Suspension upgrades....

[Fluke]

Mine may get fitted sooner then.
I'll keep you posted with and info you might find useful.
Mind you, the weather is such pants that I'm in no hurry to get it done.
Fuck it, I'm off to hibernate. See you in June

 

[l34chy]

Ah yes. Sorry. I'm with u now lol. Yes I think I am getting one when someone has their upgrade

Not long I drop the bike off saturday so about a fortnight

 

[Triple Trouble]

Mine may get fitted sooner then.
I'll keep you posted with and info you might find useful.
Mind you, the weather is such pants that I'm in no hurry to get it done.
Fuck it, I'm off to hibernate. See you in June

Hibernation is for cockwombles lol. My bike is so dirty from commuting in the rain u can't tell what colour it is supposed to be lol.

 

[Fluke]

My bike is so dirty it looks like it should do...
but it is a mark one bandit so I don't really care.
My martine, on the other hand, is under wraps until the wet stuff stops falling.
Heaven forbid she should actually get wet!!!

 

[Fluke]

hmmm.
this started as a conversation about suspension mods so here's something relevant.
My aforementioned Bandit is about to get an upgrade.
I'm about to slot in a GSXR 1100 slingshot front end and fit a jack up kit.
Head down, arse up as they say.
That's what I call a winter hack. Pictures to follow

 

[Fluke]

Hi yeah it's a 08 zx10 i had to open up bottom mount 2mm and then it's straight in just have to trim a bit of under tray and away you go.
I think i might have to have it revalved and new spring but it's a vast improvement already just need to do a bit of dialing in first.
but i'm planning on doing a few track days and possibly racing it definitely gonna do a few sprint races and hill climbs
I have emailed maxton for a quote along with fork cartridge upgrade

Hi Mate
I'm fitting a ZX10 shock and want to start off well prepared. Do you remember exactly what size hole you had to drill in the bottom mount?
Many thanks

 

[l34chy]

Hi Mate
I'm fitting a ZX10 shock and want to start off well prepared. Do you remember exactly what size hole you had to drill in the bottom mount?
Many thanks

I have sent you pm

 

[kevxtx]

Hi Mate
I'm fitting a ZX10 shock and want to start off well prepared. Do you remember exactly what size hole you had to drill in the bottom mount?
Many thanks

I offset my shock hole on the ZX10 shock to reduce the length by 2mm, the hole diameter went from 10mm to 12mm.

 

[Fluke]

That makes sense though I may have trouble doing that as I don't have a very sophisticated workshop at my disposal.
Surely if the hole is offset by 2mm, the centre would only be offset by 1mm so the most the suspension would be lengthened by is 1mm (or in your case, by .5mm).
Whatever the difference, that means you avoid raising the back end and making the rake steeper which would have the effect of making the steering (even) quicker.
Cheers, S

 

[kevxtx]

I lowered my front forks in the triple clamps which raises the front by 5mm to compensate the raised rear, I also am running 40mm rear sag.

I am told a 2012 ZX6R rear shock may also fit.

 

[Petri Helppi]

I just get my bitubo suspension upgrades installed.


Photo in album MT-09 & bitubo suspension:
http://mt09.motorcycle-talk.com/forum/members/petri-helppi/albums/mt-09-and-bitubo-suspension/

 

[Kerimo]

Price

Hi all!

New to the forum, but been reading loads of posts for a while now.

Im in the market for a new bike, and the MT09 seems to be a great option i my eyes, esp for the price, but i have some second thoughts regarding suspension.
In my eyes, the bike really needs an upgrade from stock, and I wonder how much that needs to be spent to change both front internals and rear shock. Im no mechanic either, so I would need to send mine to the doctor, which also would add to the cost.
My fears are that when all is said and done - the suspension parts are ordered and a mechanic has put it on the bike - I might as well have bought a more expensive bike that would not need the upgrade.... Not to say I wouldn´t want the MT09, but that might open up for considering others. :/ How many hours is needed to do the change? Does anyone know? The rate here is steep, about £120/hr, so it does add to the total.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[flipper]

rear shock takes half an hour and is simple to do. spend the money on tools and learn to do it yourself - it's only 3 bolts.

front forks - depends on what you have done. I installed the revalve kit, oil and springs in a few hours - say 4 from start to finish.

