Bottoming out.

[Image]

My forks bottomed out on a bend today. Heard about this happening a lot on storms but my first today. Went wide but stayed on road but too close to kerb than I would have preferred. Looking back I think I should have released the front brake and just used rear brake and this would have lifted the fork suspension.
Any suggestions?

[8541Hawk]

What is the oil level in your forks?
Also have you done anything to them or are they stock?

[Image]

Stock I think.

[tony.mon]

They'll be stock.

One of the issues with stock forks is that they are fitted with a 100mm tube at the top which restricts the amount of spring action, and under braking over bumpy surfaces can result in forks bottoming out.
I'd recommend fitting replacement springs- Hyperpro are good, Hagon work, others are available depending on how much you have in the budget.

Search in the Workshop Knowledgebase for suggestions and other owner's experiences.

[Image]

I really hammered it into the bend and realised I was going too fast. I think I should have hit the rear brake only. My race line was pretty poor as well.
Do you have a link for hyperho?

[tony.mon]

I really hammered it into the bend and realised I was going too fast. I think I should have hit the rear brake only. My race line was pretty poor as well.
Do you have a link for hyperho?

try:
http://www.hyperpro.com/

But you can order from various UK outlets, most with free p+p.

[Rob]

I know I'll sound like a knob saying this, but no amount of equipment will make up for riding beyond your abilities.

My suggestion, maybe some advanced training? I started a course years ago but didn't finish it due to work commitments but what I learned I still use today. I might actually look into it again now I work pretty fixed hours.

I'm not knocking your ability, you're probably a better rider than I am and I hope you take this in the way it was intended

p.s. You have to watch those fast Yellow ones

[boz]

p.s. You have to watch those fast Yellow ones

The only fast yellow one I've ever come across is the grapefruit skin I chucked at my son for slamming the door A damn sight quicker than a banana Storm I'll tell you

[Xenocide]

Re braking into bends: Watch "Twist of the wrist II" ;)

[AMCQ46]

agree with all answers here.

1) get stiffer fork springs.........its a no brainer, the storm is crap soft as standard....you realy dont need them bottoming out when you are panic braking, that makes things 10 times worse.

2) review your reactions to being caught out by a tightening bend.....the default is panic and to grab more brakes and lock your arms, and that is garanteed to make you run wide with potentially painfull consequences.......you have to force yourself to an alternative reaction, stay calm, dont rely on more braking but trust that the bike has way more grip than you were using and lean your upper body into the bend and relax your arms, push only on the insde bar to countersteer the bike harder over into the bend and and ride round the corner.

3) You have to question how you misjudged the bend in the 1st place, what clues did you miss, were you using the vanishing point, if it was a road you dint know should you have been riding with a more "slow in fast out" mentality to corners...etc blah, blah

I am not the worlds best rider [but we all think we are!], and I always tell my self I should do more training [but I dont!], so I am a bit of a hypocrite with Item 2) & 3), but as bikers we have to make sure that everytime we have a scare we make a point of working out how we will make sure it wont happen again, so it is always good practice to have a critical look at what went wrong and what lessons we need to take away.

where is Geodude when we need someone to one to talk to us about advanced training

[lloydie]

I have followed amcq for some fast miles and found him a very good road rider .
I have also followed kev l
And they both ride the same and that surprising as the job kev did for 35 years .
And amcq messing around with haggis .
Any advice they give you about road riding I would take on board .
Just following them I learnt a lot
Big up to you guys :-)

[Kev L]

I learnt a lot from that ride as well. Keep well away from mono wheeling KTM s as they land!!!

[AMCQ46]

Lloydie, I will have you know that messing round with haggis is very good training for hazard recognition and fast reactions, they are very unstable and can attack with little or no warning................much the same a women realy, but haggis are smaller and faster and they dont spend all your wages on shoes

Kev.........the KTM 990SMT will be for sale if you want to teach it a lesson. the holigan is down grading to an older 950 SM so he can get some cash back to fund the impending sprog

[Kev L]

It is a really impressive piece of kit mate but I love the fun of the Storm. How much do they go for as a matter of interest? Certainly be a good buy for someone wanting a more upright riding position but retaining the punch.

By the way I didn't realise they had a sproglet on the way, send them my best wishes.

[AMCQ46]

Price will depend if it goes with all the extras (akrpovic, powercomander, billet airfilier box, etc) or back to stock. But he will get about £7k for it standard and I expect about £1.5k for the bits.

The older carbed SM model will be about £5k so he puts £3.5k inthe baby fund and still has a nutter wheelie bike.

Yes the sprog news only went public the week after the workshop day, so was a surprise to me too . Will be a shock to his system as he is the biggest kid I know and now he has to grow up, and funny as hell that mine are leaving home when he starts on his 1st. But hey, at least I am not a grandad yet