Not sure if this is the right section to put this but I would like some advice. I have only ridden my 2006 Blade for 400 miles since getting it a couple of weeks ago, so I am stilll getting used to it. I live in a rural area and nearly all of my riding is on bumpy rural roads. I enjoy fast riding particularly on twisty roads and need the bike to handle well on acceleration, braking and last minute direction changes....due to deer, pheasants, rabbits, pigeons, tractors and of course the proverbial cars. Currently my suspension is too soft and although the handling is very good there is room for improvement. I am not mechanically minded at all, so adjusting the suspension myself would be an error :suicide2:. A brick has better mechanic skills than I do. Finally the question, would I be likely to be able to get a good set up for my type of use with the current standard suspension if I get it professionally set up OR should I go for upgrading the suspension from the start and not waste set up money ? I am sure many of you guys have been through this and I would love to have your input. I have two very good suspension companies reasonably nearby but I do not want to waste money if experience shows that an upgrade is the best way to go. Cheers.
i had an 07 model that in my opinion handled superb so personally would just fine tune yours (settings wise) and see how you get on. if you state your body weight roughly and whether you ride solo or carry pillion someone here should be able to guide you to rough settings. once the sag/ preload is set its easy enough to tweak a bit of damping adjustment while your out and about. hope this helps!
Maxton for your folks re valve etc 390 notes! then maxton rear shock 750 notes set sag and ride! Or Set sag and stiffen up a bit
This poses a good question to which i can give you some valuable advice given that i have done both options. To start with you have outlined what you believe may be the problem with your current bike, but what makes you assume it is too soft? Is it that you are riding beyond your ability or the machine? sure it could be that the suspension is really soft and could be your cause? First of i would check to see if your bike has had any suspension changes from the standard set up, this can be found in the handbook and is the best place to start as you never know that the settings where altered to suit a lighter rider/owner who had the bike before you did, also he might have set them for a much softer setting if he preffered it that way. So given that you have checked the suspension settings and are happy that they are standard then there are a couple of other things to check also. The sag settings are crucial to the way a bike handles as geometry plays an important part of the dynamics of the suspension, getting the correct sag settings front and rear nearly always sort out perculiar handling problems that some riders experience. Seeing as you state that you are not spanner friendly i would suggest that you visit a dealer who can advise you and set your suspension accoring to your prefference of riding and weight, this would normally cost around £40-50 but is worth it, it then gives you a starting point to which you want to go, also the dealer should check to make sure that your dampers and suspension components are not worn or damaged which also could cause a problem. After this and only should you then consider spending money on better shocks or fork springs, as this is a slippery path.
Take your bike to mct in stowmarket sufolk. He did my rr4 before it got written off. The standard fork springs in all fireblades are too short for the forks. All fireblades are designed for 9 stone sopping wet japs. Mct will get rid of the progressive springs in the front and fit linear ones, chancmge the oil and set up for your weight, the will also remove the rear shock and rebuild it and re pressurise it and set that up for your weight. Will also set it up for the type of riding you do he most. All for under £400. It's the best mod you can do to your bike. Will get my rr5 done next year.
Thanks for all the replies so far guys it has been very helpful. I used MCT for my last blade and they did an excellent job. I guess my question might have been better worded as, is there enough adjustment available on the stock bike to enable me to stiffen the suspension up enough to handle the type of riding I do ? I think my bike is currently not too bad for sag, but the front forks are too soft I am being chucked around on bumps and there is far too much dipping when hard braking. This would seem to line up with what bluekontakt said. As the bike has only done 3.5 K I am hoping the rear shock will just need adjusting but the forks need more than adjustment I think. My old blade was used on the same roads as was my Ducati and they were both set up quite firm and handled the bumps better. On smooth roads the bike is fine at all speeds in terms of handling. Thanks again.
The difference between just tweaked standard sussies and properly re-built sussie with the correct fork oil and springs is night and day. I had my rr4 blade completlye re-built and set up and it was sublime. I have had my rr5 tweaked by colin at 100% suspention and it is no where near the standard my rr4 was. not even close. The suspetion is worth £400 notes of anyones money. Much better than waisting £1000+ on an exhaust and power commander/bazzaz. You can feel where your money has gone insantly. A suspention setup will knock more seconds of a lap time than a fule setup will. FACT! As I said earlier the fork springs are too short, when your preload is wound out the fork springs are just ratteling around inside. This means no adjustment can be made untill the preload is wound half way in. With the correct fork springs for you bassically gives you double the amount of adjustability in the preload. My rr5 has the preload wound right in and it still isn't enough. hence the reason why im going to get it done next year.
On a 6 year old bike i agree but do you think i need to do this for a 2011 plate ? Serious question now , Im not being funny .. Iv been thinking about a revolve etc but have no problems with the standard set up . Hopefully if i get it done my extremely well balanced and handling bike will be even better ey ?
