rake and trail questions......

Dave I would really like to thank you for putting all the information out that you do. Last year before the start of the season I bought twiddling knobs and introduction to suspension, I have watched them at least a dozen or so times a piece. That is also another reason why I think I did so well in my first racing year 2008 with a 2003 bike. I would absolutely love to go to one of your seminars but do not have the time or resources currently to fly to California from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Do you have any sort of articles or guides that would help be better understand the geometry set up for a bike? I have a lot of questions that I haven’t been able to find answers for.

FRONT
Ideal rake? Is there such a thing? What exactly am I measuring, what happens if there is too much rake to little etc.

BACK
I have the same questions with the back of the bike how do you measure swing arm angle? What is ideal, is there an ideal angle? What happens if it is to flat what happens if there is too much.

I would also like to know a little more about ride height front and back would it be better to raise it up as much as possible lower it down a little bit. Do I use the ride height to make create the proper rake and swing arm angle?

Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.


Dustin Geiselman



REPLY:

Hi Dustin,

Thanks for the kind words! Glad that these tools have helped you so far and given you a leg up in your racing. I would be happy to put your race pic and a testimonial on the CRST site in the race section!

On to your questions: note that as with SAG settings, rake and trail are arbitrary starting points when buidling a race bike.

There are accepted norms and then you deviate to suit your own personal needs. As always to get something you will give something up, so it os always a compromise.......

Forks:

Rake is ideal at 28 to 29 degrees. Most sport bikes are in this general ballpark and all manufacturers post these numbers in their spec sheets online. The smaller the number the more the bike wants to turn in by itself.

Trail is ideal bove 101-102mm, and again numbers are posted by OEM's. Trail gives mid corner stability and facilitates high cornering speeds.

NOTE: this is why aftermarket triple clamps are manufactured, OEM's provide adjustable steering head pivots etc so you can have low rake numbers with high trail numbers to get the best of both worlds.

Swingarm:
Depends on the engine configuration as to what works 'better' but your rule of thumb is 11 degrees to start. Swingarm angle is critical for side grip and correlates directly to wheelbase length, hence aftermarket shocks having adjustable ride height and some frames facilitating spacers between the shock and frame mount.

Remember that hot pressures are critical too - if the edge of the tire is not up to temp you won't get edge grip anyway!

Hope this helps!! Many thanks and happy holidays.

DVD's can provide the most experienced of us new information

Hello Dave,

I would just like to say thanks, the dvds are fantastic. I have been riding bikes on road and track for 18 years, I now know why some of my bikes did not feel good (suspension not setup to my weight).

Thank you !

Adrian Morris.

John Proctor

CRST Write-up for Octorber 19 AFM Round 8 at Buttonwillow
John Proctor-AFM/WERA #218
20 October 2008

This race weekend at Buttonwillow was the last of the AFM series this year. Switching bikes at the beginning of the season was a huge challenge for me. Buttonwillow is particularly tricky as that track is just soooo bumpy now. Going through Riverside at 120mph and leaned over is fun, but when you catch a bump that upsets the chasis so bad you say a prayer to stay on top of the bike isn't exactly my idea of a great day at the track!

This weekend was no different. I hadn't ridden this track since May and in that time have gotten significantly faster. The settings Dave and Tige worked out for me back then just weren't working. Dave worked with me through the sessions and paid particular attention to my corner entry stability. It was the perfect strategy as I dropped 3 seconds off my times from the May WERA round. It was the perfect ending to a great season.

Thanks so much Dave and all of the CRST Team! See you next year!

John Proctor

Michael Pesicka

I arrived at the track Friday morning at about 3:30am after working relentlessly all day Thursday to get the bike prepared to race. I got a tiny bit of shut eye, then back to work at about 7am Friday morning. I had to replace the fork seal on my right fork leg, put on practice tires, and then get through tech. Friday practice went smoothly without incident. I hadn't been to the track since March, so needed a little bit of time to get acclimated to my bike (which was heavily modified since my last outing at Buttonwillow). I practiced all day and was feeling pretty good by the end of the day. I was on take-off tires for the whole day, and still practicing faster than my fastest race time from March. Best time was an unofficial 1:54.xx

Originally I wasn't planning on practicing on Saturday, but because I still had some tire left on my practice tires and wanted to ride some more I decided to do a half day. So, after lunch I registered and got through tech. I rode the last two sessions on Saturday, and was going slightly faster than I had been Friday. In the last session on Saturday I was having some issues in a very fast section of the track, the shock was bottoming out while on the gas over some rough pavement. This was causing the front end to become unstable and induce headshake. But, because the day was over suspension changes would have to wait until Sunday morning.

Sunday morning I arrived at the track and put on my race tires. These were the race tires that I crashed on at Infineon Raceway (Sears Point) three weeks earlier, so they only had 8 laps on them. I got the tire warmers on and the bike prepped for morning practice. I went out for practice just to scrub in the tires and try out the suspension changes made to prevent the instability I was experiencing the day before. I only completed three laps, but this was plenty to know that the bike and the tires were ready for Race 1: 600 Production.

Race #1 - 600 ProductionI was gridded 7th for this race, the inside of row two. I was feeling very calm and ready to race. When the green flag dropped I got a great jump off the line, passed some riders around the outside of T1, and came out of turn 1 in 1st place. On the entrance of T3 I was passed for the lead. For the next 3 laps I hunted the rider in the lead, I was much faster then him in the tighter sections of the track, but because of the track layout, it is very difficult to pass in these sections. After learning where I was stronger, I passed him on the brakes into the last corner. My drive out of the last corner suffered just enough for him to repass me on the front straight. Then, at some point on lap 4 I was passed by the rider in 3rd. I was faster than this rider in the same sections as the rider in the lead, and I struggled to regain 2nd position. At this point in the race I began to have cramping in my right hand, due to the brake lever being adjusted too far out. This hurt my ability to brake aggressively and my control of the throttle. On lap 5 I was passed by Bryce Prince, a Red Bull Rookies Cup rider who had started from the back of the grid. When he came by I knew he had the pace to make it through the two riders in front of me. I planned on tucking in behind him and passing the other riders when he opened up the path. However, with the cramping in my hand this proved impossible. I settled for 4th in what was a very exciting race. This was a personal best finish to date, best race time is unknown due to a transponder issue.

After Race #1 I put on fresh slicks that I would use for 600 Superbike and Formula Pacific. The slicks were AMA test tires left over from 2007, and I had never tested them personally. However, because the tires are identical in construction and size, and I only needed them for 14 laps, I decided to run them.

Race #2 - 600 SuperbikeI was gridded 11th for this race, the inside of row 3. I needed to get a good start if I wanted to run up front. On the warm up lap I was sliding around on the slicks I had mounted. I knew I would have to take it easy on the first few laps before pushing hard. Anxious to get off the line similar to race #1, I botched the start and got pinched on the inside of T1. From the 1st lap my drives out of the corners were suffering, the rear tire seemingly had very little grip. I struggled to find the pace to pass the riders in front of me, watching the leaders go away quickly into the distance. As the race progressed, grip only got worse and worse. I began losing positions to the riders behind me, just hoping to bring the bike home in one piece. I finished the race in 14th place, managing a best lap of 1:52.240.

In my second race the rear tire had dissintigrated to the point that it was unrideable. Pirelli had given me the wrong compound tire and it didn't come anywhere near lasting the whole race. Ultimately this was entirely my mistake, as I hadn't personally tested these tires and they were unproven. With only a few minutes until the Formula Pacific race, and a shredded tire, I pulled out of the race and did not compete.

All things considered this was an excellent weekend. I had a spectacular 600 Production race in which I was able to battle for the lead. I learned some things, both good and bad, that will help develop my skills in making the right decisions in the future. I want to give a HUGE thanks to Dave Moss of Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning, for without his help this weekend would have never been possible. Also, a big thanks to Derek Capito of Motolab for giving me the power to run up front.

