OMG nearly had a big off!

[Beamish]

Now I am used to the SP I thought i would have a play with the suspension settings. I like a stiff one (Fnarr fnarr) so I upped the comp damping one click on both forks and back shock. Set off today for a blast and on the first section of smooth decent tarmac it felt beautiful. The rear didnt tend to squat so much on the gas and the forks were slower to dive under heavy breaking. All round the bike felt stable and balanced, result I thought, got onto my favourite back twisty road and I had some almighty moments . Coming out of a tight right hand hairpin, came on the gas heavy and the front started to slap.... it got worse and more violent for a couple of seconds then thank god it settled Wow I am still shook up thinking about it. Anyhoo I put it down to ham fisted power delivery and a rouge road surface. 5 miles up the road wound on the gas crossed the white line and off she went again It was like trying to stay on a bucking bronco . Stopped for a brew, wound the comp back all round and had no more bother! Could just be coincidence and pants riding skills but I think a damper must now be shuffled fwd on the shopping list in front of the PC

[lee67]

u telling me an sp doesnt come fitted with an oe damper???......cheap tat

[Seeker 77]

Lesson learned,









IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T TRY AND FIX IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Zakalwe]

SPs are pretty damn sensitive to the clickers on the suspenders (unlike a lot of bikes out there that the clickers make bugger all difference on).

Guess you learned that today, huh? Good job on staying on....did'ya have to scrape the undercrackers clean afterwards?

[dave-sp2]

you won't be doing that again, but at least it did't go any further than that. you must have a good grip

dave

[Jbrebel]

At least you got away with it Jim

I've seen quite a few with dampers fitted of recent.

[marravtr]

stop feckin about wi it and just ride it glad you stayed on tho matey

[Beamish]

good replies I am an engineer so its my job to f*** about with rates and settings. Just goes to show how good the H.E.S.D lecky jobby is on the new Blade, I am having to learn to ride again
Oh yeh another observation....... it doesnt wheely like the Storm used to, it must have a longer swing arm or some other geometry that lets you just rip rocket fwd without the front coming up. . I will have to drop a cog on the front me thinks. I would rather it is in the air than shaking like a sh****** dog

[Beamish]

it doesnt wheely like the Storm used to, it must have a longer swing arm or some other geometry that lets you just rip rocket fwd without the front coming up.

Speak to Mike, his seems to have the opposite problem, his front has trouble staying on the ground You are quite clearly just not riding it hard enough Jim Or maybe you have fiddled the suspension settings into non-wheelie mode?

Different swing arm on the SP1, I dont clutch up wheelies (not sure if Mike does) just tend to use the lumps and bumps on the power.

[Pete.L]

I found mine to be exactly the same. I got rid of the cheep showa on the rear and no more slaps for me
Oh! and as for wheelies, it would rather accellerate like a scolded cat but if you just let the revs rise to about six without accelerating much and then wang the throttle open fast, the petrol tank will try to break your nose
Great when you get it right though

Pete.l

[Jbrebel]

Well, seems like a nice way to have a broken nose Pete

[Beamish]

I found mine to be exactly the same. I got rid of the cheep showa on the rear and no more slaps for me
Oh! and as for wheelies, it would rather accellerate like a scolded cat but if you just let the revs rise to about six without accelerating much and then wang the throttle open fast, the petrol tank will try to break your nose
Great when you get it right though

Pete.l

Good tip, I will have a play next time out. Certainly not wheelie happy like my last two bikes though. (That wasnt a pun Timbo! )

[gilson]

Very interesting topic. I have an SP2 with a Hyperpro steering damper. I hate the damn thing, get's completely in the way when trying to get the tank off and need a wopping 41mm socket to undo the steering stem bolt. I want rid of it, might be for sale soon if you are interested...

However, I've been informed by Roger D (who must be getting right pissed off with all my emails, but he's a gent and always give me advice), that the main issue is the front forks. They are Fireblade forks which have been amended (both SPs didn't have they own specialise forks as Honda new they would only sell in low numbers so didn't bother, plus in racing they'd be changed anyway).

The answer is to "Roger" the forks, then you can do away with the steering damper and the rear shock is perfect.

Another bit of advice I was told at the track. An RSV1000 had his suspension tweaked by a guy at the track. I saw him when he came back in after a session post Sus tweaking and he was thrilled. The suspension guy said it's common for most bikes to be too hard as people think that this is the best. It's not, especially for V-Twins where there is so much torque, having a softer set up is better as it allows the bike to sink slowly applying the torque more gently to the surface. If it does then slip, it regains better too... I think this is what you experienced.... Don't ask me how it works

What it also shows is that you are a relaxed rider. The theory is that if you are relaxed and you loose the rear, the front will automatically regain control if no human input was present - think that when the rear slides, the front wheel automatically turns in to the slide. human panic will mess that up and crash, bang wallop. The advice is to relax and let the bike sort itself out, just like you did (several times). After the first, I'd be wound tighter than your suspension so would have been kicked off the second time!

I'm no expert, but devour info - in practice, I'm shite....

[Beamish]

Thanks Gilson, most informative. I can definately ride around the head shaking problem on a softer set up as its not particulary intrusive (in fact I quite like it when its mild and not tendon tearing ) I wonder what model blade forks are used. Must be 2000 RRX as the RRW I owned were not upside downers.

[gilson]

I don't mean to sound a "know it all", I'm not at all, just passing on some info.

The SP2 ones are different. They did fix some of the issues with the SP1 forks, but this raised other issues. I've no idea what Blade forks they are though, but I have been told that the internals are different.

I'll be getting mine done for sure....the trouble I have is setting them up again! When I did this for my track bike forks, I wasn't too confident that I sorted it according to the instructions, I took it to the track sus guy and he changed it completely! It's a lot to do with feel of the rebound etc, which comes with experience....which I don't have!