Swap my springs? - Sportbike Addicts

pillaka · 09-13-2006, 11:02 PM

Right now I am basically debating in my head to swap the springs on my bike. To sum it all up I purchased my current bike (2003 GSXR 1000) for an expert level CCS WERA racer this past May. He had the stock shock and front forks revalved and resprung, but for his bodyweight 210 - 230 lbs. He was a big dude. Now here you have me, about 5'10" and 157 lbs. Early in the season I had difficulty riding this bike, but in the past two months things really started to click for me and I started to rail on it. At first the bike felt like it never "settled" into corners. I am guessing most likely due to the fact that I do not weigh enough to get the bike into it's working range. Somehow I feel comfortable on it now, also had my suspension set up.

This past labor day due to a mechanical issue on my motorcycle I did not ride it down at VIR, fortunatly my friend lent me his 05 gsxr 1000. Based on my performance in the race, and my lap times, I was running very well and felt quite comfortable on the bike, despite the fact it had never ridden it before. Espicially putting down the power coming out of corners. I could feel the rear end sliding but it was much more linear and the tire felt more hooked up. The next day after getting home I logged onto racetech's website and ordered fork spings and a shock spring ideal for my bodyweight.

My question is, should I change them?

This past weekend I felt very good at pocono east, a very bumpy track, so good I was running my best time for last season all day, and got down into the 1:10's for a few laps. Its more of a question of I am willing to chance swapping to softer springs and running even better, or risk swapping them and running slower. I am going to beaverun end of this month, and doing the GP race on sunday and want to get a podium.

High_Revs_17 · 09-13-2006, 11:21 PM

Those are overkill for you especially for your size, change them out and get some more track time in before the GP race so you can get used to running the bike the way it should be. You'll most likely be slower at first due to your being used to the stiffer setup, but after that feeling subsides you'll start turning even faster lap times providing the bike doesn't have any tire or chassis issues. The softer springs will also help in the bumpy sections more so than the previous setup, and if you feel the need just stiffen up the rear a bit so the tire can get a bit more bite on the turn's exits.

***Cakes206*** · 09-13-2006, 11:22 PM

I would definitely get the right set up for your weight. I had a similar issue when I bought my sv. It was set up for a heavier rider, eventually at Mosport I started pushing the front all through T1, WCW said I'll end up crashing if I don't fix it to my weight. I'm glad I listened.

AfricanBootyScratcher · 09-14-2006, 08:14 AM

change the damn things and shut up already!

ffejtable · 09-14-2006, 08:23 AM

or you could always bulk up... probably a bit cheaper, altho it will take a while.

lead weights can help, too

**Rev** · 09-14-2006, 09:38 AM

why not just take it to ron to reconfig the settings...

**FigNewTon** · 09-14-2006, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rev

why not just take it to ron to reconfig the settings...

Because the springs are too stiff and they will not be able to configure them properly for his weight.

I agree with the masses...have them resprung for your weight

CBRBob · 09-14-2006, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pillaka

Right now I am basically debating in my head to swap the springs on my bike. My question is, should I change them?

RCM78 · 09-14-2006, 09:55 AM

Hey Brian, What springs are in there now? What did racetech recomend?
When your suspension was setup were you able to acheive the correct sag #'s?

AfricanBootyScratcher · 09-14-2006, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WSprtuaL

Because the springs are too stiff and they will not be able to configure them properly for his weight.

I agree with the masses...have them resprung for your weight

haha he said too stiff for stiffy!

njracer · 09-14-2006, 10:40 AM

FWIW - I would ride it the way it is since the end of the season is almost here. As soon as the season is done, pull the forks off and send them to Thermosman (he rebuilt the forks and shock on that bike.....I'm friends with the guy you bought the bike off of) and get them resrung (at this point you might also want to consider having him install Ohlins or Penske internals). I would also buy a good aftermarket shock from him (Ohlins or Penske) and have him install the correct spring.

