nuhawk

It might be a little tall in the *** but not more than 5 mm's. It's turn in is just as hard as you can stack it but is pretty neutral even through the exit. Parking lot speeds are no problem.

The kid has been riding it with his I4 buddies of yesteryear and he keeps up without complaint. I know if it was porky he would bitch that his buds were all over him. He's about ten pounds lighter than I am.

Either way, I'm glad you got it sorted out.

RCVTR

Greg, I know I wasn't teaching you anything. I'm glad to know my thoughts were on the right track. I never had the problems you described. I put a Fox shock on and made it 10mm longer, put Race-Tech springs in and got the valving done right form the get-go. So when I put the RC front end on, it was already set up. Short trail is better than long trail.

I like these technical discussions and I don't think there is enough of it out here. I hope it helps some people know what direction to go and what to look for.

I'm super frustrated with being obsessed with motorcycles and still not riding one. Talking to my wife about bikes is like trying to keep olive oil mixed up in the pasta water. A frustrating exercise at best. But I'm getting a bike anyfrickinway.

Hawkrider

RCVTR, I hope that it didn't come across that you were being condescending. It wasn't meant that way. After I discovered that I didn't give this enough thought I changed my position on some things and decided that chassis measurements were relatively useless. Maybe measuring TWO points on the chassis, front and rear, would be more beneficial, since you could calculate chassis attitude from that.

To be honest, as much suspension work as I have done, I never really paid that much attention to chassis geometry, rake, trail, and all that good stuff. I now realize exactly how much trail numbers really affect the way the bike handles, especially when you make changes the opposite way (more trail). I think this has been a learning experience for all of us, most of all myself. I'm glad that I have this forum here to share it with you all.

Gregw

Hi Greg,
I started my swap yesterday. It's going so smoothly, I figure I must be doing something wrong. When you raised the forks the 15mm, where did the lower triple come on the forks? I put mine up 10mm and the lower comes flush with the bottom of the clamping area. Did your triple go down into the tapered area? Thanks.

Hawkrider

Yeah, I think I'm about 3-4mm onto the tapered area of the lower clamping area. The lower clamp is so large though I'm not too worried about it - MUCH larger and beefier than stock.

Gregw

Cool, I'll set my forks there. Still have a little grinding to do on the lower triple and I want to re-route the wiring harness higher to give the radiator x-over hose some more clearance. I should be able to reassemble then and finish welding the clip-ons. Thanks again.

cliby

this thread got me thinking about my own suspension. I had never really tested different ride heights on the rear shock - when I got the penske I set it for 7mm longer than stock and left it there. I was happy with the neutral steering driving out of corners. But when I put the RC forks on I aimed for raising them 10mm in the clamps, relative to stock. So after reading all the comments I figured some tinkering was in order. I went out tonite and backed off 5mm on the rear height - quite a noticeable change. Slightly more effort to turn in at speed, but the bike really stands up while trail braking. I'll be going back up on the rear adjuster. Its amazing what you can learn with a little fiddling and note taking.

RCVTR

On my brief ride on Sunday ( I never really got out of town ), Dean's RC was steering like a truck! I wanted to raise the rear, but it's not quite mine yet. Part of it was probably the steering damper. I may suggest that he try it, but he's not really riding much - sold me his leathers, bought a new bicycle...

It still felt good to make the PROSPECT of riding feel like a reality.

KC-10ENG

This thread was a great read for anyone that has done a Front end swap!!!


Dennis