Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

photomike666 wrote:I haven't changed my gearing yet, waiting for the chain to need replacing. Aiming at going down 1/2 tooth at the front (1 down at front, 1 down at rear). Plan is to nudge the rear wheel in a bit to shorten the wheel base a few mm, raise the rear end by a couple of mm and drop the front if necessary. I'm going to start with the rear end soon, maybe even today if I can find a suitable spacer.

**EDIT** TRE certainly made a difference in low down punch, but haven't really done any performance mods at the damn thing is fast enough.

I wouldn't be looking at gearing to alter wheelbase and aid steering. I would more likely run similiar chain length and raise the rear a few mm's instead. Unless I was racing it! Believe me, roadies are fare faster with nice lazy stable geometry than sharp nervous and twitchy track settings. Just look at the fat Lazy rex and how good it turns!

having owned the 07 previous to the 08 I find that bug turns in alot quicker already. So much so that if intially if I was riding without taking in to account of the new bike and just went on instinct I found that I was correcting mid corner alot due to the extra sharpness. Being a decent size boy I didnt mind the intial resistance from the front end as I could just muscle it down a little. However once in the corner the Gumby felt more stable than the bug does. Thats the trade off I suppose

The bug already had alot more low down punch so I sold the TRE of my 07 even though it fitted the bug (god knows my tyres have known about it a few times on the OPH and Putty= darkies).

The only thing that kind of gets me occasionally is the free play in the throttle seems to catch me off guard and I unintensionally hit a flat spot on a few exits (enter Gos's quick action throttle ).

Strika wrote:

photomike666 wrote:I haven't changed my gearing yet, waiting for the chain to need replacing. Aiming at going down 1/2 tooth at the front (1 down at front, 1 down at rear). Plan is to nudge the rear wheel in a bit to shorten the wheel base a few mm, raise the rear end by a couple of mm and drop the front if necessary. I'm going to start with the rear end soon, maybe even today if I can find a suitable spacer.

**EDIT** TRE certainly made a difference in low down punch, but haven't really done any performance mods at the damn thing is fast enough.

I wouldn't be looking at gearing to alter wheelbase and aid steering. I would more likely run similiar chain length and raise the rear a few mm's instead. Unless I was racing it! Believe me, roadies are fare faster with nice lazy stable geometry than sharp nervous and twitchy track settings. Just look at the fat Lazy rex and how good it turns!

Main aim of gearing change is to lower the extremely tall gearing. Honestly, the CBR feels quicker off the clutch than the 10, but the 10 is leagues ahead once the motor is spinning. First changes will be raise the rear a couple of mm, maybe 3. I don't think the M3s are helping, they have a 50 rather than the 55 stock profile and it makes the rear fell akward.

if your down at PI on the 17-18 you can check mine out. Its been set up by waynes old suspension guru and is a great compromise b/w road and track. However it does have a rear ohlins.
Basically the frnt has heavier fork oil and has been lowered 2.5 mm and the rear raised a few clicks. It makes a night and day difference. Turn in is sharp and stable.

The bike is geared -1frnt and +2 on the rear to aid acceleration but not to change geometery. Talk to Stuart at PI as he has forgotten more about 10r set up that i could hope to know.....

Stuart has been working on the springs of my CBR, he seems to know a thing or two. I'm hoping he'll be at the island when I do super bike school next year.

I haven't done much with the 10r yet. Must get round to playing with the clickers, It definately needs work on the shocks. I'm not happy with the M3s, so I'll go with something stickier and with a 55 profile rear next time. If Pilot power are anywhere near the pilot race I have on the CBR I'd like to try those...

Hey Mike have you used M3's on other bikes on the road?
Just curious if it's M3's on the 10 you don't like or M3's in general.
I loved the things on my 6 so was gonna put them on the 10 - OEM Dunlop Qualifiers suck in the wet.

I was never happy with my 06 ZX10R suspension feel, it seemed to push the front and run wide on the exit of turns...

Until i replaced my pilot powers with Pirelli Super Corsa's

Transformed!

I did opt for the taller 55 profile rear, but the SC front is superb all the same!

It still pushes the front but your carrying way more corner speed when it starts.

My mates k6 Gixxer 1000 with DC3's felt way better than my 10 on its powers but now when we swap i want my bike back.

smek wrote:Hey Mike have you used M3's on other bikes on the road?
Just curious if it's M3's on the 10 you don't like or M3's in general.
I loved the things on my 6 so was gonna put them on the 10 - OEM Dunlop Qualifiers suck in the wet.

Only ever run the M3s on the 10, but had the old M1s on the CBR and loved them. Main issue is slow turn in due to lower profile (M3s don't do a 55 rear. As Varden says, the front drifts wide and slides on exit of turns. It could just be the profile of the rear, and jacking up the back may cure it. This is on the cards, but my next set of tyres will be something with a 55 profile. Not sure what they will be yet.

+1 for the corsa's and +1 for the racetecks........

Thats all i usally use, i tried the the dunlop n tecks at the track last time and they felt really good as well.

I think you'll find you will struggle to ever get this model of bike to turn like an R1 or a CBR. They are just fundamentally worlds apart in the geometry, even though on paper it wouldn't appear so.

Tyres make a definate difference, as well as raising the rear up 3 or 4mm, but beyond that, your pushing shit uphill. They're really stable mid corner, but the low speed turn in is horrible and requires a lot of effort. Heaven forbid you try and turn the bike in on a downhill corner too .. that sucks big time!

And yes, I've had the bike set up by Zeno in Sydney. New springs, valves in the front, and also running a Penske rear shock.

Best advice ... sell it. I'm not joking. Hey, and this is my 6th Kawasaki but this one has done it for me. Not interested in another 10R until they work this stuff out, and I'm not convinced they've done it with the '08.

have u ridden an 08?

baby_ninja wrote:have u ridden an 08?

Yeah, I have, and while it was quite different to the '06, there was still traits to it that don't quite win me over and give me confidence that they've really fixed the problems. I have also read a few long term comments from Superbike magazine in the UK. They redid the springs and valving (originally too firm) but he has still been chasing front end feel from the bike. It's comments like those (and there was quite a bit more text in it than that) that really make me doubt that they've entirely hit the nail on the head.

My '04 10R was much better.

ive ridden on before too... im only new to bike tho... and it just felt slow on turn in cos i ride a 250 ... if your front end comments are right then i suppose its something to be slightly concerned about... itsnice to know what your front end is doing...

it did feel a little slower than a ZX9 too but that had the rear end jacked up to make it turn in... again only in my very new experience and only with short rides on each...

baby_ninja wrote: it did feel a little slower than a ZX9 too but that had the rear end jacked up to make it turn in... again only in my very new experience and only with short rides on each...

Yep ya gotta lurve the 9

z900/zx9 wrote:

baby_ninja wrote: it did feel a little slower than a ZX9 too but that had the rear end jacked up to make it turn in... again only in my very new experience and only with short rides on each...

Yep ya gotta lurve the 9

gotta lurve the 6 even more... where's cath, she'll agree