Ohlins vs Gazi & shock dynos

[Nelso]

It's interesting to read the different opinions about how these bikes handle for different riders. I think some of what people think is the frame twisting/flexing might be the forks flexing. The fork brace made quite a difference to mine when I put it on but it still desperately needs revalving before I will have any confidence in the front end.

My rear shocks work well but I still feel my frame flex and wallow on bumpy roads. I have a feeling Marty, that some of us might just weigh a tad more than you (even with your fully loaded panniers) and that might have a bit of an effect on the stiffness of the frame. At a smidgen under 125kg I would guess that I would be at least 40kg heavier than you which I would think would have a bit of an effect on the way the bike handles bumps and dips in the road. With the heavier springs fitted for my weight it just accentuates the flex in the frame. I also found my bike to be far more settled on the smooth track than it is on rougher roads.

On the way back on the CDT I found the mighty Rex to be more wallowy than usual. The Hoff pointed out the two missing frame bolts at one of the fuel stops which explained this feeling somewhat. Luckily he had a spare bolt that fit which was good enough to get me out of trouble for the rest of the trip home.

[bonester]

Were the missing frame bolts the two on top of the engine cradle on the RHS? One of mine was loose and one went missing. One is obscured by the radiator surround.

[Phil]

Were the missing frame bolts the two on top of the engine cradle on the RHS? One of mine was loose and one went missing. One is obscured by the radiator surround.

Thats the ones, both are accessable when you dont have the OE radiator shrouds. First thing I did when I fitted the Ted's fingers is check them for tightness.

[Strika]

I must just have a good one .

As for weight, I can understand what you massively ginormous big fat bastards are on about. I'm whippet weight now after all my illness' and injuries over the past 10 years. I am down to about 73kgs at the moment My cock used to weigh more than that!!!!
When I pack the panniers and top box and pop a bag on the pillion seat to go away for an extended trip, yeah, the subrame and the steering head flex a little then.

As for your rough roads comments, there are two reasons why the ZRX doesn't like rough roads.

1. It has shit suspension compents.

2. The way the shocks are mounted are intended to mimick a rising rate linkage....but they don't!!

A set of Gazi's does an amazing job of settling down the rear end, I am happy with mine now. Just got to do as you say and sort the front now.

[Angry Emmet]

THANKS heaps for all your replies Gentlemen, this has generated EXACTLY the sort of discussion i wanted/needed re back shocks on these. STRIKA would you mind letting me know what parts number or rate of rear spring you are running PLEASE??? My one complaint with this bike is how it bounces off-line on bumpy roads, its more than good enough on smooth-ish tar but on bump stuff its not the best as we all agree. GAZI shocks are definately on my radar now thanks to the input from you guys.
Now, as for frame flex....I have been around E.C. in a minute 45 on my old blade, i have been around there on a VTR1000 about 10 years ago in same time, i CANNOT for the life of me tell which is frame flex and which is just SHITE suspenders doing their thing! I might also mention, whilst no gun on a road bike, I am a former reasonable MX rider (A grade) but which was 25 years ago, the MX gave me a reasonable understanding of suspension BUT i am not expecting to turn the ZRX into anything great in comparison to sports bikes (my last was a 1098 Duc & good for 1:45s at E.C. all day!!!) but i am having a lot of fun with it just the same and much,much cheaper. Its just that i like to fiddle, its almost as much fun as riding!

Let me know on the spring rates and whom to contact at GAZI/

thanks guys, love your work,
A.E.

[Glen]

Here you go mate

http://www.gazisuspension.com/

Give Paul a ring on 0404 718 817, he'll look after you. He loves Rex's too. He used mine for a display at the Barry Sheene

[Angry Emmet]

Thanks Glen, hey love the colour of your bike, it looks just like mine!

I'll have a chat to Paul but wont do anything until i sort the front out, the back i can live with for the moment, the front though.....even after Promecha "fixed" it is ok on smooth stuff and a lot better on the big bumps but the same or worse on the small choppy stuff, I did try to get some further info from them on "the next step" but got mixed response from them, first telling me 10wt oil then 2.5wt oil, then a long list of questions about suspension even Valentino Rossi would laugh at! One question in particular was what weight and height of oil was i running when my email to them stated that they had just done my forks.....loss of confidence in them so i am back to Racetech and my fiddling, as teh Woose says ..."oh dear"...., its more interesting this way in any case.

Cheerrs,
Angry.

[Glen]

Good luck. Let us know what you do with the front, that's the next step for mine I reckon.

[Angry Emmet]

Good luck. Let us know what you do with the front, that's the next step for mine I reckon.

If you've not touched the front...in hindsight i would simply change the springs for heavier, me i am 87kg in street clothes, I would go 0.95 springs and 10wt good quality oil and try it, "maybe" 12.5wt oil, that should give enough rebound easily and would run comp back out around 8 out from full hard. I would run absolute minimum internal spring preload..i.e. zero and then adjust if i need some with the external adjuster, dont use the recommended 15wt oil that others use unless you only run smooth roads, 15wt just accentuates the small choppy stuff. If you are light, say 80kg i would run 0.92, zero preload and 10wt..

A.E.

[Strika]

A.E. all you will achieve with heavier springs and different oil, is to move the problem and create potentially even more. A valving system needs to operate within a certain range and thus, needs a spring matched in both weight and progression to dovetail into what the valving is doing in that part of the stroke. The only way to alter this is to have the valving altered to match the new spring. Otherwise, you will just end up with an underdamped front fork as the valving will not cope with the strength of the spring. I hope this makes sense???

Rather than trying the home fix, which will only achieve a stiffer, less controlled ride, I am opting for the Respring and a matching revalve. Otherwise, I will just be wasting my money as a change of oil weight/height and a heavier spring will not fix it without matching valving.

