This is from my 10-year-anniversary thread. Thought I would re-post as a bunch of you missed it. Being Christmas thought a few might be getting suspension upgrades.
When I bought my Busa back in 09 handling meant dealing with the brake dive. It was pretty bad and I was not at all confident in my braking ability. I remember reading how raising the rear of the bike by an inch made it more stable. I ordered the 1" raising dog bones and was amazed at how this made the bike track so much better. Over the years I have read tons of information on motorcycle handling from the theoretical side to the applied side and it is a source of fascination to me.
When I talked the wife into allowing me to buy the Ohlins suspension, my first rides left me a little disappointed. The suspension felt more supple but certainly not $4K better. So I took the bike to a certified Ohlins suspension specialist to setup. First he set everything to a neutral setting. Then he had me sit on the bike and adjusted the sag on both ends. Next he told me to hop off and come back tomorrow, which was a disappointment. He had to go into the forks and adjust the oil based on what he had observed. He also asked me a lot of questions about my riding style, many of which I couldn't answer. When I got back the next day, he started by adjusting the ride height. Then the sag again. He told me that I would have to commit to faster turns (hang half my butt cheeks of the seat), "otherwise this is going to be a bit stiff" was his direction.
He then showed me how to adjust things to various conditions. "This is 5 clicks out, I think for road stuff you can do +/- 3 clicks". Suddenly he stopped and looked at me, "you might want to write this down, these ranges I'm giving you were good enough for some really fast pros". He gave me recommendations for different tire temps, air temps, rain, and even tire wear levels!
When I pulled out of the shop the bike was simply amazing. Suddenly my Busa was a magic carpet. Not only was the bike smooth as glass it had better turn in, and very controlled dive when breaking/accelerating. It was like a new, much more capable motorcycle-truly astonishing.
With the bike under control I improved the brakes in both power and feel (RCS master cylinder & M4's). I had reached the first level of good handling that I call obedient. That's when the bike feels like it will do exactly what you tell it to and you feel like Rossi (only a lot slower obviously).
The more I learned about motorcycle performance the more I came to realize that it's basically all about weight. A light bike will be easier to control than a heavy bike. A light bike will be faster than a heavy bike given the same HP. But where the bike is light is actually more important than the weight itself. This is where mass centralization comes in. A heavy weight placed close to the bike's CG will be less impactful than a light weight placed far away from the CG. Also rotating weight will magnify it's impact as a gyroscopic effect (resistance to turning). Even the bike's crankshaft turning at 11K rpm will have a gyroscopic effect on turning a bike. So if you want to improve the quickness of a bike, first get lighter wheels and then get rid of weight that is away from the CG.
I added a lot of light parts to the Busa but it was the lighter wheels that really transformed the bike into a nimble handler. Turning the bike is now effortless even at speed. So, this was the second level of good handling which I refer to as dynamic. You don't realize how much effort it takes to turn a Busa at relatively high speeds. What that means is that you have to hit turns with well planned lines and changing that line is a bear once you are committed. With the light wheels you have line options, and breaking off your commitment can be done easily and with confidence. Interestingly, because the bike retains the stock rake, trail & wheelbase, it still has the legendary Busa stability.
So I'm quite pleased with the obedience and dynamics of my modified motorcycle, it's a long way from it's agricultural roots. Riding it is weird, because you feel like the road is holding you back from being as aggressive as you and the bike are now capable of. It's not frustrating, just that you are riding at 40% of where I used to ride these same roads slower but was at 80% of my safe limit.
Anyway, in steps the BMW (the second BMW that is!). 2 bikes could not be more different. They weigh about the same at 540-550 lbs. The BMW is tall, the Busa low. The BMW is upright, the Busa is laid down and aggressive. The Busa is formidable, the BMW playful. The Busa is honest, the BMW is smarter than my laptop. And yet, my riding buddies say I'm much faster on the BMW. The 1250 has some really interesting characteristics. The bike is tall and the bars are huge so your leverage over the front end is huge. But it is the boxer engine with the cylinders low and the crank spinning on the bike's longitudinal axis that makes it one of the easiest turning bikes I have ever ridden. The bike also has a mono shock front suspension which makes braking and turning very easy with absolutely no front-end dive. Of course the electronics on the BMW are beyond refined they feel invisible. So this bike hits a third level of good handling I call easy. It is just incredibly easy to ride fast.
