suspension setup

i have my bike currently set up to the sport riders suggested settings, they work great. the issue im running into is will i have to re-tune the suspension wheni put my light wieght wheels on my bike? and if so how much will i have to do it?
 
 
oh and for those of you who race what is your suggested tire pressures. stock is 36 front and 42 rear.

you should not have to.  the lighter rims will effect accelleration and "flickability" they will not have an effect on how fast the suspension moves through its range.
 
the tire pressure question is way too vague.   what tire, what temp, street or track, hot or cold psi? 
 
fwiw, I run my Pirelli DCIII at 32/34 street, 30/32track cold psi

Unless you're going to BST's or some other Carbon fiber wheel... really nothing needs to be changed because of it.  As far as the sport rider settings go, well... at a race pace they're REALLY soft...

For tire pressue, well that depends on what tires you're running.

running the factory dunlop qualifiers and im talking cold pressures. the suggested pressures cold are 36 front and 42 rear.   thanks for the helps guys, much appreciated.

I talked to a guy who works on race bikes and they use 40 for the front and 37 in the rear. Thats what I am set at and its nice. May I ask where you got the sportrider suspension settings, as I am looking for something more street oriented. Thanks!

quote:

ORIGINAL: be vertical

I talked to a guy who works on race bikes and they use 40 for the front and 37 in the rear. Thats what I am set at and its nice. May I ask where you got the sportrider suspension settings, as I am looking for something more street oriented. Thanks!

OMG!  That WAY TO HIGH in the front for ANY modern performance motorcycle tire, let alone a DOT race tire.  That would be like riding on a bowling ball, and would get real grease real quick when it over heats... but I bet you get great life from the front.


For the Stock Q's track pressures I'd start out with 30/32 cold pressure if it's a hot day, and maybe 32/34 if it's a hot day.

Maybe I have it backwards, and its 37 in the front and 40 in the rear. I think that is a little more reasonable.

Have you ever tried putting nitrogen in your tires instead of air... Nitrogen is not effected by heat. I have no done this, but a friend of mine works on nascar trucks and thats what they do. I found this to be interesting.

Anyone want to give me those sportrider settings?

here's the link http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_suspension_settings/index.html
 
 
you got a lot of friends working with race tires?  I dont know about the nascar trucks and nitrogen, but I can tell you, the guy that works on race bikes must be in charge of putting gas in it, because he sure doesnt know his tires.   (unless there are more details about the type of track tires you can run that high)

Thanks for the link...

One guy is a local mechanic that works on an AMA team, and also builds drag bikes as well. The other is a childhood friend of mine that used to work on a whalen modified, and now works on a craftsmen truck. So yeah, I know some people that race.

I checked the pressure in my notebook and it was 37 in the front and 40 in the back with the tires are like 75 degrees (room temp) but not ridden on. They ride pretty firm, but that is usually the way I like it. I have the michelin power race tiires are they are max rated at something like 50psi, so they can handle the pressure just fine.

The reason for the nitrogen is that it does not expand and contract with temperature, so you can get a more guaranteed tire pressure that will not go up at the tire gets warm. I have no experience with it, but for purposes of consistency its cool.

Well... I occoasionally work on a AMA team... and the only guy I know in the paddock that runs really high pressure is Yates, and he gets speical Dunlops that are for him.
I run Power Race tires, and while they can physicially handle the pressure, they cannot handle the heat it generates when ridden at a race pace.  That is why Michelin recommeneds a cold pressure of 22psi in the rear and 29 - 31 psi in the front for all Power Race tires.  The problem with high pressures is that modern race tires are designed to give the best grip at a very specific tempature range, and going just a few psi over that will cause the tires undo stress and the heat build-up will over heat the tires making them greasy and cause hot-tears.

And while they use nitrogen in most car/truck race tires, motorcycle tires are designed & built totally differently and are designed around air being used, not nitrogen.  Also nitrogen does in fact expand when heated, just not as much as oxygen and if "dry" air is used in tires it is every bit as consistant as nitrogen.

quote:

ORIGINAL: be vertical


I checked the pressure in my notebook and it was 37 in the front and 40 in the back with the tires are like 75 degrees (room temp) but not ridden on. They ride pretty firm, but that is usually the way I like it. I have the michelin power race tiires are they are max rated at something like 50psi, so they can handle the pressure just fine.

I think that you're running cold pressures that are way too high. When I was running Michelin PRs, my tire vendor recommended cold pressures of 22 in the rear and 31 in the front. The rear Michelin PR has a stiff carcass so lower pressures allow better traction.

Very interesting info Jason! +1 on the quality feedback.

I totally believe you in running much lower tire pressures for the track. I am just trying to figure out how I can get the most grip. Does the fact that I am not on the track 99% of the time have anything to do with putting in a pressure as low as michelin recommends? I get them pretty hot, as I tend to stick around the local twisties quite a bit. I think that pressure that low will kill the tire life, but I would rather have better grip and pay out a little more often.

I also thought that the back was supposed to me firmer then the front?

Also I did not see any 07 settings on that website....?

If you're running on the street, get rid of the Power Race tires.. at a street pace, even a a very, very fast street pace, race tires just don't come up to and maintain the correct tempature and actaully offer much less grip than a true street tire.  Run street tires as they are designed for optimum grip across a much larger tempature range.   On my street bike (duc 748) I actaully run normal everyday Pilot Powers, not even the 2CT's, and have never had a single traction issue due to the tire itself.

If you're really looking to optimize grip, tires are only 1/2 of it or less, the suspenion set-up plays a huge role in it, with the correct spring rates being the most important part.

Yes, typicially the front is run a couple lb's more pressure, but michelin is the exception the rear Power Race is specifically designed to run at a low temp (as goose wrote) because of it's construction (extremely stiff side wall).  I have also heard that the new rear Dunlop DOT race tire due out this summer will also run a extremely low pressure.

Interesting... I guess I will be getting different tires next time. I do have to say though that they stick great, and I have never had a problem with them thus far. I always try to keep my tires as warm as possible when riding, but I doubt they get as hot as they would on a track.

I also am looking for a shop that will professionally set my suspension so that it is matched to my weight and all. I do kinda want to play with it myself though, as I was looking for a good base setting to start at, such as the ones from sport rider, but they do not seem to have any 07 settings, so I am not sure where I will be going with that just yet.

Thanks for the help though. Sorry I stole your thread f3.