I;ve had my hawk for 4 or 5 days now and have put a few hundred miles of aggressive riding on it already. I'm really digging it is the twisties (a little more effort to initiate turn) but its feels great.

My big qualm is cornering clearance. I've already scraped off a good portion of both peg finders which is definitely startling. I don't uppose there is much we can do about this except re route the pipes (undertail??).

Do you guys just hang your *** off the seat and throw your kneee out on tight turns to counterweight and keep the bike higher???

 

The easy solution is aftermarket pegs without feelers, adjustable rearsets are expensive but a good idea...

Hanging off to corner should be standard if riding hard...

 

[QUOTE=vermontzx6r;181068]
I've already scraped off a good portion of both peg finders which is definitely startling. /QUOTE]

Take the feelers off and lean off the side more.

 

ive scraped off quite a bit of mine as well. its real easy to lay it down that far, ill just wear them down to the point where it doesnt do it anymore. haha.

 

how big are you (weight) and do you have the suspension set up properly (rear sag in particular to be sure you have enough preload): being sure front and rear sag are correct will also help it ride better. A lot of people also raise the rear end slightly which will help quicken steering a bit in addition to increased ground clearance. And a LOT of people raise the forks into the triples, sometimes quite a bit, which quickens steering but will also make matters worse as you loose clearance - so you may want to check those things and set it up properly. Then removing the feelers under the pegs. Cornering clearance isn't the best on this bike but for street riding if set up properly it should be more than enough unless you are really really cooking it.

 

I am 5'11 165-170. I think the front is either adjusted significantly or modified by the PO because it doesn't feel too soft (maybe even harder than my ninja I think). I ride with my gf a lot, aggressively too. Shes a great passenger having grown up riding 2 up on snowmachines hitting jumps with her brothers. Shes's really good about supporting herself by placing her hands on the tank and removing a hand ahead of time of a tight corner where she knows I'll hang off. Anyway if the rear suspension appears to be on the stock setting (1 click away from least preload). I guess I'd like to stiffen it up for myself riding solo but also because shes on the back so much.

Any suggestions for optimizing front and rear settings?

 

Also- if the feelers are taken off will the pipes drag before the pegs??

 

someone on here has posted a good suspension set up guide, otherwise just search on google and you can get good overview of how to measure sag - shooting for 25mm front and rear is a good place to start. Also, just see if the forks have been jacked up into the triples from stock - that is all external so you don't have to take anything apart to find out. I don't have a stock front end to know how much fork should be showing above the triple, but I recall just enough for the clipon - could be wrong - so again, its here, just search it. A lot of people raise them up 10mm but some guys go way over that.

And yes, you'll have warning from soft stuff before the hard stuff touches down even without the hero blobs

 

The stock forks have a locking ring at the point where the clipons end... So if that ring (or where it's supposed to be) arent flush with the clipons they have been moved...

 

As mentioned, lean off the bike more. I've played around doing different riding styles on the same road with the FTR and have found I can go just as fast thru them hanging off and keeping the bike more upright or by not hanging off and using more angle and more countersteering. The problem with the latter is that you run out of available traction or contact patch. Of course your tires will look cool not having chicken strips but you can get thru the turn faster and better by hanging off because the bike will be more upright thus allowing for more ground clearance and better contact patch.

 

I think that the exhaust may touch the ground before the pegs if the feelers are removed, but havent tried it yet.
I will shim the rear shock 10mm this winter.

 

He is running Willey Co. pipes which I am not sure if they sit lower or higher than what appears to be the stockers shown above. I've seen pics of ground down stockers from track days. Hitting the hard parts while leaned over is a easy way to get a free ticket to dismountville. I'd go highmounts if you corner pretty low and hard. My .02

+1 on removing the hero feelers.

 

For improving both looks and lean angle it is easy to lift the OEM cans quite a bit with simple adapters that change the position of the passenger pegs. All you need is the adapters and some grinding to the mounting holes at the midpipes (below the riders pegs). The joint in the original midpipes allows a lot of movement without worries about leaking. I saw it first at the German VTR site (where the pics link to) and got similar ones made of aluminium. I think mine lift them even higher than the ones in the pics. With these it looks like the cans are not the first part to touch ground, in fact I think some high mounts have such midpipes especially on left side that the midpipe itself will touch ground before the OEM cans.

 

These plates should pull them up quite a bit
I do run the stocker pipe on that side.

 

great info. The pipes almost look like high mounts with those adapters. I may have to have my friend fab me up a set.

great pic goboezio