luis saleiro

Wow
I wasnīt expecting so many replies...
Let me see if i can answer to all of you.
Ok, first thing, a big thanks for the coments and for the advice on the rads.
I really must do something to protect them, as theyīre gonna stay side by side as they are.
Second, i bought the headlights on ebay, under advice of some members here.
Superbeater, you might not remember, but we exchange pm under this subject.
Your bikes pictures were the confirmation for the headlights size i was looking for.
You can find the "mini fairing" here:
http://www.giviusa.com/My-motorcycle...le-1050-05--09
The Speed triple in this page was the goal.
The bracket was hand made in stanless steel and painted black.
The main thing is that i can go back to the stock form whenever i want, itīs completely reversible. That was the big chalenge.
Then came the clean look, has in a stock bike and not a streetfighter that someone fell over and decided to get the naked look just because it was too expensive or too hard to put it back together again.
I have to say, this is a hole new fast, confortable, and powerfull bike.
I couldnīt believe the bike iīve been missing over this years.
This is a 1997 VTR and i have it since 1998.
Coming up next is the manual CCTīs and the rads protections.

dannyz

Hey Luis, great job. Like the way you "masked" rads by painting them black. They definitelly need some protection, though.
One question: from your pics it seems that you dropped your forks a bit in the triple. I think that they usually stick out much more when naked. If so, can you tell the difference in handling, both in straight line and in turns?
I haven't gone naked, but tried dropping my forks about 3mm (don't have those safety rings) lower than stock and sometimes, specially with passenger, feel like front end gets light. I figured it may be because of the different weight distribution (front/rear). Or maybe it's just self-suggestion...
Asking this because usually people go opposite way, by dropping triple clamp some 10mm or so.

luis saleiro

Thanks Danny,
Well, has you know our stock forks arenīt the better ones so itīs natural to have complains about them.
I have a lot.
But itīs something i can live with in my daily rides.
Yes theyīre dropped.
Can i tell the difference? What can i teel you, the hole bikes changed, itīs all different.
Even the gear lever had to be changed.
Just as an example, iīve only rided 50 km in it and iīve allready started cleaning 5mm of chicken stripes on both sides.
And i have myself on a good account as a rider and had good looking chicken stripes allready...
It simply amazes me onthe potencial of this thing on curves.

Crashrat

Wide handlebars seem to make quick turn-ins faster, but I'm not sure they're as good for fast, wide sweepers. In places like Deal's Gap it's almost cheating to be on a big single with flat wide bars, but I remember feeling a little less confident on the fast sweepers around T.W.O. when I was on my GB500.

The SH already has a weird weight distribution for a sportbike, and I'm a little concerned about how the bike will handle if / when I relocate the radiator along with the superbike bars. But as it is right now, everything up to around 90% riding seems easier, especially the riding around town stuff.

Everything is a trade off, I imagine.

CR

luis saleiro

Yes, I have to give up on the hight speeds in the highway, but neverteless i was very surprised to see i can cruise confortably at 160 km/h (donīt know how many miles/hour it is).
But this is a choice i had to do, cause this bike goes from a "long distances bike" (how i miss those old times) to a "city bike".
It handles very well, and the potencial is huge.
How many of you already read reviews on how fun and fast the Speed triple is in the city?
They say wonderfulls about it.
Well, iīm quite sure that a VTR like this with a good set of brakes and good forks will beat any Speed triple by far.
Not many doubhts about it.

Crashrat

The SH is a rear-biased bike. I don't recall the exact numbers, but more weight is at the back, which makes the front light and leads to some odd braking dynamics sometimes. (I’ve often wondered if this was why Honda gave it such low clip ons.) I don’t feel that it’s particularly top heavy, but having high mounted cans probably isn't ideal either. As a fad they seemed to last about three years.

I think Tweety and Mikstr keep track of these sorts of things in real life, so they would be the ones to ask.

Every Triumph I3 I’ve ridden has been incredibly top heavy / rear-biased, but they make it work for them by giving the bikes wide bars. You really feel like you’re falling into corners on those bikes. It’s frightening the first couple times, but after a while it came be sort of fun.

CR

Crashrat

This would suggest I'm full of ****

"The VTR’s weight distribution is one of the subtlest and most devious world population control schemes history is likely to see. The bench hard seat slides you into the tank, as the evil Honda engineers intended, to make up for the fact that the front wheel is only taking 53% of the distribution. You as a rider are there to optimize the equation, mainly by being sat forward and crushing your nether region’s dangly bits (if you have them) on hard stops, medium stops, and well just about any stop other than gentle and rolling. This bike apparently prefers riders of the bumpy-chested variety."

http://www.onewheeldrive.net/2004/01...d-bike-review/

I don't know. I thought sportbikes tried for 50/50 and 53% sounds good to me. But to be honest, I've always just felt the front was light on the bike. I'll dig deeper.

CR

Crashrat

Ah, here it is:

http://motoprofi.com/motospecspictur...00_f-1999.html

Here are some comparisons culled from the Interwebs

front/rear

Superhawk: 47.1/52.9
1098S: 49.6/50.4
CBR1000RR: 51.6/48.4
ZX-10R: 51.0/49.0
R1: 51.9/48.1
GSX-R1000: 50.7/49.3
MV F4-1000R: 51.7/48.3
V-Star 1300: 48/52
Roadliner 49.6/50.4

You can see in some ways the VTR is closer to a cruiser in this respect. *duck*

CR

nothing

well since he's now naked, as am I, I can tell that the front is much lighter, closer to that 50/50 mark I suppose

Crashrat

I think you would be headed in the other direction there, Nothing. Maybe 45% front 55% rear...?

luis saleiro

Ok, i have a confession to make that will bring light to this mather:
My forks are cut and i have a thicker oil, in order to make them shorter and harder.
Plus, iīm a tall guy (1.85m).
So the bikeīs not that hight in the front, and my weightīs mostly in the front weel.
I was trying to copy the Ducati monster ergo with the Speed triple look, but unfortunatly i couldnīt find a lower pro-taper (even this one had to come from the USA) and had to stay in the midlle.
But it turned up very good.

Tweety

Actually having more than 50% weight in the rear is going to make you very nervous in corners...

Admittedly the RR bikes are slightly rear biased but that's not taking into consideration that on those bikes the rider is even more forward than on the VTR (You are actually not very forward on the VTR for a sportsbike)... I'd say with the rider on there they have a good bit more than 50% in the front...

My bike is at 51% front bias, and with a raised rear it brings me further forward vs stock... That's how you want it...

nothing

tweety that shock adjustment on the rear SH stock shock, is that just for height purposes?

dannyz

CR, one of those sources is - obviously - wrong. They cite opposite values.
If any, I'd say 53front/47rear would be correct. Can't see VTR having more weight at the back than V-star or Roadliner. And also, I'd expect 1098S to have more weight in the front - but I may be completely wrong in my assumptions.
Regardless, it seems they're all within 3% range - which means that rider's weight can play a big role. For heavy-weights (like myself) going from leaning forward position to upright - as a result of ANY wide bar conversion - can thus make a big difference. But because I am a complete ignorant when it comes to m/c geometry and physics, i guess I''ll have to wait till my new handlebars and clamp arrive (currently in the mail!), do some testing, and report back...

Or maybe I am just overthinking this whole bar conversion thing