What would you guys do??
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:57 am
So I have a bit of a quandary and not sure what to do about it.
While in the big picture, it is really none of my business. I also know I would feel bad if a fellow rider hurt or even killed themselves because they did understand the situation they are putting themselves in.
For the back story, I had a local rider stop by about 3 months ago and I looked at the suspension on his bike (USD forks and an Ohlins shock)
I tried to set the sag and found some issues.
On the rear, the hydraulic pre-load adjuster is basically non-functional. By turning it all the way in I got around 4-5mm of adjustment.
To me, this is like having a trolly jack that will only lift you car 6" or so...... would you call it safe and keep using it or would you get it fixed before you crawled under the car?
This thing was sagging so much that I had no issues installing a 6mm ride height spacer as in reality it only raised the rear about 1mm at most over the stock ride height with proper sag numbers.
Then as someone who has broken an Ohlins shock shaft, I took a good look at the shock and it defiantly needs a rebuild. Also as someone who was damn luck to keep the bike on its wheels, I know the shaft can snap with no real warning if the spherical bearing fails.
For the forks, while they seem to function properly (though feel pretty stiff and non compliant, though I didn't ride the bike and wouldn't at this point) I asked a few questions.
I found out the forks were purchased off of someones race bike and when they arrived they were just installed. No checking the oil condition or level....just throw them on and go..... While not really dangerous per say IMHO it is still very bad form and something that could bite you in the butt if done as common practice.
I didn't think much about it all until he starts posting about track days and doing one mod after the other on the bike while claiming the suspension is ok.
I made a comment on one of his treads about how he might want to hold off on doing other stuff and get the suspension squared away.
That was met with "Oh I respect your opinion but what, I have to earn my stripes before I can mod my bike"?
Then there was also a comment about how the suspension guys at the track said they set the sag and it was fine....... So I guess the pro-load adjuster magically fixed itself......
I was also told that his bike only has XXXXXX number of miles on it so it is not time for a rebuild....... which is great, if the shock was new when installed, though I kind of doubt that was the case after inspecting the shock.
Plus the classic, I have to use the bike everyday so I can't do the downtime.
Which leads to the quandary, Do you tell someone their bike is a death trap and that you would not be comfortable riding it around the block while they go out and do track days on it?
Or do you just sit back and wait for the inevitable to happen?
If you tell them, how do you go about it?
I have tried and been meet with, what I perceive, the attitude of you just don't want me to modify my bike.
Sorry for the rant and even if I get no replies I guess this was the way I can just walk away from the situation and not feel bad when it happens.
While in the big picture, it is really none of my business. I also know I would feel bad if a fellow rider hurt or even killed themselves because they did understand the situation they are putting themselves in.
For the back story, I had a local rider stop by about 3 months ago and I looked at the suspension on his bike (USD forks and an Ohlins shock)
I tried to set the sag and found some issues.
On the rear, the hydraulic pre-load adjuster is basically non-functional. By turning it all the way in I got around 4-5mm of adjustment.
To me, this is like having a trolly jack that will only lift you car 6" or so...... would you call it safe and keep using it or would you get it fixed before you crawled under the car?
This thing was sagging so much that I had no issues installing a 6mm ride height spacer as in reality it only raised the rear about 1mm at most over the stock ride height with proper sag numbers.
Then as someone who has broken an Ohlins shock shaft, I took a good look at the shock and it defiantly needs a rebuild. Also as someone who was damn luck to keep the bike on its wheels, I know the shaft can snap with no real warning if the spherical bearing fails.
For the forks, while they seem to function properly (though feel pretty stiff and non compliant, though I didn't ride the bike and wouldn't at this point) I asked a few questions.
I found out the forks were purchased off of someones race bike and when they arrived they were just installed. No checking the oil condition or level....just throw them on and go..... While not really dangerous per say IMHO it is still very bad form and something that could bite you in the butt if done as common practice.
I didn't think much about it all until he starts posting about track days and doing one mod after the other on the bike while claiming the suspension is ok.
I made a comment on one of his treads about how he might want to hold off on doing other stuff and get the suspension squared away.
That was met with "Oh I respect your opinion but what, I have to earn my stripes before I can mod my bike"?
Then there was also a comment about how the suspension guys at the track said they set the sag and it was fine....... So I guess the pro-load adjuster magically fixed itself......
I was also told that his bike only has XXXXXX number of miles on it so it is not time for a rebuild....... which is great, if the shock was new when installed, though I kind of doubt that was the case after inspecting the shock.
Plus the classic, I have to use the bike everyday so I can't do the downtime.
Which leads to the quandary, Do you tell someone their bike is a death trap and that you would not be comfortable riding it around the block while they go out and do track days on it?
Or do you just sit back and wait for the inevitable to happen?
If you tell them, how do you go about it?
I have tried and been meet with, what I perceive, the attitude of you just don't want me to modify my bike.
Sorry for the rant and even if I get no replies I guess this was the way I can just walk away from the situation and not feel bad when it happens.