nosbig
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On my last busa I did the suspension first and it did make a big difference. The nose of the bike would just take a hard dive at the lightest touch of the front brake. After the adjustments it would settle in instead of dive.
A Quest For Brakes
- Thread starter 13013
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On my last busa I did the suspension first and it did make a big difference. The nose of the bike would just take a hard dive at the lightest touch of the front brake. After the adjustments it would settle in instead of dive.
13013
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That's where im hung up. I've heard several opinions on the springs. For the $100 is it worth it?
That's exactly what my bike does. I was under the impression setting the suspension up wasn't all that difficult.
sugarbear
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I am still running completely stock; and have spent a fair bit of time getting my suspension set up just so. I don't find the brakes bad at all on my bike; one finger will very easily stop me very quickly. I do think I'll upgrade to the HH pads when my stockers are done; and SS lines at some point, but I'm not in a hurry.
I agree; getting the suspension set up first is well worth it. Not only does it affect braking; but has a significant affect on handling in general. Take your time, get someone to help you measure your sag (the bike's!); and get that set correctly, before adjusting any dials.
There should be lots of suggested baseline settings out there, but it'll depend a lot on personal taste; body weight, riding style, etc. I'd start with a recommended baseline (I think Sport Rider has some); and then go from there. Just change one setting at a time; ride, test, evaluate. Write things down too; as you make adjustments.
Sugarbear
I agree; getting the suspension set up first is well worth it. Not only does it affect braking; but has a significant affect on handling in general. Take your time, get someone to help you measure your sag (the bike's!); and get that set correctly, before adjusting any dials.
There should be lots of suggested baseline settings out there, but it'll depend a lot on personal taste; body weight, riding style, etc. I'd start with a recommended baseline (I think Sport Rider has some); and then go from there. Just change one setting at a time; ride, test, evaluate. Write things down too; as you make adjustments. Sugarbear
The suspension comments are good ones... I am a fat guy, 5'6" and 250+. The stock fork setups just aren't for me (springs and dampening) - suspension set-up is what connects you to the road; it dictates the feel and comfort of your ride. When you grab the front brake, the nose will always dive (it physically has to), but spring rate and dampening is what controls the amount of dive and the time to re-center. There is a limit to how much you can adjust the forks or the shock - you can only compress or release a spring so much - this is why spring rate is driven by rider weight and riding style. The idea is getting the optimal range of travel for your suspension and then tuning to set the "feel" that you prefer. My opinion is that a lot of people buy farkles and go faster stuff, but the suspension and brakes are often neglected.
We mod our bikes based on our preferences - but to me, the first thing that any rider should do is set-up/adjust the suspension. Why? Because dialed in suspension will change the feel of the ride, which affects confidence in the ride. It will change the bike's dynamic during acceleration, deceleration (especially sudden events), handling feel in corners, etc. I would liken it to cooking. Adding salt to the recipe can create a better taste than adding salt after the fact. If you try to dial in the suspension and you find that you don't have the right range of travel/stiffness, then you can change the springs for a relatively low cost. After you see how the bike feels in its optimal settings for the ride, then you can determine how far you want to go with the brakes. Do you just need new lines? New pads? New levers or new M/C? New calipers?
The problem with suspension is that it is easy to determine how well a bike stops, based on grabbing a handful of brake and seeing what happens. You can decide if you like the stopping distance, wheel locking, etc. But, if you have never seen how a well tuned suspension feels, then you don't know what a difference it can make. I have seen guys tune suspension for between $35 and $75 - I will say that it is the single best mod I have ever done. My recommendation is to get the suspension set up FIRST - then based on your budget, build the brake system that you want. I have full ohlins on both of my Busas (Gen I and Gen II). For my money, it is the best possible investment in either bike. Your bike's suspension is your bike's core. If you want to lift a lot with your legs, your core comes into play. If you want to bench a lot, your core comes into play.
Your brakes, no matter how good and expensive the brand name, will never stop the bike as well as they could or should - if your suspension is all out of whack.
