So what excactly have Maxton changed mate ?, High Speed compression, Low Speed Compression, Rebound, Spring rate, Preload etc..... I would be very interested into hearing your comments on this modification also ??? as could go down this route myself. I know Maxton like you to give them a specific problem so they can fix that problem, which is totally understandable and how it should be rather than someone just saying can you make it better mate. I chatted with Richard at Maxton myself for a while on this subject and he said he was always worried they could make it worse if someone just turned up and said its fine as it is but make it better, as if they have nothing to work with, how do they know which direction to go in to find improvements.
Right here ya go mate this is what they are fixing on the blade! by the conversion.... The front forks on this Fireblade have a few problems. For the average rider weight (13 stone) the springs in the forks are too soft, this combined with the new improved brakes makes the front of the bike dive a lot under braking, and maybe bottom the forks out. The other big problem is there is not enough rebound damping inside the forks, even on the maximum setting. This means that when you let go of the brake the forks spring back at quickly, so as you are trying to get down and in to the corner, the forks are coming back at you, making it very difficult to get into the corner. Also when you open the throttle to exit the corner the forks extend to fast, taking too much weight off the front wheel, causing the front tyre to lose grip, run wide and feel a bit "twitchy". We revalve and respring the forks, fitting harder springs to suit your rider weight this stops them diving and bottoming out. The revalve increases the rebound damping to control the harder springs, whilst using the correct weight oil, so the ride does not become too harsh over bumpy roads. We also increase the range of adjustment in the damping screws and fit bump springs to replace the hydraulic bump stops. The hydraulic bumps stops stop the forks bottoming out metal to metal, but they are very hard and harsh themselves. The spring bump stops are very smooth and progressive, so even if you do bottom out in an emergency, you should not notice. Hope that helps
Cheers Bats great info and it actually fits the exact scenario of problems I have been encountering with the stock set up. I tried to dial it out with the stock adjusters and nearly suceeded as setting the rebound at 1/2 turn out from fully in had helped turn in & corner entry no end but the problem for me lies in the compression side. Under hard braking it dives quite alot so I wound in the compression to increase the damping rate which helped reduce the dive but made it chatter when braking hard on anything but a billard table smooth piece of tarmac (track is ok road is not), so on the road I have to back the compression off and live with the compromise of no chatter but only mild reduction in diving on the brakes. Hope that makes sense and thanks for the info, I hope you like them when you get to test them in anger. Please post an update even if in the spring how you find them when you do get to test them, there's nothing like real word feedback IMO.
No probs man i will do! One thing i will say is i had the exact same mod on my rr7 and the differance was amazing
Nice one Bats Mate I look forward to hearing how you find the upgrade. How did the RR7 feel post mod ?
Soft but running wide though corners and been light coming out of em! it also made them rumble strips feel miles better
Hey Bats, how you finding it now with the maxton stuff in it had chance to have a ride on it? Thanks, Tom
Have i heck not even got all fairings back on yet haha in fact no oil in it at mo It will be march/april before she comes out to play ;0
Right boys ive been out finally 218 miles today!! The forks are mint and the shock! the bike feels like its on rails! no dive into corner no light wheel out of corner plush over bumps and really positive just feels so smooth and much more confident to push her Alos coupled with the maxton spring on the 2012 shock wow its like a new bike i was really impressed i even thought the tyres were good and there the standard bridgestone now you lot say there shit so i cant wait to get my smortsmarts on
O and i noticed that the pins and needlesin your hand do happen as much in fact i had it once today normally its all time
well that was a waste of time telling you all haha! i am sure peeps wanted to no what i thought O WELL
My mates at Ian Lougher racing are the ongoing testers for Maxton in BSB Superstocks 1000, official Kawasaki Team. finished 3rd Filip Backlund (first time he had seen most of the tracks) and Victor Cox 6th (would have been 4th) but a tumble at a wet Brands, i have seen the Maxton guys in action, very professional and hand on.
