V4 V4 Front End

The ride height change on the 2020 V4 was not just the front. The rear got a different rear shock rocker that increased the rear ride height and the centre of gravity as well. Just raising the front on a first generation V4 will adversely alter (slow) the turn in. Not doing social media, this is the first time I have heard this modification mentioned. I have had the rear ride height raised by 5mm on my first generation V4S but have yet to try it out. That will be at Donington in 3 weeks. Is yours a base model or an S ? Andy

 

I haven't really ridden a V4 extensively or on track yet, but 'most' 1000's seem to benefit from raising the front.

This was covered extensively by Monners & I in my GSXR1000R thread mate if you want to understand further the reasoning

 

Surely raising the front ride height in isolation opens the fork angle which will slow the turn in ? Andy

 

Whilst you are correct in theory, most OEM bikes are set very 'pointy' so that they're easier to ride for the masses as most riders aren't particularly quick in general.

Unfortunately even if you're half quick you'll find that due to you putting more forces through the front end and the bike in general that the bike feels fidgety and nervous as the higher the speed the more things are amplified.

 

I clearly have yet to get to that stage. The V4S was such huge improvement over the 1098R, I had to re-learn Almeria as the braking and turn in points could be much, much later. Andy

 

Raising the front end and indeed the whole bike raises the centre of gravity meaning it falls in quicker.. not a new phenomenon ... they are doing it with 748 etc...

 

Are you running stock settings? I’ve recently custom fixed mine on the V4s and taking most of the spring preload off the rear. Less compression damping and slightly increased rebound. Increased the front damping and rebound ever so slightly. So no more dynamic adjustments in the modes. It’s transformed the ride and gives far more confidence and control. It definitely pays to play around

 

So I only raised the rear ride height by 5mm as I felt I had no issue with my V4’s turn in at Almeria. Having not been to Donington for 15 years and not ridden the bike for over a year, I found the track challenging to re-learn but by the end of the day I could not get my head around was turn 1, I either braked far too early or left it almost too late so was never smooth which screwed the line for turn 2. Nor could I judge the braking point for the old hairpin because of the slight rise just before the hairpin. The only places I gained on the faster riders (that’ll be most of them) were the Foggy Esses, where the bike was very stable in the left and right flick so I was able to get off the brakes and on the throttle early and the Melbourne loop where the front end felt planted and I could trail brake almost to the apex. I have no measure to say categorically the ride height change had a noticeable positive effect, I’ll have to wait until May next year at Almeria where I have times for comparison for that. I don’t think the change made a noticeable negative effect because the only ‘moment’ was when I almost out braked myself at turn 1 and was heading for the gravel ....... which I missed by the width of the curb. Andy

 

So a few bits of info as i have a 2020 base v4
Ohlins currently list their GP TTX rear shock eye to eye as 310mm except for the R which is 312.
My std sachs shock i took off is 312mm eye to eye.
The part numbers on my 2020 base for the rear shock knuckle and the two bars, is now the same as the ones listed for the R

My original front marzocci forks are the same length top to spindle as the ohlins FGRT 214 i have. The ohlins is 25mm longer in the outer tube than the marzocci.
The marzocci sits as std in the bottom yoke 180mm from bottom of yoke to end of fork outer/seal joint and flush with the top of the top yoke.
Because the ohlins is 25mm longer in the outer i originally placed my FGRT 214 205 mm below the bottom of the bottom yoke putting the spindle in the same place and the top of the fork flush with the top of the top yoke.
Now every other v4 i have seen seems to have 5mm protruding above the top yoke. from JHP maintained bikes to a track bike snells created.....

these two things contradict with where the height of the front should be...