From Dave’s blog, invaluable info for bike set-up; I will add to sticky.
Enjoy!
Direct link: http://feelthetrack.com/?page_id=881
Dialing in a new bike to your needs
We all get new bikes, some get a base line suspension set up, fewer still then tailor the bike to their needs with ergonomics.This is not a difficult process, but it does require a lot of patience. You need to ride at 70- 80% of your ability ensuring that you have enough brain space to review what the bike is doing when you are taking it on a ride and reviewing its behavior in certain circumstances. Those can be broken down into 3 very basic categories:
going into the corner (braking, trail braking, turn in, bump absorption)
mid corner/long corners (chassis balance between front and rear rebound settings)
corner exit (the bike holding its line when the throttle is applied)
If you take your time to feel the bike and how it behaves as it gets into each of the above situations, you will be very surprised how much you can feel the road or track, suspension and tires combined working together. Again, you have to be going slow enough to feel this, so back off your lap pace until you are relaxed on the bike and can observe what it does in one of the above situations.
NOTE: in doing this, you must be the control in the experiment. Same lines, speed or lap times, brake markers, reference points, acceleration points etc. If you can’t do that, don’t be frustrated by the lack of consistent feel you are getting from the bike!
Project GSXR initial shakedown:
Session 1:
http://youtu.be/fqIoKMkOAOoSession 2:
http://youtu.be/jwsjbjHZtiYSession 3:
http://youtu.be/gd8-0d9XonsNOTES:
Before you do anything, you need to know what you have, where everything is and then in sequence, what will you change.
Suspension and Geometry:
Forks are stock, fresh 10w Maxima oil, oil height 120mm
preload at 5 turns in from full soft
rebound at 1.25 turns out from maximum
compression 1.25 turns out from maximum
Rear shock is stock, start at +7mm in ride height starting point
3 pack of washers from the hardware store at 99 cents
preload at 4 threads showing
high speed compression at 2 turns out
low speed compression at 2.25 turns out
rebound at 2.25 turns out
Session 1:
Ride the bike to check everything on track:- clutch, shifting, engine temps and general ergonomics, plus any warning light for coolant, Fi etc. As a result from the first few laps, it was immediately obvious that all ergonomics had to be reset for me and that included
bars moved out for more sweep
clutch and brake levers changed to match finger length
rear sets moved down on the OEM bracket 1 hole to the low position
shift lever repositioned using shift rod for foot angle
shift lever foot tab moved to maximum distance for my foot size
In making the ergonomics match by body and needs for comfort, the bike became much easier to ride so I could now spend more time evaluating the rest of the bike while being completely relaxed during riding sessions.
Session 2:
Verify that all changes were appropriate and note what needed to be further manipulated to be right. That turned out to be only the front brake lever position which was done while riding, making a quick change to the Accossato lever by three clicks to move it away from the bar. Then I moved on to suspension evaluation in feeling how the bike responded to braking and acceleration. It was obvious that the forks were far too soft on initial braking, so changes were needed there. While the bike didn’t run wide on hard acceleration, it did pick up the front too easily and quickly, so changes were needed to the rear shock.
change front forks to flush with the upper triple clamp
fork preload to 7 turns in
fork compression to 1 turn out
shock preload softened by 1 turn
low speed compression to 2.5 turns out
rebound to 2.5 turns out
Session 3:
Riding the bike seemed much more effortless as the chassis was far more neutral and the bike flicked from side to side much more easily. Braking was better with more structural and hydraulic support on the bike, and the front wheel was nowhere near as prone to wheelies coming off the corners. All in all, very good changes for the most part and a great base line to start with.
Next? Get the head bearings replaced including races, so that braking can be reviewed using the normal amount of braking force and lever pressure to fine tune fork settings and front end geometry.