Just my .02
We mod our bikes based on our preferences - but to me, the first thing that any rider should do is set-up/adjust the suspension. Why? Because dialed in suspension will change the feel of the ride, which affects confidence in the ride. It will change the bike's dynamic during acceleration, deceleration (especially sudden events), handling feel in corners, etc. I would liken it to cooking. Adding salt to the recipe can create a better taste than adding salt after the fact. If you try to dial in the suspension and you find that you don't have the right range of travel/stiffness, then you can change the springs for a relatively low cost. After you see how the bike feels in its optimal settings for the ride, then you can determine how far you want to go with the brakes. Do you just need new lines? New pads? New levers or new M/C? New calipers?
The problem with suspension is that it is easy to determine how well a bike stops, based on grabbing a handful of brake and seeing what happens. You can decide if you like the stopping distance, wheel locking, etc. But, if you have never seen how a well tuned suspension feels, then you don't know what a difference it can make. I have seen guys tune suspension for between $35 and $75 - I will say that it is the single best mod I have ever done. My recommendation is to get the suspension set up FIRST - then based on your budget, build the brake system that you want. I have full ohlins on both of my Busas (Gen I and Gen II). For my money, it is the best possible investment in either bike. Your bike's suspension is your bike's core. If you want to lift a lot with your legs, your core comes into play. If you want to bench a lot, your core comes into play.
Your brakes, no matter how good and expensive the brand name, will never stop the bike as well as they could or should - if your suspension is all out of whack.
Just my .02
While upgrading your suspension is certainly an (expensive) option, just tuning the stock suspension for your particular weight (unless you are HEAVY and using up all the stock suspension to start with) is plenty good for starters - and for street riding, you are not really able to explore what that fancy new suspension can do, so your bang/buck ratio is kinda out of whack. In terms of expense, just a change in pads and lines is the cheapest and best place to start...after that it starts costing some bills $$....Of course, it all depends on how much $$ you have/want to spend...
I am running totally stock front suspension on my trackbike (but about to change that a little). As far as street riding on my Busa - Pads/lines is as far as I felt I needed to go (and the rotors are not much more than bling). Jason Pridmore runs BONE STOCK suspension and tires on the bikes he rides for his schools (and he can make riders with thousands in mods cry like babies)...there is a point where TRAINING beats MODS all day long....
I set the sag before any brake changes.
The handling is obviously much better, but I can't say it helped the brakes.
I put on ss lines, and EBC "Extreme Pro"HH pads, not just the regular HH pads.
The extreme pro pads are ceramic embedded.
They are harder on rotors, but stopping is dramatically improved. Rotors are wear-out replacement parts anyway.
But I'de rather stop shorter than have rotors last a little longer.
Have you done the rear also?
I'm 190-195lbs in full leathers.
On the rear shock, I backed the nut off to about 3 threads showing over the top of it.
That's a ballpark starting point if your weight is anywhere close.
As for compression and rebound, I forget, but I think low to mid teens on turns counter clockwise.
I adjust it to 35-40mm of sag front and rear.
13013
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I'm a smidgen over 41mm up front and got the rear set at 38mm. I'm just gonna have to play with the rear, I ride 2 up frequently. But it is night and day on the braking up front. Between the heavier weight fork fluid and setting em up I was really pleased. Hit some twisties last night and it just feels "stickier" if that makes sense.
Yeah, I put 7w in my forks(5w is stock)
No real advantage, just a difference in feel, and I liked it better.
1-2 psi added to rear tire helps with a passenger.
No real advantage, just a difference in feel, and I liked it better.
1-2 psi added to rear tire helps with a passenger.
41 and 38mm sag sounds fine, but it'll improve and feel better the more you play with it.
I'de start making fine adjustments on the side of the road, best way to get it just right.
I'de start making fine adjustments on the side of the road, best way to get it just right.
Wow, the only thing I've done on the Gen II is replace the factory pads with EBC Extreme Pro pads. They made a noticeable difference. The Gen II lines were a big upgrade from the Gen I as well as the calipers, etc. If you have a newer model with ABS it can get a little tricky upgrading the entire system. Best of luck.
I would change pads and set suspension and give it a try, but that's me.
I would change pads and set suspension and give it a try, but that's me.
^^^^^ Nice front end!
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