 

[Kerimo]

rear shock takes half an hour and is simple to do. spend the money on tools and learn to do it yourself - it's only 3 bolts.

front forks - depends on what you have done. I installed the revalve kit, oil and springs in a few hours - say 4 from start to finish.

Thanks, flipper
Much appreciated.

 

[Bon]

I had mine done [front and rear] by a specialist while I waited [ride in / ride out service] Took around the 4 hrs for them to do the work then take it for a test ride and fine tune. Then I got it back and rode it home.

 

[Fluke]

Hi Kerimo, buy an MT09, they're excellent and well worth a few extra bucks to get the suspension right.
I did mine on the cheap by getting a ZX10 shock, (maybe £100 on ebay) and some Ohlins springs which also cost £100.
If you do it yourself, the hardest part of fitting the shock is drilling out one of the holes from 10 to 12 mm to make it fit then it goes straight in, though I found getting to the bolts to take the standard shock out was a bit fiddly. A ratchet spanner helped.
Fork spring swap should be pretty straight forward for you if you have the tools or shouldn't take a mechanic long.

 

[Fluke]

Fork spring swap, What to do?
I've got my standard shock swapped for a ZX10 unit and I'm doing the fork springs next.
I thought I'd read on the forum that people had put in springs and changed the oil but can't find it now.
I've got some Ohlins springs in the post and thought I'd have a chat with Yamaha technical dept to see if they had a clever way to measure the fork oil.
The bloke I spoke to got very agitated that I wanted to change the springs and oil at the same time, 'change the springs and see what it's like before I decide to move to a heavier oil', he said, 'especially as using thicker oil may cause hydraulic lock!'
I'd never heard of this but he said if the oil is too thick, when I hit a bump it may not flow through the valves in the suspension and the forks would lock up.
It sounds like a sensible idea and I'd never heard of hydraulic lock but I thought I'd ask if anyone has put Ohlins springs and heavier oil in, (without changing the cartridges) and what happened?
Also, which weight oil did you use?
Many thanks for your help, Fluke

 

[flipper]

Fork spring swap, What to do?
I've got my standard shock swapped for a ZX10 unit and I'm doing the fork springs next.
I thought I'd read on the forum that people had put in springs and changed the oil but can't find it now.
I've got some Ohlins springs in the post and thought I'd have a chat with Yamaha technical dept to see if they had a clever way to measure the fork oil.
The bloke I spoke to got very agitated that I wanted to change the springs and oil at the same time, 'change the springs and see what it's like before I decide to move to a heavier oil', he said, 'especially as using thicker oil may cause hydraulic lock!'
I'd never heard of this but he said if the oil is too thick, when I hit a bump it may not flow through the valves in the suspension and the forks would lock up.
It sounds like a sensible idea and I'd never heard of hydraulic lock but I thought I'd ask if anyone has put Ohlins springs and heavier oil in, (without changing the cartridges) and what happened?
Also, which weight oil did you use?
Many thanks for your help, Fluke

WALOB. You are not going to get hydraulic lock. Use a slightly thicker oil than stock, such as Silkolene 5W or the mega expensive stuff that Ohlins recommend. Set the oil level slightly higher than stock. 130mm works well. You can use any oil in the left leg as it has no damping at all. Just set the height the same on both legs.

You can buy a tool to measure oil height, or just use a steel rule and look down the inside of the fork tube. T'aint rocket science. This will do nicely: Proworks Fork Oil Level Tool | eBay

Just be sure to bleed the right hand cartridge properly.

You have a way of compressing the springs to disassemble the forks, right? Cos they're a complete bastard otherwise.

And you must set the fork top back on the damper rod the correct distance or you cock up the amount of rebound adjustment available.

 

[marthy]

Flipper is spot on. Just told your mechanic this is a proven setup. 130mm is perfect oil level too. (For me)

 

[My Toy]

How do you change the oil in USD forks. And what is the method of "bleeding" the cartridge, is it just a case of pumping it up and down before putting the fork cap on. I want to try thicker oil before stumping up for maxton internals. ZX10 shock first though.


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