So it's amazing having these two bikes. I feel like they have elevated my understanding of motorcycles and I just need to figure out how to get more time with them.
When I bought my Busa back in 09 handling meant dealing with the brake dive. It was pretty bad and I was not at all confident in my braking ability. I remember reading how raising the rear of the bike by an inch made it more stable. I ordered the 1" raising dog bones and was amazed at how this made the bike track so much better. Over the years I have read tons of information on motorcycle handling from the theoretical side to the applied side and it is a source of fascination to me.
When I talked the wife into allowing me to buy the Ohlins suspension, my first rides left me a little disappointed. The suspension felt more supple but certainly not $4K better. So I took the bike to a certified Ohlins suspension specialist to setup. First he set everything to a neutral setting. Then he had me sit on the bike and adjusted the sag on both ends. Next he told me to hop off and come back tomorrow, which was a disappointment. He had to go into the forks and adjust the oil based on what he had observed. He also asked me a lot of questions about my riding style, many of which I couldn't answer. When I got back the next day, he started by adjusting the ride height. Then the sag again. He told me that I would have to commit to faster turns (hang half my butt cheeks of the seat), "otherwise this is going to be a bit stiff" was his direction.
He then showed me how to adjust things to various conditions. "This is 5 clicks out, I think for road stuff you can do +/- 3 clicks". Suddenly he stopped and looked at me, "you might want to write this down, these ranges I'm giving you were good enough for some really fast pros". He gave me recommendations for different tire temps, air temps, rain, and even tire wear levels!
When I pulled out of the shop the bike was simply amazing. Suddenly my Busa was a magic carpet. Not only was the bike smooth as glass it had better turn in, and very controlled dive when breaking/accelerating. It was like a new, much more capable motorcycle-truly astonishing.
With the bike under control I improved the brakes in both power and feel (RCS master cylinder & M4's). I had reached the first level of good handling that I call obedient. That's when the bike feels like it will do exactly what you tell it to and you feel like Rossi (only a lot slower obviously).
The more I learned about motorcycle performance the more I came to realize that it's basically all about weight. A light bike will be easier to control than a heavy bike. A light bike will be faster than a heavy bike given the same HP. But where the bike is light is actually more important than the weight itself. This is where mass centralization comes in. A heavy weight placed close to the bike's CG will be less impactful than a light weight placed far away from the CG. Also rotating weight will magnify it's impact as a gyroscopic effect (resistance to turning). Even the bike's crankshaft turning at 11K rpm will have a gyroscopic effect on turning a bike. So if you want to improve the quickness of a bike, first get lighter wheels and then get rid of weight that is away from the CG.
I added a lot of light parts to the Busa but it was the lighter wheels that really transformed the bike into a nimble handler. Turning the bike is now effortless even at speed. So, this was the second level of good handling which I refer to as dynamic. You don't realize how much effort it takes to turn a Busa at relatively high speeds. What that means is that you have to hit turns with well planned lines and changing that line is a bear once you are committed. With the light wheels you have line options, and breaking off your commitment can be done easily and with confidence. Interestingly, because the bike retains the stock rake, trail & wheelbase, it still has the legendary Busa stability.
So I'm quite pleased with the obedience and dynamics of my modified motorcycle, it's a long way from it's agricultural roots. Riding it is weird, because you feel like the road is holding you back from being as aggressive as you and the bike are now capable of. It's not frustrating, just that you are riding at 40% of where I used to ride these same roads slower but was at 80% of my safe limit.
Anyway, in steps the BMW (the second BMW that is!). 2 bikes could not be more different. They weigh about the same at 540-550 lbs. The BMW is tall, the Busa low. The BMW is upright, the Busa is laid down and aggressive. The Busa is formidable, the BMW playful. The Busa is honest, the BMW is smarter than my laptop. And yet, my riding buddies say I'm much faster on the BMW. The 1250 has some really interesting characteristics. The bike is tall and the bars are huge so your leverage over the front end is huge. But it is the boxer engine with the cylinders low and the crank spinning on the bike's longitudinal axis that makes it one of the easiest turning bikes I have ever ridden. The bike also has a mono shock front suspension which makes braking and turning very easy with absolutely no front-end dive. Of course the electronics on the BMW are beyond refined they feel invisible. So this bike hits a third level of good handling I call easy. It is just incredibly easy to ride fast.
So it's amazing having these two bikes. I feel like they have elevated my understanding of motorcycles and I just need to figure out how to get more time with them.