So now, on to 2009. I will be working rigorously to prepare a new 2009 Kawasaki 600 to be competetive for the first round of the year in March.Thanks for your time and interest!-Michael Pesicka

Yamaha R1 Limited Edition

Hi Dave,

Been meaning to drop you a line to thank you for the setup help on Saturday at Button Willow with The Track Club.

The R1-LE ran great all weekend and I've not see that kind of tire wear ... it was great ... in some time. Of course the mild weather helped. But I never gave the suspension a thought when Iwas out riding. Thanks!

Sunday running the track CCW was a trip, a first for me. Although the trackflowed well, I had a hard time making time in that configuration. Guess I'm a right-hand turn guy :)

Again, it was great to have you set the bike up for. The third one that you've done for me in the past few years. Best of luck with the new shop in SoCal.

Best Regards,

Gary MeyersSan Jose, CA

rider feedback from months of work :)

Hi Dave,

What is strange about the NTEC is they started doing the same as the pirellis at my second track day on them, I check the pressure and was up to 26-27 (even thought I had put them at 20 cold)...and also found the rear was hard on bumps compared to the Pirellis. so I came off the track and ajusted my pressure to 24 after a couple of hot laps. The tearing disapeared immediatly.

On another note, I was leaned so much with them at Calaboogie that I scrapped my fairing on turn 6 several sessions, even thought I was fully 'out' and low beside the bike...a friend of mine following told me there were but inches between my elbow and the ground... Franckly I never thought I could go so low...I'm glad I was able to do it...I remember feeling like a little 'Rossi' for those few session being about 5-6 second off the Pro pace wich is a little over 2 minutes on that track... Fond memories for a long time with that trackday.

I'm getting a Penske this winter (a 24 clicker without the hi speed compression adjustment) and my front fork will be rebuilt...can't wait to see what that will do to my times.... My friends tease me that I should turn Pro...but at 43 I think it's a bit too late for that :-) Anyway I'm having a blast at trackdays...never thought I would be this fast.thanks again for all your help and comments.

Ghislain

THUNDERHILL RACEWAY PARK NEW TRACK SURFACE EVALUATION

THUNDERHILL RACEWAY PARK NEW TRACK SURFACE EVALUATION

Dave Moss
2007 Triumph Daytona 675

Lap times averaging 2:05 to 2:01

GENERAL:

VISUAL:
Surface color contrast to ground is stark and the consistency of the color demands attention. This is perhaps the most profound visual change when on the track having adapted to muliplte colors and markings. There is an immdeiate visual impression of smoothness just looking at the track, and that places a good state of mind into the rider while looking at the track from the hot pit. The immediate visual impression is one of a European track surface, as per MotoGP camera shots, sans curbing and paint.

QUALITY OF FINISH:
Is reminiscent of 600 grit sandpaper while driving at speed on it. That would apply to overall tire finish (with correct set up and pressure) as tires are polished after riding on the track, much the same as Laguna. Seams are visual but appear to be level and blend in evenly with each other.

CURBING:
There is an odd combination of flat and raised curbs. The raised curbs are a known concern for motorcyclists, as the fast line requires the tires to be within inches of the curbing at apex, and that will cause hard parts to hit the curb (I did it myself yesterday while passing someone in T10).


SPECIFICALLY:

STRAIGHTS:
15-1: there are no discernable bumps or seam issues on this straight until after the building where there is a gate in the fence for track access. When going to the far right to set up for T1, crossing the second seam to set up for a late apex of T1 will upset the bike momentarily when this seam is crossed.

9-10: once T9 has been exited, there is a very smooth drive over the hill and down the straight to T10. I found no high speed bumps at all in this section.

12-14: once through T11, the racing line was very smooth all the way to the braking zone/bridge for T14.


TURNS
1: The old surface gave paople serious angst while approaching at speed knowing that the bumps entering and at the apex of the turn would create a brutal and somewhat violent experience with the bikes suspension. Now approaching the turn in point from a wide right entry to the right of the current white blend line, there is a sharp high speed bump crossing the second seam from the left. Nothing serious and does not upset the bike at lean. There is also a noticeable off camber part of the third row of new surface as you enter the track. Approaching the apex there are only a fraction of the high speed bumps left from the inside curb running the length of the curb. While cresting and post apex, there are several high speed bumps close to the flat outside curb from the 10th slab going forward to 10-12 past the end of the curb. There is nothing severe, but the rider will feel them at irregular intervals until 2/3rds of the distance between T1 and T2 from far right to fading to the left to enter T2. Huge improvement!

2: The old surface had several hard hits to the suspension at the entry point that continued throughout the entire corner, with some severe surface changes in the middle third of the corner. Now entering T2 there are a visual continuous series of small high speed ripples starting about 3' from the inside and going about 5' wide to the right lasting until the mid point of the turn. If a rider takes a double apex approach to the corner the line is smooth throughout the turn with no bumps that were discernable. Huge improvement!

3: This corner was always a survival corner for the rider/racer in just keeping the chassis neutral and riding out the bumps using mostly an inside line or a wide entry line. Now entering T3 if the rider enters on the paint, there will be sporadic and irregular bumps throughout that line all the way to the corner exit at the end of the inside curb. If the rider takes a wide left approach there are less bumps until the line tightens up mid corner.It is visually obvious that there are shining black spots randomly in the track surface throughout the corner and these are the high speed bumps that are depressions in the surface.Overall much better, especially with one camber for the whole turn from edge to edge.

4: The old cut out in the surface of this turn at the apex point caused some front wheel slides/pushes if not on the right line and with the bike more upright. Now any line can be taken and any apex point selected with no significant high speed bumps at all. The reducing of the curb hieght in this corner is very noticeable. Huge improvement!

5: The approach to T5 seems the same and the old bump on the right hand side from the turn in point is still there but not so pronounced. The dangerous part of T5 was the lip just after the crest that frequently caused low sides. That lip has gone and as such the overall transition to the down side is much smoother.However, at the high point it feels as though there is a broom handle laying just under the surface, most significantly at the left hand side of the track at the crest of T5 and it will get both the front and rear wheels airborne at speed. This rounded ridge seems to run the width of the track at this point, but lessens approaching the right third of the track.On the downside of the hill, there are visual small high speed ripples in a narrow band 2 from the right hand edge of the track extending most of the way down the hill but they are gone before the track flattens out. Worthy of note is the removal of the depression at the base of turn 5 making for a much more aggressive approach to T6! Big improvement!

6. The old approach to turn 6 was full of ripples especially close to the inside curb, some severe enough to cause the front tire to lose grip. The new surface is smooth no matter what line you choose and seems to have more of a positive camber to it on both entry and exit. Huge improvement!

7: Many riders lost traction is this corner due to the high speed ripples in the pavement while being close to max lean angles at the apex, often taking bars out of their hands mine were no exception. That made the racing line through this corner extremely narrow and required precision in execution. Now there are some small high speed impacts from crossing the seams, but they are subtle and do not instill fear. Any line can be taken and there seem to be no severe high speed bumps anywhere that I could find. Huge improvement!

8: The concrete patch on entry, the sink hole at the apex of this corner and the odd raised run off area made this corner extremely intimidating and required a calm head and faith being the fastest corner of the track. The new corner seems wider on exit and while that is not strictly true, this creates a little more of a comfort zone for the rider. The smoothness of the surface on entry, at apex and when exiting up the hill inspires a lot more confidence in attacking the corner and again, the rider can choose any line through the corner with confidence.