Then U should be good to go for next year.

***Cakes206*** · 09-14-2006, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by njracer

FWIW - I would ride it the way it is since the end of the season is almost here. As soon as the season is done, pull the forks off and send them to Thermosman (he rebuilt the forks and shock on that bike.....I'm friends with the guy you bought the bike off of) and get them resrung (at this point you might also want to consider having him install Ohlins or Penske internals). I would also buy a good aftermarket shock from him (Ohlins or Penske) and have him install the correct spring.

Then U should be good to go for next year.

OTOH- being its close to the end of the season, get it squared away NOW, do dome testing with the couple months we have left, then open next season with a bang. IMHO pushing the bike any further might be bad.

njracer · 09-14-2006, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cakes

OTOH- being its close to the end of the season, get it squared away NOW, do dome testing with the couple months we have left, then open next season with a bang. IMHO pushing the bike any further might be bad.

But according to the post, he's going to Bever at the end of the month to race. It does not sound like he will have much time to test and get used to the new suspension.

Once he changes springs, he will have to adjust the compression and rebound to get comfortable again. It will be like starting from scratch and IMO, it's too late in the season to be doing that.

***Cakes206*** · 09-14-2006, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by njracer

But according to the post, he's going to Bever at the end of the month to race.

Its a 2 day track day with a race during lunch on Sunday. Pleanty of sessions to test and tune.

pillaka · 09-14-2006, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCM78

Hey Brian, What springs are in there now? What did racetech recomend?
When your suspension was setup were you able to acheive the correct sag #'s?

I believe .95 kg/mm springs are in the front forks. Racetech recommendes .868 kg/mm for my weight so I went with the .85 kg/mm springs (also ran .85 kg/mm spring in my f4i last season).

For they rear shock spring they recommened a 8.99 kg/mm. So I purchased a 9.0 kg/mm

Dafan helped me set up my suspension this past july, and basically worked with me the entire day making minor adjustments to get it working right. We were able to set the correct sag, but with out me even saying anything yet about the bikes history he noticed the springs were way too stiff for my bodyweight.

I mentioned my riding my buddy's bike at VIR, because he still has the stock suspension on his. I checked up the specs, the 05 gsxr 1k has .95kg/mm in the front, and a 8.1 kg/mm rear shock spring (120 lb rider). Suspension wasn't even set up either. I didn't have confidence in the bike with entry speeds, the front end never really felt all there. One thing I did notice however was how the rear tire felt much more planted coming out of turns, espicially going down the hill at VIR north. My rear end likes to bounce or hop a lot coming out of turns, especially on beaver and pocono east. I asked Dafan about this, he said he can adjust the rear shock more, but then he is really over compensating for the high spring rate on it which can affect the bike in another aspect of riding.

Njracer: I definatly want to get the suspension looked at over the winter, but I don't know if I can drop well over 2k for ohlins goodies. But I am kind of siding with you on leaving the bike as-is, and just riding the thing out for the rest of the season, or wait to swap my springs until after beaverun when I just plan on doing a trackday or two before I race again.

But also I will probably be guest coaching at Beaverun, which means I will have a lot of seat time on the bike at varying speeds which would allow me to get comfortable on it before the race on sunday (riding sat & sun). While I work with red and white group riders I can also focus on showing them perfect lines and being smooth on the bike which also helps me understand more about riding the bike and feeling confident. I guess it all comes down to what do I want to gamble. I know on the bike right now, my confidence, on a fresh set of supercorsa's and new brake pads I will run consistent 1:02's at beaver, possibly get into the 1:01 range, I guess it is what are the other fast guys gonna be doing there? If I swap the suspension, get comfy and confident, could I run faster?

Anyways the parts arrived today, I appreciate everyones comments & insight. I will think about it more tonight and tommorow before the weekend - and decide if I'll start tearing things apart in my garage.