changing the suspension for stunting

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changing the suspension for stunting

Postby Shakti Stunter » Sun May 22, 2005 6:17 pm

OK, before I crashed the then Scarlett (01 F4i), she had her rear shocks changed for the third time from Ohlins to WP (to handle both road and track better), and in addition the front forks were revalved, with the left fork set for low speed compression, and the right for high speed.

Now she's going from a road/track bike, to a road/stunt bike, so what kind of changes would be ideal suspension wise? The preload on the WP is virtually at max, coz on the track I like a high rear end, and the dampening is also pretty stiff....
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Postby HYPE » Sun May 22, 2005 8:39 pm

medium settings all round i'd say... dont want the rear too stiff and lay off the rebound... but i aint no susp guru!
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Postby OOO » Sat May 28, 2005 10:48 pm

i got no idea when it comes to suspension settings, matt from MAW's set mine up and it seemed to be better streight away, but i got no idea what he did.?? must ask him one day :scratch:
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Postby Elmo » Tue Jun 07, 2005 11:47 am

i kept my stock setting... although i might make the front harder, i have bottomed out a couple of times froma hard landing doin (tryin) slow stuff.. :)
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Postby Shakti Stunter » Thu Jun 09, 2005 11:25 am

Well I posed the question at the independent bike suspension forum... and this was the answer I got...

RE: Suspension for Stunting
Allwight, I guess nada out there wanna have a go at this...

1) 600 vs. litre - This can matter, and at the same time it might well not be cause for concern...i.e. how much weight the particular 600 or litre holds on the front hoop is the key here. Like F4i's have a lot of front wheel weight, as do R6s; yet a RR does not... Or, like how some of these bikes will be wearing RWU or USD fork, which behave differently...

2) These stunts, and including the others you mentioned, are all connected to the same animal: The bike needs a differing type of balance to what most are used to making for road and track bikes...But, that much is obvious, are you needing specifics here?? - and I do so hope someone else chimes in and has a go at explaining things here - It is my guess that the machine needs to be able to give initial pitch on the fork, so as to chuck the chassis and rider weight onto the front contakt patch; but then hold it with enough compression damping so as to control the fork's descent, yet not fluid lock. As concerns fluid manipulation in the return part of the fork's stroke, I would surmise that this needs to be reasonably similar to a standard Ohlins road-race stack, i.e. allows high speed rebound, and dampens out the low-speed - In other words, completely unlike most GSXR fork, which tend to induce tank-slappers on the landing of wheelies...

As concerns the rear shock:- I see it as likely that it would again need a little pitch inducing compression, not too heavy a spring, and rebound circuit not unlike what is in a standard Showa unit - What is low-speed prevalent, so as to quickly stabilise any wheelies, yet allow ample rate of return on landing any stoppies...


Anyhoos, the above are but my own take on the situation; not having ever built a specialised stunt machine's suspension, I might be entirely or partly wrong....LOL
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Postby Paul » Thu Jun 09, 2005 6:15 pm

Wow, I'm confused :?

I'm afraid I just left all my settings stock, and learned to cope with that setup. This suspension setup thing is like some kind of secret art :oops:
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Postby Shakti Stunter » Thu Jun 09, 2005 7:47 pm

na, not really....

basically standard shocks are not really dialed in, so they do not give you maximum control and safety for the road, as they try and average everything out, but why not set them for what you want the bike to do?

most bikes tend to use the cheapest fork oil, and dont really throw in the right amount for adaptability, and the valving is usually not too crash hot... You see you control your compression (how much the front end dips e.g. around corners or over bumps) via the quantity and type of fork oil, and by adjusting the screw position at the top of your forks... You can also set each fork separately, one with better low speed compression and the other with better high speed... (good if you do a range and variety of riding...) you control the dampening (or rebound... how quickly the bike moves from the dips to rest position) via the valving (and the screws at the bottom of the forks).... having your bike revalved and reoiled, means that with your front end, you immediately have far more control of when you swing your bike into corners... you can take them far more quickly (cos the bike flicks in) and with far more safety... and you can set the bike up better for stoppies for instance


now for the shocks, similar scenario to the front, except its controled by a spring... now the standard rear suspension can be rebuilt and it can work just fine, but after market gives you more adaptability and control, and again it allows you to fine tune it so the tyre is far more likely to stay in contact with the road, and the bike doesnt sustain as much jolting impact when you drop the wheelie!!! Also, A soft rear (and by that I dont mean tyre) on a litre bike for instance will throw the weight back and give you more traction and throw the front end skyward. Its not that hard once you wrap you head around the physics of it.... (and you start looking for anyway possible to negate the skill level factor.....)
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