror and pissing rain. Following a chat and nice cup of tea, out came the tools, nothing more than a calculator, C Spanners, an Allen key, ruler and tape measure. 30 Minutes later I was told to go for a test ride and witness the transformation. Now, it was wet and (I hate the wet) twisty, unknown road. All of a sudden I’m in control, I can feel the road, I can feel the tyres, I feel SAFE. Coming home, (70 miles) even in the pissing rain, it was a joy to ride, nearer home on the West/South Yorks border is an unmanned border post, on the west side the tarmac is beautiful, but as you cross the border on a blind crest that then falls away to the right the road surface is something rarely found outside the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire. Nothing, not a shimmy, not a wobble, no shaking of the head, no banging, no skittering and when I look at the dash I ‘m at warp 2. I can’t believe the difference, I really can’t! No parts used, no expensive oils or fragrances, no smoke, no mirrors and no bullshit. The cost of this.... £40.00. What are you waiting for?
Which proves the point that many need to do a little work on standard stuff before throwing cash at it.
Nice one.The thing with adjusters is some people think you HAVE to have a twiddle.Theyre best left alone unless you have at least half a clue as to what each bit does.
Far too often people look at light weight this and light weight that or copious amounts of bolt ons. In truth a bike set up right for you along with a few track days/iam or both, will make you a faster and safer rider
Tony at TW was recommended to me earlier this year by the guy that fitted the Ventureshield to my Pani (he was also a club racer). I've not been across yet but I will at some point
@MossleyMonster Great post, glad to hear that twiddling the knobs has med it reet. One thing though..I have an M1100S and found the standard brakes absolute shite...wooden, no feel, lacking in bite. I swapped mine to radial 4 pad Brembos as fitted to 749R/999S &R, Aprilias, BMW’s etc. Cheap upgrade, around 120notes, much improved braking.
Did he say what he’d actually done, did he find something adjusted to the extreme, like compression damping adjustment wound right in or something like that?.
Did he say what he’d actually done, did he find something adjusted to the extreme, like compression damping adjustment wound right in or something like that?.
I think the factory set these things up for some form of imaginary creature based upon marketing feedback ie 75% of 3.5 people loved having their kidneys kicked to F**k by a solid shock. What I learnt is that the suspension is to be tuned to your weight and the subtelty is interpreting your riding style and adding that into the mix. Worked for me.
My brakes are great for me, and they are radial 4 pot Brembo, possibly different pads or I wear a thicker nappy.
Glad to here your happy and all sorted out. Setting the sag and adjust the damping is the first thing I do on any new bike. As you have described you need a good starting point before making any component changes.
TW Suspension is near Preston https://www.twsuspensiontech.co.uk/how-to-find-us/ Teut devotes about an hour to setting your suspension for the typical riding you want to do and only charges £40!! He spends most of his time at tracks up and down the country attending to race teams and trackday punters. When I needed to get my bike set up before venturing out at Spa again this year, I asked around and was surprised that everyone I asked came up with the same recommendation. He did an excellent job for me and the confidence it gave me saw my lap times improve beyond what I'd expected. Also at Spa, racing in the European Classic Endurance Race Series, were the Wiz Norton team with their Rotaries, the same bikes Josh Brookes rode at the Classic TT - suspension by TW - see his logo on fairing just below and ahead of Josh's boot. To get Teut's degree of expertise for £40 is mildly ridiculous!
Teut set up my 899 about two months ago, up until the point I took it to TW suspension it was on factory default settings which were dreadful, front was vague and felt disconnected from the rear. An hour with Teut transformed the 899 into a much more connected, precise and confident ride. He even gave me suggested settings for the track which was a slight increase of rebound but doubted if I would need to make any alteration. I didn’t really fully appreciate the tweeks he had made until I took the bike to Oulton for a track day but what a difference the tuning made. Best bang for the buck at £40 that I’ve ever purchased. He knows his stuff