9. The old surface had a bit of a dip at the apex point which is gone and it seems that the whole grade from the turn in point to the crest is a little smoother and not quite so steep? It certainly seemed a lot harder to loft the front wheel initially post apex, but this may not be the case. The turn in point to apex has some high speed ripples going in, again about 2' off the inside curb for the length of the curb, and these shift out to about a third of the way out from the right maintaining this band of high speed bumps that are very visible. These disappear about 15-20 before the crest and the downside of 9 is perfectly smooth. Big improvement!

10: The old surface was very smooth here, and it is the same now.

11: There were some high speed bumps in the braking zone for this corner but those have gone and braking now is smooth and drama free. Cresting the inside by the curb is a very smooth transition as is exiting the corner.

12/13. There were tar snakes and patches here, making for a somewhat nervous application of the throttle coming through this area of the track, again requiring precision. In the visual approach to the 12/13 combination after cresting T11, acceleration can be done with confidence and authority.There is a great deal of ambiguity in the current layout in regards to correct lines due to the extra run off being (temporarily) available to riders?

14: The approach to this corner provided a plethora of visual references to use for brake markers along with many different surface conditions to deal with while braking approaching the corner. Along with all of this came some fairly severe braking bumps that we had to deal with. These bumps seem for the most part to have gone completely across the width of the track, but more importantly from the far left of the track. Huge improvement!

15: The elimination of the sink hole in this corner was I am sure what everyone was praying for as you had to hold back from getting on the gas after exiting 14. Now you can hold the throttle wide open once through 14 when you learn the line and that gained me 20mph after the start finish tower with a true corrected speed of 145mph on the 675. There is no doubt that this is by far the most improved section of the track as you cannot wait to get through 14 to be on the gas with authority in 15. Magnificent improvement!


CONCLUSION:

Overall -the track surface is visually impressive, resembling a European facility.- the smoothness of the surface immediately relaxes riders.- the track surface inspires confidence to attack the corners not survive them once a rider has had time to get used to the new track with no reference points.- the improvements in profile and leveling bumps is very significant and should not be understated.- the few bumps that exist currently are marginal other than T5.

For motorcycles, this new pavement is not kind to tires at all being so raw, much the same as Laguna was when first repaved. Some tires will not last more than a morning, even when brand new unless they can be turned around and run in the opposite direction. Riders need to be prepared to come with hard compound tires running higher than recommended air pressures due to the increased grip. As with Laguna, this will get worse before it gets better, so sharing this information is critical to ensure a positive experience for the user, no matter what provider they use when visiting Thunderhill.

SIMPLE IMMEDIATE CHANGES:

Raised curbing in 3, 6, 8, 9, 10 to be flattened out or replaced. Adding the two white hash marks as turn in points as per old track in turns 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11.

feedback from Reno Fernley Raceway

Email:

Dave,

Just wanted to say thank you again for working with me and setting my bike up. The bike finally handles awesome. After you left Sunday I added two more clicks of compression on the shock and the bike just handled incredible! It completely took that bounce out of the rear when coming out of the apex of the corner on the gas!

I still feel like I am working too hard to get the bike to lean over all the way though. Also, on my front tire there is appx 5/8” of stripes on the sides still not being used ( obviously because I can’t get it to lean as much as I want to). On my back tire, the whole tire is being used and has a great wear pattern ( you dialed that in PERFECT)!

Would you recommend to do:
Lowering the forks a couple of mm’s to make it lean more?
Take a small amount of preload out of the forks?
Raise the rear ride height?

I am looking forward to doing another track day where you are there so I can use your services again!
Sincerely Thanks again for all your expertise, you are the man!


REPLY:

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the kind words. Glad the bike worked well after the changes and thumbs up to you for adding the compression - nice work!

The front tire from edge to edge has much more profile than the rear tire does and is much more u-shaped. It is very common not to use the front tire edge to edge - the only way to do it is to low side....... we don't want that. SO, don't get caught up in the unused strips being there :)
If you want to make changes to the front, you need to be systematic in the approach. Here are your options.

1. Lower the fork 2mm in the triple clamps and see how that works.
2. Take out fork preload one turn at a time to assess changes in turn in.
3. Take out 3 clicks of compression at a time to assess turn in.

If you have any other questions, please let me know!
cheers,
dave

upgrading stock components to let you keep improving

Dave Moss and Catalyst Reaction worked some serious magic on my bike. First, Dave got my suspension setup close with the stock components. The difference between my suspension settings and Dave’s settings was like night and day. However, factory components can only be adjusted so far, and as my abilities improved I noticed I was starting to lose a little bit of confidence in the bike.

Jim at the CRST shop in Norcal revalved and resprung my fork and shock and then Dave tuned it at the track. As a result the bike became very stable everywhere on the track and it turned well too. The best testament to the quality of the work and the changes Dave and Jim made is that now every time I visit Dave to have him read the tire it’s just for verification – it’s always perfect!

Jason

Jason Baumbach
Field Applications Engineer
Cypress Semiconductor

rider feedback from tuning and guidance

Hello Dave,

Back in May you set up my suspension at The Track Clubs track day at Laguna. I'm the guy with the naked SV, 62 year old first time on the track. Setting the suspension made a huge difference and made the day thatmuch more enjoyable.

It was not only the tuning but what you said to meafterwords that helped my riding skills rise far above my expectations. You coached me by saying "Now the bike is set up perfectly for you.Relax your hands into the turns and let the bike do the work" Amazinghow much that helped everything. Thank you.

Thanks, Ken

Sponsored AFM racer Mickey Fimbres

Mickey has his own Blog, so check out his race reports here:

http://mick-e-693.blogspot.com/

Mickey has made huge progress this year to date by steady learning and a solid ability to improve his feedback to better tune his race bike. It is a pleasure to sponsor him!

AFM race 2 at Infineon.

Let's keep this short:

- 52 riders helped
- several riders on the podium
- many riders with personal bests
- a whole bunch of riders happy with tire wear eliminated and a great handling race bike :)

Some early release race reports:

Bryan HiestandAFM #691

Hi Dave,

I'm the guy with the silver SV and the problem with my rear Pirelli slick tearing on the right side. Your changes helped and I was able to turn a few 1:50's (a new personal best) and I finished 15th in F4 after starting 38th on the grid.

Thanks!!!!!!!!


John Proctor-AFM/WERA #218

Infineon Raceway has always been a challenge for me. It is more technically demanding than our other tracks and I was hopeful that being on the 600 would help me here. At the 3J’s track day, I went up to find out. Well, I was dirt slow. I was struggling with keeping the bike in the power and could tell that my suspension was totally wrong.

CRST's Jim and Nickie were there and so I went to Jim for some help. Like Dave, Jim is very systematic. He worked through the bike and made some changes, particularly in the front. The difference was night and day. I didn’t ask questions, I just let the lap times show it. I dropped 5 seconds in the last session of the day and left with some decent confidence.

Going into the weekend, I knew I had the suspension dialed in so I just needed to focus on riding. It was so nice to have that luxury. I spent Saturday just working the track. I had picked up enough speed that I was tearing up my rear tire quite a bit, but Dave took care of that with one look. He identified the problem and fixed it within one session, again, helping me focus on riding and getting faster. It all paid off Sunday as I ran three beautiful races. In 600 Superbike, I got a decent start, but was able to stay aggressive and brought my times from practice down by 2 seconds. In F1, I didn’t gain any time, but stayed at the faster pace in spite of having to battle three bikes for 6 of the 8 laps. And in 600 production, the last race of the day, I dropped another full second for my best finish on the 600 yet. I’m already excited for Round 3!

Thanks to Dave and Jim for the efforts to keep my mind on the track instead of on my bike.

One on One teaching results with John Olsen

Hey Dave,

Thanks for all the help at Laguna on Monday – it feels like it is all starting to come together. At least at Laguna. That is something that kinda bums me out a bit. When I work with my drivers, I always tell them to “drive the car, not the track.” Meaning, I don’t want them to get so wrapped up in the line, I rather them work on driving the car to the limit. Basically, not be so focused on connecting the dots. That’s why track locals are one fast for the first couple of sessions. I’m starting to feel like a Laguna track local if you get my drift.

