Kudos to ProMechA (Victoria).
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:23 pm
When I bought the Hornet late December last year the guys at Peter Stevens solved the 'umm, it's slightly too high' problem by dropping the bike 16mm through the triple clamps. Alas they neglected to balance the whole shebang by lowering the rear and the bike's handling was a bit 'flighty' and prone to turn in pretty quickly...too quickly for me anyway 
. It was also pretty twitchy at freeway speeds, but that was easier to cope with as it only showed up as a slight inclination to wander across the lane if I shifted my weight at all (and I have a bit to shift).
In my ignorance I thought it was just the difference between doing 50,000-odd km on a nine year-old ZZR vs riding a brand new bike, but after using it for commuting and finding it near-lethal trying to u-turn the thing at walking place or if you hit anything mid-corner finally decided it wasn't quite right. Further research on Hornet forums indicated that if you dropped the bike more than 10mm you did it at your peril, so I sought specialist help.
Anyway to cut a long story short, Peter at Promecha in Springvale has had the Hornet today and the bike is now slightly lower, the forks back to their original position, and the front and rear shocks revalved. I was a bit nonplussed at first as there seemed to be no difference...but then I came to the first corner and I cruised through and all was forgiven. There is also no dive under brakes nor any squat under acceleration. At freeway speeds it doesn't bounce over bumps in the road quite as much, nor is it prone to scoot across the lane if I shift my bum on the seat.
So, a happy ending...
...not cheap though
.
. It was also pretty twitchy at freeway speeds, but that was easier to cope with as it only showed up as a slight inclination to wander across the lane if I shifted my weight at all (and I have a bit to shift).In my ignorance I thought it was just the difference between doing 50,000-odd km on a nine year-old ZZR vs riding a brand new bike, but after using it for commuting and finding it near-lethal trying to u-turn the thing at walking place or if you hit anything mid-corner finally decided it wasn't quite right. Further research on Hornet forums indicated that if you dropped the bike more than 10mm you did it at your peril, so I sought specialist help.
Anyway to cut a long story short, Peter at Promecha in Springvale has had the Hornet today and the bike is now slightly lower, the forks back to their original position, and the front and rear shocks revalved. I was a bit nonplussed at first as there seemed to be no difference...but then I came to the first corner and I cruised through and all was forgiven. There is also no dive under brakes nor any squat under acceleration. At freeway speeds it doesn't bounce over bumps in the road quite as much, nor is it prone to scoot across the lane if I shift my bum on the seat.
So, a happy ending...
...not cheap though
.
.