Been reading up r.e suss settings, as after a rideout yesterday, the bike was all over the gaff on bumpy roads, skittish and far too firm on the front.... It was bumpy man....I felt every little rut etc.. So, I've taken some settings from Dave Moss, and dialled them in to try out tomorrow.
Nip up to KAIS Suspension at Atherton Si, snot far from you! Set mine up reet plush on the front end for £50 suspension
Ive already had it set up by motrac.... great on smooth, fast roads and track, but poor on choppy, mullered by the winter roads. I need to change the oil on the forks, and I'm going to get a new rear shock as soon as I come back from Italy. I'm waiting for Thefirebloke to see what he thinks of the 2012 shock before I invest in a Nitron.
At £1200.00 plus!! just for the rear, then work on the front to match it, then set up..........not much change from £1500.00!! I would argue that although the 2012 shock, while not as good as the Ohlins would be a much cheaper upgrade and more than suitable for the road.
Yeah, won't get much change out of £2,000 for ttx rear and springs, oil for the front, then set up. No chance, not for the road, and I believe they aren't simple to set up either.... The Nitron rear is £500 for road race rear shock, a good price. If Firebloke is happy with the Showa rear, I'll go for one of them. He seems to know his stuff, so I trust him. The same cannot be said of his choice of haircut though.
I've seen a few Alex, they seem to go for £150-200 new. Taken off new bikes for track to add ohlins etc....
I would look at getting some k-tech internals for the front si as thats a cheap way to get some big gains
The Ohlins TTX is another world from the 2012 shock, internally and functionally. It's 1200.00 for a good reason, materials used R&D and much more, can be reworked in every way. Half your battle with suss setup has been conquered "fear of adjusting your settings" no shop can walk to a bike and "dial in" magic settings! They can set sag as you can with a mate and YouTube! Shops often dial in these magic settings and riders feel they have an improved bike, half the time they just feel better in mind set and thus ride free MOST OEM suss does not respond well in other words you can dial plus 20 clicks and not feel much change from where you came UNLIKE Ohlins, KTech and other quality shocks and forks etc that respond well, a click more comp gives just that, shops should get riders to go for a ride then dial in or out to find the sweet spot that's best for a riders use and style, problem is any setting is just a compromise that try's to work in an ever changing environment. Hence why it's often fact that planting the seed of faith makes a rider feel more at home even if nothing has changed. The key is ride it, change it, ride it, make notes and learn how you bike responds to change, or take the plunge get your forks reworked by Ktech etc and you will be on the path of getting properly set up. Here's one for you, track side, rider comes in, throws a few fks into Ohlins technician says bike shit, ok, tech works on suss, dials in some of this and that, rider goes out, knocks TWO seconds of the lap, rider comes in says that's the balls!, tech turns to me and says " changed nothing"... lol I'm not saying just leave it but peace of mind is one thing (and well worth 50 quid, however I have stories on that theroy too) learning how to do it is another and so on... I think reading up, YouTube, asking an expert is the way forward and can make a rider better in all ways.
Arthur dude, I bow to your superior knowledge, but after having my 05 fitted and set up with Ohlins rear shock and a stage one conversion on the forks the difference was probably worth the money back then. With prices now at around £1500 plus, for the gain I just don't think it's value for money, certainly not for the road anyway. With the 12 plate shock fitted and set up correctly in my 08 blade I believe it will be plenty good enough for mere mortals like myself on the road. If I were to take it on track like I do with my 05 then sure an Ohlins set up would be justifiable. There are plenty peeps out there who have the money and just want the bling but how often do you see bikes dripping with aftermarket parts and chicken strips an inch wide! I suppose the point I'm making is the vast majority of riders wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a well set up bike and one with Ohlins fitted because they just don't ride that hard and that's when Ohlins really works for you.
I've got an 09 road bike with about 20 000miles on it. Wouldn't a brand new 2013 shock for £150 be worth it or would I be better off taking my bike to Ktech to refresh the original kit, Arthur?
I agree fully firebloke, you know I can ride a race bike and its fine, I can dial it off the planet and for me its still fine....lol My rider at the time wants "half a click"! lol So yes I fully agree for the most standard is fine, Ohlins is bling on the road and little more (however it is the balls but costly, do I love mine why YES, its 1000X better and never fades off) for the average rider.. Bling is only bling when people recognize the name, hence people look at a Ktech or a factory Showa shock and dont see bling? Anyway as for the 2012 shock its defo a step forward and I would say an upgrade from 08+ and for the price (150) Bargin! (I am fitting another 2012 shock to a 2009 blade today ) Done
Got to say I've been very pleased so far with my 2012 shock. It was a definite improvement over to 2008 -2011 shock. I was unsure about what to do at the front end and as I couldn't find anyone on the forum to advise me I settled on a pair of 2012 BPF rather than going the K-tech piston kit route. This gives me the option of selling the bike with the original unmodified forks then sell on the 2012 BPF. As I'm not likely to get into track days I think the stock 2012 suspension will be more than adequate. I managed to setup the shock quite easily but I have struggled with finding good settings for the forks - harder to setup than the original forks. I had the suspension looked at by Phil Crowe at the Silverstone track day last Sunday to save hours of tinkering. He did a great job of dialling in some base settings. The ride is not what I would describe as plush because I'm too light for the stock springs but hell does it hold a line round bends now.