Anyway, thanks again for all of your help. I have learned so much over the past few months, and I’m having a great time. Now it’s time to get that data system set-up.

John Olsen
Team Manager
World Speed Motorsports

Brian Evans, Mid Ohio Pirelli tire tearing

I have been looking at the article published in Road Racing World’s 2008 Track Day Directory and I am going to purchase your DVD next week but I had some specific questions for your about tire wear.

I had a look on your website at the ‘tire-wear.html’ page and I noticed I have some of the very same issues which you are detailing. Included below are some links to images of my tire wear. I am using Pirelli Daiblo Superbike Slicks or Diablo Supercorsas, depending on what is available, typically in the SC2 compound at Mid-Ohio, a newly paved track. I know most of this info is overkill but I would rather be thorough.

Typically I will set my tire pressure cold, about 3 below at the rear and 3-4 below at the front AND I use tire warmers for about 45 minutes before I go on track. I noticed that you are stating 5-7lbs is a more ideal gain. Should I be setting my cold pressure this far below where I want to be? According to my notes I have the sag set at 43mm front and 28 rear.

Any help is appreciated, unfortunately I keep destroying tires and there is little knowledge on this issue around here… Here are the pictures of my tire wear…
http://www.redstarwebdesigns.com/bikes/images/026.JPG - front left side
http://www.redstarwebdesigns.com/bikes/images/028.JPG - rear right side

Brian Evans
Senior Web Analyst


REPLY:

Hi Brian,
Thanks for the email and the detailed information. The tire wear is disturbing as it is eating tires and killing your wallet.

Front tire looks like a geometry tear to me given what I can see. The bike may to too nose heavy with too much bias to the front wheel and that will result in what appears to be a rasp file shaving the tire away. The rear tire is a pressure and rebound problem by looking at the tearing and the triangulation of the tearing around the tread pattern.

With the AMA team I work with we have the SC2 rear and SC3 front tires on the warmers for 90 minutes to equalize the temp between the tire and the rim. Then we set the hot pressure at 31 front and 28 rear. This is the only way that we can stop these tires from tearing. We double check it by having the riders come in at full pace so we can get an accurate read on hot pressure.

Has your gauge been calibrated?

Assuming sag is set as per your email, I would recommend setting the tire pressures hot from here on out.

NEXT - I would change your geometry radically to lower the back or raise the front by 8mm to see what happens to the front tire. Dont' go in small increments!

NEXT - work on rear shock rebound. Go 6 clicks in both direction to see what that does to the tread pattern.

Let me know how things proceed and how I can help you further.
Many thanks,
Dave

Don Walker's 2008 R6 low side crash analysis

I have both your dvd's and study them religiously!!! I have actually gotten pretty good at dialing my own suspension due to your clear explanations and demonstration of how a motorcycle suspension works.

I am writing you because i have a weird problem I just can't figure out. I am an avid rider and have 3 track days under my belt. I recently purchased a 2008 r6 and while riding it after setting sag, rebound, and compression I noticed that the bike will lean over to a certain degree and just stop. Now by this point I am not low enough to drag knee. When I try to lean the bike more it feels "squirrelly" if you will.

I tried leaning it more and more and alas I low sided. As I got to certain lean angle the bike just wouldn' go any further. I had to put some effort into making the bike lean over more. At this point the bike felt squirrelly and just fell down. It was more of a feeling that the bike just fell down as opposed to sliding away from me. I was wondering if you had any idea what causes this.

If you are too busy to offer any advice I totally understand. Its just that i hate getting advice from "know it alls" and would rather get some honest input from someone who understands motorcycle dynamics. Thanks!

REPLY

Hi Don,

Thanks for the email and the detailed explanation of what you are feeling with the bike in regards to lean and the good understanding you have of what happened when you low sided. That is the key part to understanding what happened and why.

When you set preload and compression too soft the front forks drop to a certain point and then cease to move. When that happens, the tire becomes the suspension and if you lean the bike too far you overload the tire, the side wall and then the edge collapse and the bike low sides falling in the direction of the turn so that you fall on it so to speak.

If the bike had gone away from you the low side crash would have been from too much gas taking weight away from the front wheel causing it to skid out away from the direction of the corner.

There are many other variables here, but I would reset your fork sag to 35mm and set the blue compression (low speed) to all the way shut and come back 12 clicks. Start with this settings and see how the front behaves.

NOTE:
1. If the rear sag is too tight it will shift the balance of the bike forward and drive the front wheel into the ground rather than along it. Check rear sag, including free sag to remove this from the equation.

2. If you have a larger than stock rear tire in place, this will pick the back of the bike up and change the balance point of the bike too.


SECOND EMAIL:

DON:
Hi Don,
Thanks Mr. Moss. I think I know what happened after reading your explanation. I checked my suspension again and rechecked some measurements. I had my front sag set at 28mm with really soft compression. So....tell me if this is right. Maybe my preload was too stiff with really soft compression turning the tire into the suspension. Basically with the fork preload being so high the front had no movement and with the soft compression it was "bottoming out" I did have a zip tie on there and the front travel had about an inch left, but I think because my preload was so hard that is what cause the problem. I'll try reseting the bike to your suggestions and let you know what happens.

Thanks Dave!


REPLY:
Hi Don,
Yes, that would be a very concise explanation. Too much preload (should be 35-38mm) with low speed compression at 16+ out would cause the forks to drop to a set point and then the tire is what you have for suspension. Once you overloaded the front tire the bars turned in and the low side happened.

You need to have the zip tie go to about 1/2 and inch left for street use.
Seems you have learned a great deal fro the DVD's!

AMA report from Barber Motorsports Park, AL

SAFETY FIRST RACE REPORT, AMA NATIONAL
BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK, AL
4/17 to 4/20


Thursday Promoter Practice:
Session 1, ride the bike and validate reference points from last year.

BIKE 1:
Gearing 15 x 45
Rear axle at 39.5mm

Fork Position +7mm
Springs .95kg
Preload 10 turns in
Rebound 1.5 out
Compression 1.25 out

Shock ride height: +5mm
500lb spring
10mm free sag
HS compression 40 out
LS compression 9 out
Rebound 12 out


Session 2 evaluate gearing:
BIKE 2:
Gearing 15 x 44
Rear axle at 56.1mm

Fork Position +7mm
Springs .95kg
Preload 10 turns in
Rebound 1.5 out
Compression 1.25 out

Shock ride height: +7mm
500lb spring
10mm free sag
HS compression 40 out
LS compression 9 out
Rebound 12 out

Session 3:
Bike 1 gearing at 15 x 44, Rear axle at 42.2mm
Bike 2 gearing at 15 x 46. Rear axle at 32.5mm
Fork height retained, rear ride height changed to +6mm on both bikes.

Focus: gearing for drive off the corners, chassis geometry for finishing the corners, 6 laps per bike.

Result: Bobby stayed out for the entire session leaving no time for Bike #1


FRIDAY:
Focus: repeat session 3 to evaluate chassis and gearing.
Bike #2, 6 laps, Bike #1, 8 laps.

Result:
46 rear sprocket chosen
Fork preload changed to 11.5 turns in to eradicate chatter.
Bike # 2 had better geometry, base line chassis chosen

BIKE 2:
Gearing 15 x 46
Rear axle at 32.5mm

Fork Position +7mm
Springs .95kg
Preload 10 turns in
Rebound 1.5 out
Compression 1.25 out

Shock ride height: +5mm
500lb spring
10mm free sag
HS compression 40 out
LS compression 9 out
Rebound 12 out

Lap times in low 1:30’s but race time will be in the 28/29’s. 45 rear sprocket may be more appropriate, and Bobby’s poor sector 2 times validate this. After discussion with Owen, Bobby and Gabor 45 installed (new chain on bike #2 to retain axle position, rear ride height change to reflect geometry differences).


