Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Hi Guys,

At 90kg, I am clearly way above the typical mass of a (Japanese??) rider for which the OEM springs are rated at. I have converted my bike to a trackie and have noticed that the cable tie on the fork leg is quite close to the bottom.

Do any of you guys know what the minimum distance is at the base of the fork leg when the springs are at full compression?

Cheers,
Dan.

I think its 1/3 of travel.

Anyway best way is to set SAGS and see.

There is a guide (light reading) on how to>>> viewtopic.php?f=21&t=24596

The springs may not be the problem, have you had the forks serviced or revalved.?
I run 1kg ohlins springs and an ohlins valve and piston kit set up by Zeno.
Std springs are .97 (from memory) so not much different.
About 15 to 20mm should be left after some hard laps..

Have you ran out of preload and compression settings.?

MadKaw wrote:The springs may not be the problem, have you had the forks serviced or revalved.?
I run 1kg ohlins springs and an ohlins valve and piston kit set up by Zeno.
Std springs are .97 (from memory) so not much different.
About 15 to 20mm should be left after some hard laps..

Have you ran out of preload and compression settings.?

aS HE SAID.

I get my stuff back from Zeno all the time with a lighter spring but feels stiffer. He just reworks the valving to produce better movement. ALthough not sure what I am getting back next week but guarrenteed to be good

Also I am told that you should be looking to almost bottom out your travel once a lap as a guide. Not hard shuttering style bottoming out which you can feel but the bottoming out where only the cable tie tells you that it was ever there.

Thanks Jonno ... I'll have to dedicate some time for some serious reading of that thread of yours

Dave, I have definitely run out of preload as Frank Ponds told me to wind it all the way in. I think from memory, I have about 3 -5 clicks left on compression. I'll have to get the ruler out again as I am sure it is around the 20mm mark.

Dave and Blurr, can I ask how much it cost you guys to get your springs upgraded and internals revalved? I'm going to the track in two weeks, maybe it's time I bit the bullet and got them done

Thanks guys, greatly appreciated.

I am not sure of the exact price as Zeno usually has to machine some extra bits up to get the high and low speed comps working properly.

A safe guess would be about $400 each end if there is no need to buy a new spring.

best off dropping Zeno a PM, oh and I wouldnt mention to much about Frank Pons he gets kind of fiesty

Would you guys recommend Zeno or Frank Ponds?

Zeno the man.

Wattie wrote:Zeno the man.

Yep... give him a call and tell him we sent ya, you could do a lot worse....

MadKaw wrote:

Wattie wrote:Zeno the man.

Yep... give him a call and tell him we sent ya, you could do a lot worse....

x3.

Just out of curiosity ... as a general rule of thumb, approximately how much time would upgrading my suspension reduce a lap time around EC? I have been out there twice so far, coming down from a 1:51.8 to a 1:46.8 on stock gearing. I have a 15/45 520 conversion kit to throw on, would there be much time in that? (I only ask that question because the entire back half of the circuit didn't see me get out of 3rd

Lt-Dan wrote:Just out of curiosity ... as a general rule of thumb, approximately how much time would upgrading my suspension reduce a lap time around EC? I have been out there twice so far, coming down from a 1:51.8 to a 1:46.8 on stock gearing. I have a 15/45 520 conversion kit to throw on, would there be much time in that? (I only ask that question because the entire back half of the circuit didn't see me get out of 3rd

On my first track day on my bog stock 04 zx10r road bike I was doing 1.45's (and so did Wattie on the same bike), just had a slip on and pilot powers.

On my 05 race bike, I'm running 16 / 40 so I think your geared a little to low.
Suspension and lap times are subjective, if its a problem and its slowing you down then yes it will help. By how much is up to you. The quicker you go the better suspension you will need as you will find its limitations- its a vicous circle..
All I can give as an example is I am 6 seconds quicker on my race bike with "sorted" suspension, but it also has slicks and a bit more HP..
Wattie's times have dropped considerably, down 8 to 9 seconds (than on the stock 04) on his 06 zx10r, the suspension tweaking has definately helped, but I think its more to do with him just getting better, better tyres and the racing.
I had my suspension "butchered" by a local suspension shop and my times went up by nearly 2 seconds (bottoming out, leaking seals, no feel etc). Sent it back to Zeno for repairs (and a slap on the wrist for going elsewhere )and the times came back down.
It will give you confidence and confidence reduces times..

Thanks for that MadKaw. A mate of mine put me on to Mark Hatch who won the Oran Park 6 hour Production class and he also mentioned that 15/45 was a little bit low. He mentioned 17/42 which is only 1% higher than 16/40 ... nice!! I think I might place an order tomorrow, cheers

I'll certainly keep Zeno in mind for the suspension upgrades ... I'm just not sure I can afford the $1000 right now ... but if I were to do a staged upgrade, common sense tells me to do the front first, then the rear, right?

Thanks again.

Yep, do the front, a service and revalve would certainly help. Cost should be around $300 depending on what you need..