how do I make my 2003 749s turn in better ?
 

As a few of you may know I recently had the chance to put 250 odd mile on a 2004 999r .... one of the big things that I noticed, other than the speed, was how easy the bike turned in, even with the 190 back tyre.

OK, I know that the Ohlins and wheels all help, but, there must be something that I can do to make my 2003 749s turn in better and drop in to corners like the 999r.

Is it as simple as increasing the ride height or is there much more needed ? I guess there is.

Where do I start ?

In the past I've always left the suspension on the factory settings so need some basic simple guidance.

[Edited on 25-9-2005 by Carbon749]

[Edited on 25-9-2005 by Carbon749]

Well .... more rear ride height will help. So will lighter wheels etc but more ride height is free!

I'd start just adding a little by a little, noting down your changes on a notepad or something as you go and see how it feels.

:D

I know its been said on here plenty of times before, but I followed Section8's suspension guide, and althought I'm no Rossi, I find my 749 turns as quick as you like!

http://www.section8superbike.com/749-999suspension.htm

Give it a go, if you don't like it, go back to standard!

KHU996, how far did you go with the set up ?

OK, setting front and rear ride heights is simple enough, I know I can do that.

Without sounding naive, what is SAG and how do I adjust it ?

[Edited on 25-9-2005 by Carbon749]

hello, i followed the section 8 set up as far a raising the fork legs through the stantions (20mm up in total I think.) I also raised the ride height to max.
I reduced the preload on the front as it was hard and a bit twitchy. Since I binned the Michelin Pilot sports and fitted Pilot race Med/ soft the handling has been faultless and I'm very happy with the bike now.
I left a reply on the forum ages ago and if you have a search for it I went into a bit of detail. Its definetly worth doing as its free and can be returned to the original settings if your not happy.

whatever you do the very first thing BEFORE you change anything is to note down the settings that you have now.
That way if it all goes tits up you can go back to the starting point.
Butch

Like Butch said, make sure you note down your settings now, otherwise you'll have no reference point.

With regard to Section8's suggestions, I went as far as raising the forks through the yokes so that 4 lines are showing, and set the rear ride height to 285mm. The bike now turns far quicker, and I'm quite often surprised how quick it is. At first I thought it was a bit twitchy, but played around with tyre pressures for a bit, now set at 34F 36R on Diablo Corsa's and I couldn't be happier!

Posiden, is that you from a couple of months ago? You helped me out getting the ride height adjuster nuts unstuck, remember? Did you have to register again?

Get 100% Bikes Suspension to set up your bike - cost £40 at a recent No Limits trackday and it turns on a sixpence now. Best £40 I ever spent n it I reckon. You get Colin's help for the day tweaking it so it's well worth it. He also tells you about what he is doing so you understand what's changed and how to control it yourself better.

Man .... just been and checked the front forks, 2 rings showing about 8.5mm of fork above the top yoke. Going to 4 rings and about 15mm seems a massive leap .... but, if you all say it's the way to go, I'll give it a try :)

Along with increasing the rear ride height.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Henry, any idea where I can get hold of the suspension guys apart from a track day ?

I may be doing a day at Donnington on Tuesday if the weather is OK, not sure if the suspesion guys are there or not.

Yep and dont go for extreme suspension setting changes in one go.Adjust in small amounts and test the bike each time.Use the same route,hopefully with lots of bends,and note down what you like or dislike about the feel.
I got my 999bip right for me virtually straight away.The 'S' has taken 4 months.
The Showa'd bip was easy to set up as the standard rear shock settings were ideal for me.The front had slightly too much preload,so that was wound out by two rings.A little extra compression damping,and the front was sorted.
To make the bike turn in quicker,two turns of the ride height adjuster did the trick.

Easiest thing is phone and ask him I guess. He charges the BSB boys £250 for setting them up, so the £40 we got charged was a bargain by those standards. The advantage of doing it at a track day is you go out an try it, come back and tell him what you thought and he tweaks a few bits (if you want) so you can see the difference. You get the settings written down (before and after) too so you could revert to previous setup if you wanted.

Here are contact details

Colin Leeder
0771 549 0888

I have the Section8 set up on my Duc and i'm pleased with it.

I have Ohlins forks on my 749R, I presume the 4 rings showing applys to the Showa forks as mine has only got 1 ring just showing ?

I find my bike is like a bucking bronco on a rough road, it seems to lift me out of my seat at times and the front forks seem hard to me, I am about 10 1/2 stone in weight.

I should check the settings as it has not been checked to see if it is set at the original settings, I have only backed the rear rebound off a couple of clicks.

Any tips ?

Ian, the most likely cause is lack of rebound damping (probably on the front). This is how you check it ...

First - make a not of the current settings! The rebound adjuster is right on the top with a screw slot. Wind it in and count the clicks. DO NOT force it too tight, just until it stops.

Then you can wind it right out (won't come right out) and adjust as below.

The compression adjuster screw is located up under the bottom of the fork leg (or is on my Showa forks) - accessed throuhg a hole in the front spindle. So long as the hole in the spindle is in line with the veterical axis of the fork leg you should be able to get a small slot screwdriver up there and onto the adjuster. Wind it all the way in until it stops counting the clicks. THen wind it out to the same position it was in before.

You now have your base settings.

Ajusting REBOUND ...
Hold the front brake and push down hard on the front. Let it come back up and watch carefully what happens when it gets to the top of it's travel. If it goes past the usual heighest point (this is the sag measure ment where it settles on the springs normally) and then returns down to the hghest point then you do not have enough rebound damping. This causes the pogo effect.

TO adjust, wind the TOP adjust screw in one click at a time and retest. This will slow the rebound. YOu should get to a point where it just returns ni a controlled manner up to the highest point and stops rather than bounce past it. When you think you have the right setting, back it off one click and recheck that it bounces past again then return to the optimum setting.

If you have dificulty pushing the forks down then it might be that you have loads of compression damping on, which controls the speed of the forks going down. Wind the bottom screw out a few clicks so you can move the forks easier then try again. Return the bottom screw to it's original position after.

It is not so easy to check the compression damping, as unless youhave loads of experience setting them up and know where to start it needs road testing/tweaking/re-testing until you are happy with it. Main thing is to get the rebound sorted though to stop it bouncing about.

Rear shock can be set up for rebound in the same way ... the rebound adjuster is the one on the BOTTOM this time and the compression adjuster is the one on the REMOTE cylinder.