SATURDAY:

BIKE 1:
Gearing 15 x 45
Rear axle at 37.08mm

Fork Position +7mm
Springs .975kg
Preload 8 turns in
Rebound 1.5 out
Compression 1.5 out

Shock ride height: +6mm
500lb spring
10mm free sag
HS compression 40 out
LS compression 9 out
Rebound 11 out

Practice 1:
Focus: work hard on 2nd segment to improve times from 27th position, and trying to get to target time as set by leaders (too fast and you loose entry speed into segment 3). Also evaluate fork changes for initial turn in.

Change to bike #2 for back to back comparison. Rear axle at 37.38mm.

Result:
Fastest time 1:28.9 on bike #2
Fork preload changed to 11.5 turns in to eradicate chatter.

NOTE: make both bikes identical for qualifying in all aspects as far as possible. Only discrepancy was rear axle position off 0.3mm between bikes.

QUALIFYING: 25 mins

Focus:
Use Bike 1 to get warmed up for 5 laps, 6 max. Yellow front at 31 psi, White rear (2 hard laps on it yesterday) at 26.5psi after 90 minutes on the warmers.
Bike #2, new yellow front and new white rear and get 5/6 laps with faster riders.
Preload changed to 12 turns in.

Result:
Qualified 14th on the 4th row. Goal achieved.

SUNDAY:

RACE:
Yellow front at 31psi hot and 234 rear at 26.2psi after 90 minutes on the warmers.
Track temp 127 degrees, ambient 86 on pit clock.

Bobby finished 12th, Gabor 13th.

Final settings:
Fork height: +7mm
Spring rate .95kg
Preload 12 turns in
Rebound 1.5 turns out
Compression 1.25 turns out

Shock ride height +7mm
500lb spring
10mm free sag
HS compression 40 out
LS compression 9 out
Rebound 12 out

Mark McKinney at WERA West on revised Race Tech 25mm cartridges

Dave and Jim,

I wanted to provide a bit of feedback after picking up the recently re-built forks from you for my 2006 R6.

To sum it all up in a single word... amazing. What a difference the recent Catalyst Reaction fork re-build made on the bike! The bike went from being an overwhleming mis-handling handful at Buttonwillow where 10th place was the best I could manage in the F-40 class, to a 1st place finish at Las Vegas in the Sr Superbike Expert class this past weekend. During the weekend, a few tweaks of the springs and rebound damping was all it took to allow me to improve my best-ever lap times at Las Vegas by nearly 2 seconds!

Thanks to both of you for your support on and off the track, and for the excellent work you do.

Mark McKinney WERA Sr. SB #1

PIRELLI TIRE WEAR QUESTION

Hi Dave,

I am learning more about suspension and reading tires, and purchasedyour videos from onthethrottle - they're great! I also have seen yourtire web page http://www.feelthetrack.com/tire-wear.html. But I stillhave a question that I was hoping you could clear up. I am a ControlRider with NESBA and would consider myself of decently proficient rider.I happen to be using a Pirelli Diablo Corsa III tire this past weekend(as it is our sponsored Control Rider tire), and it showed somethinginteresting that I would not have caught on a DOT race tire like theSupercorsa. I saw what looks exactly like the rebound cupping. Butsince the DCIII has tread that goes all the way to the edge of the tire,I saw that from the very edge of the tire to about an inch in, the tirehas the trailing edge raised. But then from about an inch off the edgeof the tire to the center of the tire, it has the leading edge raised.Seems odd that it switched like that. And I never would have caughtthis with my DOT race tires as the tread stops about an inch from theedge. Any idea what would cause this?Thanks in advance!

Matt


REPLY:

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the email and the kind words. Good eye you have too when looking at tires and yes on race dot's there would not have been any evidence of the changes.

The change on the leading edge from tall to rounded on the side of the tire is due to the valving in the shock itself. It is not uncommon to see both patterns on tires, and in general my thoughts are that when the bike is straight up and down, I don't worry about tire wear too much at that point in the tire. However, we are most vulnerable when we are on the side/edge of the tire so the shock has to work perfectly at that time. Therefore I will always adjust rebound damping based on this criteria to make sure the bike is behaving correctly.

As with all tuning, to get something ou have to compromise with something else, so you can over damp the rear shock in trying to get "perfect tire wear" when seeing this pattern. It is better to make sure that the bike works well at all angles and too much or too little rebound damping which wil affect handling both on corner entry and corner exit.
Please let me know if you have any other questions!

Dave

KEIGWINS NOVICE SHOOL, THUNDERHILL RACEWAY

As always, this is a wonderfull event that I look forward to as for many attendees, this is truly their first sortie on a track, and the improvements can be dramatic to say the least from 4 minute laps down to the sub 3 minute area. Many bikes are ridden, not just sport bikes and that makes things even more interesting :)

Day one involves setting up every bike at the school (50-60 bikes), lecturing in the classroom and then being part of the instructor demo.

Bike set up can be as simple as a "No - there's nothing to adjust other than tire pressure and geometry" through to a 10 minute initial set up followe by multiple visits. The bottom line for day one is to make sure that every bike is optimized so that instructors know that they can get from the students what they are asking for becuase the bike is correctly set up and not part of the equation. It takes a lot of work sometimes on these days with the times that riders drop by the end of day one, but that leaves day two open with very little to do. Note that all the bikes have to be done before 2.45pm when I start classroom lectures........

In the classroom, the focus is always two simple points for every to avoid information overload:

1. Is your bike safe to ride based on the fork and shock springs you have on the bike right now.

2. When was the last time that you serviced the fork and shock oil.

It is fun to see how many people never consider what suspension they have on the bike - much like a car it seems like it should be one size fits all. Unfortunately on bikes this is not true, so teaching students how to measure sag and then putting riders on one bike of varying weights always creates a lot of debate. Add to this that BMW is the only company service manual that specs suspension oil changes, and you get the picture of incredulity on some faces. The information just ins't out there, so the classroom lectures really help make people aware of what they need to take care of and look out for when buying a new or used bike.

Some feedback from the school:

Dave,
I just wanted to thank you again for the service you provided me at the Thunderhill track days April 5 and 6.
Due to your suspension assistance I was able to improve my best lap time by 7 seconds. The advice you offered, in how to break the track down into sections to better understand the components was invaluable. That was some of the most helpful information I've received, at any track, from any instructor. Perhaps you could add sage advice to the suspension logo.

I hope I have an opportunity to utilize your services in the future.

Chaz Verrall
Ugly Zebra striped GSXR 750

Cycle New and Motorcycle USA 600 shoot out at Infineon Racway

I was invited to attend this event to provide assistance with the Triumph 675. Originally, that was to support Motorcycle USA but on the morning of the event, Cycle News needed their bike taken care of for the day too. After a little running around getting a couple of stands etc and making sure everyone was on the same page, I prepped the bikes for day, and then found out who the riders were and what they weighed without gear so I had a good idea of what to do in baseline settings per rider prior to them taking the bike out on the track.

Motorcycle USA riders:
Jimmy Moore, Corey Call, Shawn Roberti, Michael Earnest, Adam Waheed, Ken Hutchinson

Cyc;le News riders:
Chuck Sorenson, Alec Dare, Paul Carruthers, Craig McLean, Steve Atlas

Brands present:
Triumph, Yamaha, Honda, Kawsaki, Suzuki, Ducati 848

Tire Vendor: Pirelli - Superbike Tires.net

The basis of the morning was to have all riders try out each bike and make setting changes as needed for each rider. At the conclusion of the morning session the two fastest riders from each group would run a superpole event with each bike to see what times each bike would do. Then the bikes would be run on the drag strip for 1/4 mile times in the late afternoon.