Now as for your settings suggstions, if Promecha have altered your valving already, it will have no relativity to a standard fork, unless you are sharing settings from prior to having Promecha alter them??

[Angry Emmet]

A.E. all you will achieve with heavier springs and different oil, is to move the problem and create potentially even more. A valving system needs to operate within a certain range and thus, needs a spring matched in both weight and progression to dovetail into what the valving is doing in that part of the stroke. The only way to alter this is to have the valving altered to match the new spring. Otherwise, you will just end up with an underdamped front fork as the valving will not cope with the strength of the spring. I hope this makes sense???

Rather than trying the home fix, which will only achieve a stiffer, less controlled ride, I am opting for the Respring and a matching revalve. Otherwise, I will just be wasting my money as a change of oil weight/height and a heavier spring will not fix it without matching valving.

Now as for your settings suggstions, if Promecha have altered your valving already, it will have no relativity to a standard fork, unless you are sharing settings from prior to having Promecha alter them??

Yes mate, tried stiffer springs and 15wt, same springs 12.5wt and then 10 wt, guess what, .92 springs and Promecha valving very similar to the .95 with 12.5wt oil..different preload,clicker settings and oil heights etc though. Promecha mods are good but not a lot better than springs and oil, just different, both set-ups skipped on the small choppy stuff, both were better on the big stuff than the O.E. springs and oil. The promecha modded forks are back on my bike now,had a second bike to play with, he is sticking with spring/oil change, I will,if i can find the $$$,be trying Terry Hay and Racetech Gold valve, although he only wants to fit the rebound valve, i'd like to change both comp and rebound. Trouble is the $$$ versus what i will end up with!!! (fitting the valves means cutting/welding my cartridges) Food for thought though!!!! OR if i could get some early model forks and fit those.....somewhere along the way i will get tired of playing i guess and either live with it or sell it on, i usually sell them on after 3 years of playing, i am 12mths into the ZRX now!

[Strika]

A.E. I am usually one to fall in love with a bike, ride fuck out of it for a year or 18 months and then get bored and buy a different one. But, since buying the Rex, I suddenly have no desire to buy any other bike....apart from maybe another ZRX!!

OK, if you have the later model forks, then either finding some earlier forks or, fitting emulators is about the best result you can get. But, I would probably encourage you to look for a set of older ones on Ebay or something. Mine are stock at the moment and I have an S not an R, so my springs are heavier to start with. But so is the front of the bike. But, my point is, the standard forks in mine are ok on stutter bumps mid turn. Where mine get grumpy is in balance. They collapse under brakes and use the majority of available travel when attempting to apply any realy braking force. Also the High speed damping is too much in the latter part of the stroke and the low speed is lacking as evident by front end collapse.

I am really wanting my forks set up like my race bike, with low speed compression & rebound in the left leg and high speed compression & Rebound in the right leg. But, this time I am giving the forks to Steve Mudford. I know it won;t be like my race bike, but to be honest, I don't need that much adjustability and fine tuning on the ZRX, whereas on the track, it can make a difference of half a second a lap being able to adjust the two circuits seperately.

[s man]

AE we really need to meet up & compair bikes, there has to be something going on with your bike that isnt with mine. We have the same mods, & have the same issues but we are comming to different out comes.
I agree with the choppy high speed damping the forks are still wanting a little. But with the low speed I think its pretty good. Now this could come down to many things.
Spring pre load, Comp damping, Rebound damping, our weight, Our riding styles.
I do agree that the gasi mod in on my radar still & I'll head down that path after the racing season is over if I feel I will get value for $, as we dont do a lot of Ks.
It could just be the fact that you maybe expecting sportbike handling out of what really is a 30 year old chassis, with some tarted up suspenders. Cutting my racing teeth on those sort of bikes I may not be asking as much of the bike as you. There for I ride around the problems. But It would be worth bouncing ideas of eachother one day & see were it leads.Before you go throwing money at something that may never be fixed..

[Nelso]

Good luck. Let us know what you do with the front, that's the next step for mine I reckon.

+1

[Strika]

AE we really need to meet up & compair bikes, there has to be something going on with your bike that isnt with mine. We have the same mods, & have the same issues but we are comming to different out comes.
I agree with the choppy high speed damping the forks are still wanting a little. But with the low speed I think its pretty good. Now this could come down to many things.
Spring pre load, Comp damping, Rebound damping, our weight, Our riding styles.
I do agree that the gasi mod in on my radar still & I'll head down that path after the racing season is over if I feel I will get value for $, as we dont do a lot of Ks.
It could just be the fact that you maybe expecting sportbike handling out of what really is a 30 year old chassis, with some tarted up suspenders. Cutting my racing teeth on those sort of bikes I may not be asking as much of the bike as you. There for I ride around the problems. But It would be worth bouncing ideas of eachother one day & see were it leads.Before you go throwing money at something that may never be fixed..

Don't you have an S and A.E. has an R???? Also different models so the forks are different internally......Am I right or confusing you two with two other ZRX nutters???

Reason being, not only is the S front forks different to the R of the same perid, but as others have said the later models have differnet internals too!

As for expecting too much fronm them. Thos who know me, know i ride....briskly! I also ride with some very capable guys with comprehensive local road knowledge. They all ride late model 1000cc sports bikes, from vanilla Kawasaki's, Suzukis, yamahas and h...Ho...........you know the brand casey is punting around on at the moment. None of them can get away from the rex and only the odd one will pass it and usually on a straight as I don't do more than is required on the straights. Point being, at those speeds, I never tax the chassis. Only the stock suspenders. I think goos quality suspenders make all the difference to any bike and a huge difference to a Rex!!!