Suspension upgrade on my ZX6
Sun Dec 10, 2006 10:11 pm
A week or so ago I picked my bike up from SPM (tarren point) after having their new suspension Guru – James work on the front end.
To be honest I wasn’t sure if there was anything much wrong with my bike to begin with but I had read about this guy on various sites and people were raving about how they bought a new bike and thought it was awesome but sent it to him and it came back a different bike shit loads better. I basically took it to him to get him to have a look at it to determine if it was set correctly for my size and talk about what could be done to make it better and what differences I would find.
One of the store owners –Adrian has the same bike as mine and has had James work it over and he wanted me to take his bike out so I could feel the difference for myself. (they definately know about customer service down there
)
I am not too sure about the specifics of what he did but I know he put heavier springs in it as well rework the valves etc and Different fork oil. I can see that he has lowered the front as well. im much heavier than the 70 kg test pilots in japan (its all muscle of course
) so heavier springs were a must have.
Anyway as soon as I sat on the bike it felt different. I didn’t have much time to test it when I picked it up but one thing I noticed was that it is actually a more comfortable ride now.
Yesterday I got a track day in and the differences were amazing. You get the bike on a line and it will hold it without any hesitation. I can get on the gas confidently and to be honest it feels like I could give it to it heaps harder but that problem is in my head (maybe next week).
Another thing that stood out was braking. I had gotten used to bikes diving under brakes and having to wait for that to settle before getting into the corner. Now when I brake it doesn’t dive like that and when I release it there is no wallowing or unsteadiness that it had before. Turn 4 at eastern creek is awesome Its always been my favorite corner out there but now its even better. I have always found myself confident on that corner to go pretty fast and I find that if there is someone in front of me at that corner then they are usually behind me at the other end of it . Its awesome now. I loved roaring up the outside of them as they are braking and im only just easing off on the throttle. A little brake then hook it past them ha ha “so long suckers…” till they get me back 2 seconds later of course .
Basically the thing rides awesome now – it really is like a new bike. Unfortunately I have nothing left to blame about my slow lap times so I guess I better harden up and go faster huh. Having suspension that you know works and is set correctly is quite inspiring and has certainly helped in general riding and confidence at the track
Anyway call James at SPM and have a yarn to him. He is a bloody friendly bloke and is good for a yarn. He is fanatical about suspension but understands peoples budgets. He can do as little as set up the standard stuff or replace it all with whatever you want.
http://www.spmotorcycles.com.au/
James’ site is worth reading too http://www.zenodamper.com/ he is definitely here in Australia now so don’t be confused by the UK phone numbers etc on that site.
To be honest I wasn’t sure if there was anything much wrong with my bike to begin with but I had read about this guy on various sites and people were raving about how they bought a new bike and thought it was awesome but sent it to him and it came back a different bike shit loads better. I basically took it to him to get him to have a look at it to determine if it was set correctly for my size and talk about what could be done to make it better and what differences I would find.
One of the store owners –Adrian has the same bike as mine and has had James work it over and he wanted me to take his bike out so I could feel the difference for myself. (they definately know about customer service down there
)
I am not too sure about the specifics of what he did but I know he put heavier springs in it as well rework the valves etc and Different fork oil. I can see that he has lowered the front as well. im much heavier than the 70 kg test pilots in japan (its all muscle of course
) so heavier springs were a must have.
Anyway as soon as I sat on the bike it felt different. I didn’t have much time to test it when I picked it up but one thing I noticed was that it is actually a more comfortable ride now.
Yesterday I got a track day in and the differences were amazing. You get the bike on a line and it will hold it without any hesitation. I can get on the gas confidently and to be honest it feels like I could give it to it heaps harder but that problem is in my head (maybe next week).
Another thing that stood out was braking. I had gotten used to bikes diving under brakes and having to wait for that to settle before getting into the corner. Now when I brake it doesn’t dive like that and when I release it there is no wallowing or unsteadiness that it had before. Turn 4 at eastern creek is awesome Its always been my favorite corner out there but now its even better. I have always found myself confident on that corner to go pretty fast and I find that if there is someone in front of me at that corner then they are usually behind me at the other end of it . Its awesome now. I loved roaring up the outside of them as they are braking and im only just easing off on the throttle. A little brake then hook it past them ha ha “so long suckers…” till they get me back 2 seconds later of course .
Basically the thing rides awesome now – it really is like a new bike. Unfortunately I have nothing left to blame about my slow lap times so I guess I better harden up and go faster huh. Having suspension that you know works and is set correctly is quite inspiring and has certainly helped in general riding and confidence at the track
Anyway call James at SPM and have a yarn to him. He is a bloody friendly bloke and is good for a yarn. He is fanatical about suspension but understands peoples budgets. He can do as little as set up the standard stuff or replace it all with whatever you want.
http://www.spmotorcycles.com.au/
James’ site is worth reading too http://www.zenodamper.com/ he is definitely here in Australia now so don’t be confused by the UK phone numbers etc on that site.
Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:38 pm
Yep you went to the right bloke he knows his noodles but i didnt know he was back from the uk.
Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:05 am
Good report MrStompy I am in the middle of making a decision of waht to do with the front end on the Z & who to go to for the work, at the moment Terry Hay is on the top of my list, but I am still looking around before parting with the hard earned cash 
Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:27 am
Barrabob wrote:Yep you went to the right bloke he knows his noodles but i didnt know he was back from the uk.
Yeah i think he was planning to do half the year in the UK then half the year either here or USA but i asked him about that and he said he just wanted to stay here now.
he certainly has plenty of work.
RobRacer wrote:Good report MrStompy I am in the middle of making a decision of waht to do with the front end on the Z & who to go to for the work, at the moment Terry Hay is on the top of my list, but I am still looking around before parting with the hard earned cash
give james a call.
he will give you an exact price and wont bullsh*t you.
I was actually going to take my bike to Terry Hay but i happened to be talking to Adrian from SPM and he was talking about james so i called him and had a yarn and am now a happy customer
Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:59 am
robracer wrote:Good report MrStompy I am in the middle of making a decision of waht to do with the front end on the Z & who to go to for the work, at the moment Terry Hay is on the top of my list, but I am still looking around before parting with the hard earned cash
having spoken to zeno on numerous occasions at bbq's he is a cool guy that seriously knows his shit
he will mix and match bits and pieces to make your suspension do what you want to suit your budget and give you real info about what works and what doesnt
if your stock shock is a pos and cant be made decent at all then he wont do it, you might be able to make the stock shock something pretty damn good for not much dollars with a rebuild , a couple of mods and maybe a few bits from a different shock so you can talk about that option
its not gold valves just for the sake of it
or got money to burn and want awesome suspension then its a penske for you sir custom setup for your fine self
he actually rides the bikes more than just down the road and back like some other suspension guys
Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:45 pm
Hi MrStompy,
Great to hear you were happy with Master James work... I just finished back to back weekends OP and EC and shaved 4-6 seconds a lap of my best times at both circuits... partly due to James recent suspension work, but mostly due to tallent 
Heading out next on the 13th Jan to EC with ORS... When are you headed out that way again, wouldn't mind catching up and comparing notes.
adgee
Great to hear you were happy with Master James work... I just finished back to back weekends OP and EC and shaved 4-6 seconds a lap of my best times at both circuits... partly due to James recent suspension work, but mostly due to tallent
Heading out next on the 13th Jan to EC with ORS... When are you headed out that way again, wouldn't mind catching up and comparing notes.
adgee
Tue Dec 12, 2006 9:30 pm
adgee wrote:Hi MrStompy,
Great to hear you were happy with Master James work... I just finished back to back weekends OP and EC and shaved 4-6 seconds a lap of my best times at both circuits... partly due to James recent suspension work, but mostly due to tallent
Heading out next on the 13th Jan to EC with ORS... When are you headed out that way again, wouldn't mind catching up and comparing notes.
adgee
Good to see you made it here Adgee
Im heading out to EC this sunday i was out there last saturday as well.
Im pretty sure the lap timer on the zx6 is a little fast cause my times werent so great
The bike definately behaved beautifully though. the rider is the one with the problems now...
it will be interesting to see how i go on sunday having had a track day so recently.
I wouldnt mind getting back there again early next year but i reckon i will have to see how the cash is after christmas and then rego before i book in again
we'll be catching up though - your shop is my new favourite place
Im gonna get james to do the rear suspension early next year and there is some other stuff i will be after as well.
Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:53 pm
Stompy I found james about the forums while i was trying to sort out my bike, In brisvegas we have a man who wants to revalve first and see if he can sort it out after he has billed you for that rather than what i think is a better approach of fit the right springs so the thing has the geometry the maker intended and setting up damping to suit.
It is a bit of a black art trying to get a back shock right without a triple clicker and its just something i was playing with.
Anyways a couple of years worth of reaserch and a bunch of dwarves telling me its fine and its all sorted now and certainly makes a diference and as you say its all down to pilot error now.
It is a bit of a black art trying to get a back shock right without a triple clicker and its just something i was playing with.
Anyways a couple of years worth of reaserch and a bunch of dwarves telling me its fine and its all sorted now and certainly makes a diference and as you say its all down to pilot error now.
Mon Dec 18, 2006 7:13 am
So Barrabob, Zeno is the dude you told me about right?
I have talked to him on MSN a few times...
I have talked to him on MSN a few times...
Tue Dec 19, 2006 4:02 pm
Nick at Teknik did my suspension mods to my 636 and I can highly recommend him as well:
http://www.teknikracing.com/Home.phtml
http://www.teknikracing.com/Home.phtml
Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:41 pm
Yes Gizmo he is the guy i suggested you talk to about a shockie.