The difficult part is to create a baseline for each rider, based on their riding syle and that took a lot of guesswork as there was a 130lb variance between riders just to start with. Running 2 bikes seems like it would not be too difficult, but that includes tire warmers, fuel, suspension geometry changes and suspension adjustments prior to each rider getting on the bike and feedback after their session for potential superpole settings based on the eventual riders.

The complete report will go to both Magazines this week, and I will hyperlink to the artciles and put them on my site for review when they are published. Needless to say, the day very intense but in the end a really worthwhile experience for both myself, the riders, and CRST as a company.

AFM RACE REPORT: Matt Weathers

Saturday day morning started off very slow. I went out for my 1st session and felt like I was fighting with the bike. Being the stubborn person I am, I never asked for help and figured it was just me. Saturday practice was my 2nd day on a bike since August of 2007 so I know I had some bugs to work out before I was going to run the pace I know I can run. During the 5 sessions I ran on Saturday I felt stronger in the slower sections than I did in the fast ones such as Riverside on down to the sweeper before the esses. I knew I could go faster through that section but the feedback from my 2005 GSXR 750 was not giving me much confidence. The day started with lap times above 2:00 and ended @ a 1:58.

I went faster than that 3 years ago, so finally at the end of the day, I decided to come see you Dave, over at Catalyst Reaction. Dave has always been a huge asset when it comes to set up and suspension tuning. I wish I had gone to him from the beginning of the weekend. Saturday afternoon after practice Dave took all of my sag measurements and noticed I was in the ballpark and that no adjustments were needed there. I discussed the Rake and Trail numbers I had adjusted (@the end of the day) by lowering the rear of the bike and he agreed. I was riding all day Saturday with way too steep of a fork angle. The back of the bike was jacked way too high and the swing arm angle was above 13 degrees, whatever that means. Point is, again, I could have been there with the correct setup Saturday morning. After looking at the wear on the rear tire Dave adjusted the rebound and prepared me for Sundays races.

Sunday morning comes along and I'm ready to test the changes made the afternoon before. I immediately felt more comfortable in the faster sections. I'm not sure if I went any faster in Sunday morning practice but the bike was feeling much more stable.

I went out for Open Superbike starting in 24th. The class was the 2nd wave on the grid. I got a good start and ended up in about 16th or 17th position after turn 1. I was feeling much more confident from the changes made to the rear end and was able to get on the gas much sooner when exiting the corners. Riverside came and went without any issues on the 1st lap and so did the rest of the back half of Buttonwillow Raceway. I was having fun again! As the race went on I made more passes and settled into 12th with no surprises. The bike was feeling much better through the faster sections and under braking. This allowed me to concentrate on what I wanted the bike to do rather than planning for what it was going to do and waiting for that to happen. I finished in 12th spot and my best lap was a 1:55.9.

I then took the bike back over to Dave to check on the rear tire wear and Dave made another adjustment to the rebound for me. The funny thing about it is that you (Dave) looked at the tire and from the wear you know which direction to go with adjustments. We're not talking about a tire tearing or anything. The tire was fine. Its things that Dave notices like this, that makes me wonder why I didn't go to him from the beginning. I'm done trying to sort these things out myself.

The next race was 750 Production and I was 6th on the grid. I was feeling good from the changes made from before and knew I could go faster. I got a poor start and ended up in 10th or 12th position. Somewhere around there. I lost the front group who I was hoping to get a tow from and learn something. I finally got into a groove around Riverside again and started climbing back up the charts. The bike was working well when exiting the faster sections and under braking too. I felt much stronger running deeper into the sweeper before the esses and then getting a good drive into and out of the esses. The bike just felt much more predictable and I was comfortable when it was moving around. I finished 7th and dropped to a 1:54.9. With that being my last race for the day I was happy with my finishes considering where I was the day before.

Dropping 3 seconds in 1 practice and 2 races isn't bad. It was my 2nd weekend on a motorcycle period since August or September of 2007, so its ok. Now I'm going to continue to work with Dave for the rest of the season and have some fun.

Dave, Thanks again for the help! I look forward to seeing you soon.

Track Daz customer: Mark Williams

Good morning. I attended the track day at Willow Springs yesterday that was sponsored by Track Daz.

I had my suspension set up and tuned by James Morse from the Tustin location and wanted to thank you for the excellent work and helpful suggestions provided by them. It was my first track day and had to be the best motorcycling experience I have ever had.

I was unable to talk to your guys after the event and subsequently unable to get a copy of my particular suspension settings. I was hoping to be able to get a copy emailed to me if that is possible.

My name is Mark Williams and I was riding a green 2005 Kawasaki ZX6RR and wearing green, black and white Hein Gericke leathers.

Thanks again for all your help.

Mark

WERA WEST - Jeff Havlik

After listening to a few championship winners thank Dave for his suspension services, at the 2007 WERA West award ceremony, I figured I had to give him a try. Working with Dave, turned out to be one my most rewarding days at the track so far. Doing the 1 on 1 tuning sessions, not only did my race bike get set up perfectly for the next race, I was able to learn a lot of suspension theory too. And maybe the best part is, that I will save literally hundreds of dollars on tires! You can't afford to not to have you suspension tuned by Dave.

Thanks again,
Jeffrey Havlik
WERA WEST # 217

AFM RACE REPORT: Steve Metz suspension boot camp attendee

Dave helped me make a real breakthrough in my riding at Buttonwillow at the AFM opening round in 2008. I came into the AFM weekend hoping to work with Dave to figure out premature tire wear issues I had, but ended up getting a lot more than I had expected.

Two weeks earlier, I had been at the track and had been turning in high 1:56s on fresh tires. At the AFM weekend, I spent the day working with Dave and we did a thorough review of my suspension setup. After a few sessions of working on my tire wear problem, Dave fixed my tire wear issues (saving me untold fortunes in rear tires).

We kept working together on other handling issues, and Dave continued making adjustments based on the feedback I provided. I'd describe a problem in a particular turn, we'd discuss it for a bit, and then Dave would make a setting adjustment. In the final session of the afternoon, I went back out on track and shaved a second and a half off my best lap time (to cap off 4 consecutive laps under my personal best at the track).

Without Dave's perspective as a rider and his knowledge as a tuner, I would not have been able to make the breakthrough in riding that gave me the pace I needed to have my best race finishes to-date.

Thanks, Dave!
Steve MetzAMA / AFM #944'04 Ducati 749GRRR
www.tigerbike.com

AFM RACE REPORTS - Eddy Gonzales

Just wanted to get everyone updated on last weekends racing event, we took the low stress approach and it seemed to pay off.

Lot's of fun no crashing and some good results, enjoy...

Race Report here;
http://www.finishesunlimited.net/racing/reports.html

Race Pics here (hopefully more to come so check back later as well);
http://www.finishesunlimited.net/racing/photos.html

Pit Pics here;
http://www.finishesunlimited.net/racing/pit_pics.html

Reports also posted online at various forums;
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=241458http://www.southbayriders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56001http://www.1098-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10104

Thanks everyone for all your support, Eddy AFM #831

AFM RACE REPORTS - John Proctor

John Proctor
AFM/WERA #218

AFM Round 1 at Buttonwillow

26 March 2008

The racing season has finally started and all the hard work that has gone into getting ready paid off this weekend at the AFM Round 1 races at Buttonwillow. Since I spent the last two years on a GSXR-750 I knew switching to the new CRB600RR was going to be a real challenge for me this season.