Not much changed from 04 to now, the big change is in 2012 with the new blade big piston forks and a ttx style rear shock.. The best approach to suss is always step by step, imo setup is the first step if that does not achieve your target then reworking the forks etc is the only option some people will be happy with a simple setup for what they use the bike for others may have more involved requirements ride harder faster etc etc. They may find the performance they are looking for can justify reworking, carts, aftermarket forks etc, Ohlins forks for example are worlds ahead of the stock forks but trying to justify the money they cost is impossible if your like me just zipping about for fun, that said the changes I have made to my bikes are so good I would have paid double had I known how good they would turn out. Suss is a long and deep subject that I love to talk about for hours, people overlook suss and fail to maintain it or set it up, its the most complex part of any bike and can make or brake the best bikes around. Why spend 10k plus and stop when you can be a few quid short of perfection... Posted on my HTC Sensation with Tapatalk
Cheers Arthur , That's put it in perspective for me. Iv been toying with a set of new fairings foe something to do over the winter but I think the money will be better spent getting the bike dialled in .
This is very interesting for me as I feel that my bike would benefit from having someone who knows what they are doing set the sag etc right for my weight. The guy who had the bike before me was a lot bigger framed and I recon he had a good fiddle with my bikes suspension.
Most good bike shops should be able to give you some free time to chat and check your settings, if they want to charge you for a simple sag check then go somewhere else! Ok pay a few quid for a quick dial in but don't let them rip you off, it takes 30min to check rider sag and 10min to redial the front, the rear can be a pain but keep your eye on cost for simple setup's! Some people are ripping riders off, reworking is another matter and suss workshops are for just that, as I said suss is complex so choose wisely, a good suss workshop will be fully equipped with shock dyno and all things suss, they rarely have much to do with other things. Worth finding the good guys! Posted on my HTC Sensation with Tapatalk
Having just brought my bike and after riding it hard, the suspension is going to have to be my priority. A few years ago I would have been focussing on the appearance but nowadays I want performance over looks, the look can come later. There seem to be a few mixed views about the stock suspension eg 'it can be adjusted to meet your needs' verses the 'it will be much better with upgrades'. I have tried both options on past bikes and at the moment am still a bit unsure as to which direction to go, especially as finances are tight, but being able to ride it as I want to is a priority. Correct suspension set up has transformed several of my past bikes and I would probably not have changed several others if I had got them set up correctly. MCT set up my 954 superbly and reworked the forks, but it did cost a few pounds, but it was money well spent. FTR are local to me and they have a good reputation as well. Of course if I ride slowly it will fine as it is ! Nah. I will continue to read the responses, which have been very informative and useful, so thanks very much everyone.
Having the same issues as most of the guys here, on uneven roads bouncing around like a goodun, quite unsetteling really, get a good road its magic, get a bumpy one horrid. I think I'll get this done at mct. I'll let you know how it goes.
Another for the guys at MCT suspension, i will be calling them in the morning after a ride being followed by an instructor and his and miy conclusion was that my front springs are way to hard for my weight. Also the rear is to hard also.
My 2006 blade has just been to Kais near me, for a full service front and rear (£130 each for front and rear). My bike has done just over 20k miles and was very much in need of this service. The fork oil had been changes last year by a dealer and the air gaps were miles out causing the forks not to be capable of full travel. The rear shock oil was understandably completely useless after this amount of time/mileage. More worrying though was that the nitrogen pressure was only 4 bar where it should have been 10!! This undoubtably explained the very soft feel of the rear shock. As it turned out the pressure cap wouldn't hold any more than 4 bar due to corrosion so was replaced. The bike's handling is now awesome, as has already been said, this money was much better spent than chasing horsepower or looks for sure. I would certainly recommend a full service and set up as a starting point, at least that way you're working with a known good base.
Whilst i agree on the majority you say Arthur, one thing i have to disagree on is your claim about not much changed, maybe visually but internally the 06 forks were a lot different to the 04/05 forks. the shock also had larger bladder from 2006. I do however agree on the need for people to do the suspension, so much money can be wasted in the chase for pace when all thats needed is a few minutes with someone who knows what to do. Every bike i have is initially set to ktec recommended settings and used in this state until i am compotent with it, at this point i will get a pro along to help with the final few clicks, my last 2 bikes ive had set up by a bsb crew chief, a man highly regarded as the most intelligent man in the paddock, this helps with tyre life, rider feel and most importantly lap times, it also helsp with comfort on the bike.
I agree mate, and quite right about the 05 to 06 changes, I guess it was a understatement of mine when Honda changed over 200 parts a total of aroud 60% of the bike, I forget just what they did to the suss but I know they made the rear stiffer on later model and so on..
