No Confidence in Cornering

[turnerj_2001]

Hi Orgers,

Once again looking for some perspective here. Since I have upgraded my shock and tyres, recently I feel like I do not have the confidence to corner, however when I have my GF on the bike it feels alot easier, could it be something as little as the shock is too stiff?

I was wondering if there are any guidelines for setting suspension for your height / weight. I weigh around 18.5st & 6'2 (Big guy i know) and need some help as I don't really wanna end up hating the bike..

Thanks in advance.

[Jollygiant]

Take your bike to a suspension guy and get them to set it up for you, should cost around £50 but will be the best £50 you will spend on the bike.
If there's no suspension guys near you POP along to a local trackday and get the suspension guy there to set it up for you.

[Bibio]

i take it you have done nothing to the front end.

[turnerj_2001]

I've had no work done to the front end but it seems fine. However I am a rookie when it comes to suspension.

Starting to wonder whether it's wOrth getting a aftermarket shock n ditch the gsxr one. Think it may be worth getting sorted first.

[Bibio]

spend the money on the front. even new springs and fresh oil will do wonders. at 18+ stone you are well over the weight the bike was designed for. i very much doubt that the shock is to stiff for your weight, it could be that the compression is wound up to much.

[jambo]

I'm sure these problems are not insurmountable, however, to help make sure the answers are as relevant as possible could you give us a detail breakdown:

What bike you have (including year and model)
What you have done to the front end (including springs / whether the oil is standard, or even if it has been changed recently)
What shock exactly has gone in the rear?
HOW does the cornering lack confidence?

Does it wallow mid-corner? Overly harsh feeling? Lots of squat on the power? steering feels too sharp, too slow?

If you try and think through this analytically, you'll probably find you're quite a long way to answering your own question, hopefully someone can simply help you get to the last little bit.

If you don't know an answer to the above (e.g. the bike's 2nd hand, no idea what springs are in the front, then just say that, at least we know it's an unknown) :)

Jambo

[rictus01]

I'll take an educated guess here, the SV is your first big bike ?, the standard suspension was setup for a max of about 10 st even at it's best it's only OK, did you look at the spring rate? setup sag? was the replacement shock the same length, like all things a little knowledge isn't always a good thing.

If you don't know what you're doing then seeking someone with more knowledge would be a wise move.

Cheers Mark.

[-Ralph-]

Key question - Could you corner the bike before the upgrade? ie: is the problem in the bike or the rider?

The SV front end is very soft and if you've uprated the rear without touching the front, your going to make it feel worse. Always upgrade your front suspension first.

You need to be looking at a spring rate of about 0.95 kg/mm in the forks for your weight, measure and cut new spacers to get the correct preload and static sag, and at least change the oil for something in the high 30's to low 40's CST@40 viscosity.

The right suspension upgrades totally transform the SV

[turnerj_2001]

Hi, Thanks for the updates & opinions,

with regards to the questions:

What bike you have (including year and model) - SV650S Fully Faired K6 Model (on 57 plate)
What you have done to the front end (including springs / whether the oil is standard, or even if it has been changed recently) - Nothing has been done to the front end from my understanding
What shock exactly has gone in the rear? K5 GSXR 1000
HOW does the cornering lack confidence? Feels like a struggle to lean in with no confidence of it holding.

And yes the Bike is 2nd Hand and it is my first big bike. It seemed ok when i had the original SV Shock but as I could only compare it to a YBR 125 anything was better.

I think the new shock is slighly lower but cannot remember and i did adjust the stiffness to reduce the sag.

And i don't know if any work was done on the front before I bought it and don't think the dealer would have checked.

Hope this helps.

[-Ralph-]

Get the front done.

[turnerj_2001]

Would that just be Springs and Oil. I know a company in Halesowen called Revs Racing. Think they said they would do it for £150 all in I believe.

Would this then sort out the cornering?

[jambo]

The GSXR 1000 K5 shock shouldn't be a bad match, assuming you've set the sag correctly, and the damping adjusters are set at a useful point.

It's slightly taller (332.5mm vs standard 330mm), and the spring is stiffer (8.1 Kg/mm vs standard 7.7 kg/mm) according to this chart (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlotUijBbxpCdDFGenIwQjg2MTcwS2swVFF0TU5UX 3c&authkey=COvG24gH&authkey=COvG24gH#gid=1)

This would raise the rear slightly and perhaps transfer slightly more weight to the front end.

What we don't know is if that shock is in good condition, or knackerd, or if the damping and pre-load are set anything like right. If you reduced the pre-load too much this can leave the rear lower than before, and leave the bike feeling very reluctant to turn in.

Assuming the above are OK, the front end is potentially sat on some original, quite soft springs, with fork oil of completely unknown age and viscosity (potentially at this point it's 6 years old).

I'd follow one of the online guides to look at setting pre-load (front & rear) and damping adjusters. But I would suggest that at least investigating the front end's spring and oil condition is worth doing. Springs to match your weight would be ~£80. Fresh oil ~£10.

Jambo

[-Ralph-]

Springs to match your weight would be ~£80. Fresh oil ~£10.

And if you are capable of building flat pack furniture, and you have the inclination, then you can do it yourself.

£150 if it includes the springs and oil is not a bad price though if you just want to pay somebody else to do it.

[turnerj_2001]

The cost includes the parts I believe but was guna go and see the before agreeing to anything. Thanks guys for the help. I think I may soften the rear first whilst I gather the funds for the suspension.

After all this would there be anything else I wud need to consider for my manly physique :-)