Looking back on the last three months I feel lucky to be working with the CRST team not only because of the huge amount of knowledge the entire crew has about suspension and bike handling, but because every member of the team contributes in a significant way. Tige worked really hard to help get me the right Elka shock with the right spring and to give me some initial set-up advice that worked straight away. Jim did an amazing job revalving these forks and they too worked straight away. In the past it has taken other folks several tries to get valving in place that I like and felt comfortable on. Jim got it right the first time and that was huge in terms of boosting my confidence on the track. When I finally got to test everything at Laguna in January, Dave worked with me on fine-tuning the set-up for the Pirelli tires I'm running. He also worked with me on footpeg placement to really help me work with the set-up. By the end of the first test, I could tell I was going to love this new bike. At our second test, the bike was having some issues finishing a corner, but again, Dave helped me sort that out through some geometry changes and some damping adjustments in the rear. As a scientist in my day job, it is nice to work with someone that knows how to convert what you feel on the track into numbers and data that you can record and study off-track.

By this point Dave and I had created an "adjustment map" of where the bike works so we know how to make changes when we need to. Because of that, by the race weekend, I was totally at home on this bike and my lap time progression showed it. In the 600 Superbike class, my first race, I got down to 2:08.5 lap times. In the Formula 1 race, I again was consistently running 2:08.5. The bike was working fine but in looking at my preload marker on the forks I could tell I needed to add some preload and Dave agreed. I made the preload adjustment on the forks and gridded up for my last race, the 600 Production race. Straight away, I knew I was going faster. The extra preload allowed me to brake a little later and harder. In fact, I was running 2:05's with 2:05.1 being my fastest, a full 5 seconds faster than my practice time. This was really exciting for me. I feel like I have a great platform now that I can really go out with confidence and start pushing the lap times down. I'm glad the CRST team will be with me as I do just that!

more remote tuning!

David,

I've been watching and learning a lot about proper suspension setup. I'm still practicing my bounce technique (ha,ha), but definitely see & feel a big difference in how the bike is responding. Great job on putting together such an informative and educational product. I keep your DVD's close by and learn something new every time I watch them.

The only challenge I've had so far is the factory setup measurements for my bike. Do you have any recommendation on who would have this information? Current ride is a 2005 GSXR 1000 now running Michelin Pilot Powers. You stressed the importance of starting with the proper geometry, and making changes based on the new tire diameter.

Stephen T. Land


REPLY:

Hi Mr. Land,

Dave Williams from OnTheThrottle.tv sent this email on to me for my reply, so we can help you along with your quest :)

The Pilot Powers are great street tires, and you should be running 36 psi front an rear to get the best blend of grip and longevity.

Can I safely assume that you are running the 190 rear and also have the stock gearing that came with the bike? What size front tire? It would be very useful to have your weight too, so I can provide you with settings to try that I would know to be accurate.

In terms of geometry, the ride height of the rear of the bike really depends on the axle position and the circumference of the rear tire. Normally, most of these 05 GSXR 1000's are run with the shock at stock length, and many times a link is added to the chain or the front sprocket is dropped one tooth to lengthen the wheel base. This provides more rake and trail in the front of the bike, making it finish a corner better.

In terms of SAG, for street riding you need 40-50mm of sag in the forks and 32-37mm of sag in the shock (remember to chek free sag in the shock) depending on what type of roads you ride on, how hard you ride etc. I can give you compression and rebound settings to try but I need the questions above answered first.

CRST DVD reviews by magazines

The Vision Wells 'Twiddling Knobs' DVD and OnTheThrottle's 'Introduction to Sportbike Suspension' DVD have been out now for several months and as part of the marketing plan to grow audince awareness in different segments of the motorcycling community, we regularly send out copies for review to forums, web sites plus print and online magazines.

In general, the DVD's have been very well received with glowing comments from all that have bought them along with constructive comments that we will incorporate into the next DVD due out in the Fall of 08.

Motorcycle.com's online reviews:
http://www.motorcycle.com/products/dvd-review-twiddling-knobs-suspension-tuning-for-sportbikes-69245.html

Roadracing World has a 2 page review in its 2008 Track Day issue. A copy of that will be scanned and placed on the web site once RRW has given us permission to do so.

DVD's can be purchased through the CRST web site, and the investment is definately worth it based on what you will learn, and how you can help yourself sort out handling problems by creating methodical tests.

Bike Geometry Question via email

Dave,

I recently purchased your two videos through onthethrottle.tv, twiddling knobs and introduction to suspension. They are by far the most informative suspension set-up videos I have ever watched. I learned more about suspension set-up in two hours (and understood it)with your videos than I have since I started riding motorcycles.

Which, brings me to a question that I had for you. I have a 02 CBR 954 that I use mainly for trackdays and I am having the forks reworked with new springs and a penske rear shock. The thing that I dont know or missed in your video is where do you start as far as bike geometry. What is a good starting point for rear ride height and how far the forks should stick through the triple clamp? Is there any rules of thumb on this or all trial and error?

Thank You

Dan

REPLY:
As to your questions re the 954:

Everything depends on the tires you choose, and you need to leave the bike in stock geometric configuration to evaluate the tires. All brands even though they have the same size embedded in the sidewalls have different circumferences. Therefore, once you find a brand that you like you can then methodically play with geometry to work on certain aspects of the bikes handling - turn in, mid corner stability, corner exit.

Once the geometry feels good, then play with hydraulics with the key being balance of the chassis on rebound so the pogo front to back is elimated (tire reading will help immensely with that).Once this process is complete, then you need to stay ontop of servicing intervals for forks and shocks. Six months max between services!

Daytona 200

We spent all day Thursday stripping the bikes and meticulously preparing every facet of the motorcycle:-
- every bolt received a healthy dose of loctite and all were retorqued to specs
- fairings were taped and zip tied
- dry brake tanks were tested
- all oils changed (engine and brakes) and coolant checked
- rear wheel spaces were glued into place with green loctite to make wheel changes faster
- specially constructed swing arms installed with new chains
- quick change components polished and checked for operational issues
- radiators were cleaned, backflushed and blown out with pressurized air, and all dings were straightened out to ensure maximum airflow through it
- all wheels and rotors tested for straightness, all cush drives prepared with gearing
- all new tires including one spare set per bike installed and numbered for installation sequence
- spares list compiled to replace commonly damaged parts from crashes and boxed for the pit

Once the bikes were completed, everyone stepped back to look at them from a distance. No visual problems with Gabor's bike, but the rear Arata exhuast can was fraying due to Bobby's boot rubbing on it during the race, so it had to be replaced with an aluminum can.

When we were sure everything was done, we practiced pit stops outside the garage with rear wheel only changes. We started at 25 seconds and by the time we had everything solidified and procedure running smoothly we got it down to 15-17 seconds. Happy with that, we got the pit area set up. The wind was blowing so hard that all the factories and privateers at the east end of the speedway hot pit either lost or took down their canopies. There was no practice or racing in the morning due to airfence floating in the air so we all stood around waiting for 1st call for FX warm up. That eventually came at 12.20 and we had 20 minutes to have both riders find us in our new pit location, match gear and rpm for hot pit speed limits and practice a live pit stop at least once. Everything went smoothly, new tires were put on the wheels and marked, and the bikes sat on the hot pit with warmers on as the race was running the scheduled start time.

Everyone was in place, pit boards set correctly and all staff had radios tested and on the same channel. The race got underway and unfortunately for Gabor he was hit from behind by an as yet un-named BMW rider going into the Horseshoe on the first lap, who then lowsided his HP2 megasport which took out Gabor even though he survived the initial impact. Sadly the engine did not turn off and was oil starved from laying on its side so a couple of laps later the motor let go. We were all stunned and saddened by this for Gabor, who had cleary shown his ability to all with his 1:41.2 lap.

Bobby got through the opening laps okay and then slowly started making his way forward. By his first pit stop we were in a solid 10th place, and during the second stint we got to 8th. Bobby came into the hot pit on time and drove right by the pit, so he had to do another lap. That put us back in 15th place but during the final stint, attrition reared its head and we started moving forward due to crashes and mechanicals and all of a sudden we were back to 8th spot. Given where we had been, that would have put us in 6th place!

All in all a great effort for a team where 65% of the staff were new and strangers to each other. Kudos to them for working well together and for all of Team Owner Kevin Hanson's manic work in getting bikes and engines ready in time when it was clear the 08's would not make it.

Michelin has some new front tires to test, so we need to find time to evaluate them before Barber. There are a few options, so we will see what happens :)

POSTSCRIPT:

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=31709

Josh Hayes was disqualified for illegal crankshaft modifications and Josh must be devastated by that, not to mention how Honda as a brand will be affected by this announcement.

Given this information, that moved everyone up chain so this validated my verbal comment and prerace views about Chaz Davies winning the 200 and we moved up to 7th (and could have been 5th).

More updates from Daytona FL

Thursday was certainly our roller coaster day, and one where the team pulled together to get things done quickly and correctly in order to end up smiling at the end of the day!

Bobby was sitting waiting at the end of pit row after a red flag in Supersport practice, and he was directed back to the pit by an AMA official with water in the belly pan. The engine temp reflected the boil over, so this bike was out of use for the rest of the weekend. That required us to sit down, see what are options were as per AMA rules and then move forward with good forethought and execution. We could use the remaining bike in both classes as it was suspersport spec, so that created optimism as Supersport was our only class for 08 to focus on.

The prior day the FX bike had a flat sport in the rpms at full throttle. We tried changing the throttle body settings, chasing other ideas but still the problem was not resolved. We then changed to a stock tank, and all was well so the tank was getting too pressurized causing a fuel delivery problem. In pre practice engine warm up today water was found in the belly pan, so now we were really under duress. Mike and Rich removed all the hoses for new ones and put a new radiator and cap on the bike. In conjunction with that we had to go find a dyno to load test the engine to check for any further leaks as we did not want a repeat of Fontana. Dyno jet was for those riders with Power Commanders only, so we managed to find another tuner at the track who had his mobile dyno rig wiith him and who very graciously gave us 10 minutes on the dyno with repeat load tests to make sure we had no leaks. We got through that okay, so now we had a good bike that we could use.

Bobby then decided to test a 180 rear tire to see if he could get better drive off the corners, so we had to make some significant geometry adjustment calculations as the rear tire is a lot smaller than a 190. In conjunction with that we also had front end problem due to the changed geometry so with FX qualifying upon us, so I had to make some educated "guesswork" and used FX qualifying as practice to make all the changes we needed. By the end of qualifying the overall chassis worked fairly well, with the front end problem significantly reduced and the bike performing well mid corner and through corner exit.

Very shortly before the race Owen and Bobby talked about the bike, and they called me in to chat about a few possible changes to the bike immediately prior to the race. Not an uncommon situation, but one that creates a little duress as you are changing the bike again and therefore to some extent rolling the dice as the changes will be untested. As a result of that discussion, the forks were lowered to raise the front end and rear ride height was taken out of the bike to provide better corner exit control.

The net result of the changes were indicated by the race results, with Bobby fighting with Danny Eslick for 10th place all race. All things considered, we had a hell of a roller coaster day but when all was said and done there was a happy ending :)

Day one at Daytona

A busy day of course with 4 bikes to prep, parts in transit, a garage to sort out, tire allotments to discuss, bikes to tech and team processes and details to iron out. There's more than that of course, but the "two veg" can be set aside - only the meat is needed.

Wednesday is a transition day with the final day of AHMRA (I wish I had more time to look at and get up close to some of that remarkable pristine racing heritage, not to mention the spectator bikes that show up!) and the pits filling up with the late arrival AMA privateers and the odd motorcross competitor. It is truly a cacophany of sounds, sights, rushing bodies on pit bikes and mules and personalities wandering around absorbing the scene and limelight.

Safety First Racing had a lot of work to do. All bikes had to be completed with full rebuilds, new swing arms for the FX race bikes with quick change parts, new exhausts from Arata fitted and bikes put through AMA tech. With two lead mechanics and back up mechanics, there was a lot of help on hand and all the parts arrived on time. The first bike went through tech by noon, so that was very reassuring.

Michelin tires were an all day deal with rims needing to be detailed, stickers put on them per rider, balanced, and then consultation wit riders and lead mechanics for tires selected for mounting re slicks or DOT selected for Supersport or FX bikes. In the end by 4pm, all wheels and tires were done, so that was a huge bonus! That gave us all the wheel and tires for Wednesday's practice.

Two other bikes went through tech by late afternoon but one problem child decided to be obstinate and throw an electrical tantrum that by the end of the day was still unresolved much to the chagrin of all. Perhaps the course of action selected for the morning will resolve the problem and the good news is that the bike won't be on track until the afternoon. We will of course still apply the K.I.S.S. principle to keep heads level and not loss simply objectivity.

By end of day, the garage was swept, closed and we left amidst a typical FL cloudburst or two, one unfortunately soaking Mike who was riidng on the of the Supesrport bikes that was leaving to be mapped. I had to go find the local blue blocker sales booth to purchase the ZZ Top 'cheap sunglasses" as I realized I had left then in the truck in CA..... DOH!

Wednesday will be a very busy day. Supersport practice in the morning, FX practice and Supersport Qualifying in the afternoon. All hands on deck from 6.30am until close!!!!!

comments from the other side of the globe on CRST

Suspension By Remote Control

I bought the Catalyst Reaction suspension set up video from "On the Throttle Tv". Once I watched it especially the set up of the bikes I realized I was onto a good thing and that my bike was way out of adjustment for me and my weight. I tested the suspension as per the video and found my 07 R6 had very poor damping control in the forks. Not content with this I tested a brand new 07 R6, a Triumph 675 as a reference as per the video, 07 cbr1000 and a 05 ZX6R. Some were good some bad, both R6's were bad.

I thought I could fix this myself by going up in oil weight but alas crashed in the process :( I then bit the bullet and fitted Catalyst Racing Suspension. The bike was transformed:- much more stable and easy to ride with great feedback. My lap times dropped and tire wear was reduced considerably. Having suspension with a wide range of adjustment is just the icing on the cake.

The best part though was I could get good help from the other side of the World as I'm Perth Western Australia. Hence the heading "suspension by remote control". I would recommend using Catalyst Suspension even from a remote location as the work is First class and the results second to none.

Thanks Dave and Jim

Kind Regards
Martin Calley

Crew Chief Position for AMA team Police Safety First announced!

Police Safety First Racing - Crew Chief announcement 2/22/08

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=31547

It is out in the open:- I have been officially ‘yoked’ with a season long contract with PSFR. In over a decade of being involved in this sport as a freelance writer, racer, tuner, addicted enthusiast and now TV host with On The Throttle, this is certainly as a professional a pinnacle of responsibility and opportunity provided to me by Team Owner, Kevin Hansen. After months of discussions, emails and negotiations it is clear to me that Kevin has amassed a great deal of individual experience, commitment and depth of talent within the core crew that will be at every event supporting Bobby Fong and 1-2 other riders.

I have to say that I am proud to have been considered for this role late last winter, and I can certainly draw on all the experience I have had to date to be a team leader and motivator. There will be a lot less time to be social with everyone I have been fortunate to meet all over the country, but I will make as much time as I can to say “hi”! Don’t stay away though from the PSFR canopy:- Bobby certainly appreciates all his fans and the local support from his California homeys :)

I have worked with Bobby in the past at AFM and at track days, but this will be another ball game altogether. In the few outings together so far, he has very quickly come to grips with a new engine with revised cam timing, a radically different chassis from last year and different suspension settings we have given him to try for his 07 bikes (guessing that the 08’s wouldn’t be ready for Daytona). He and I need to get on the same page in terms of communication to make sure that universal terms (push, chatter, runs wide, head shake) all mean what we both believe them to mean. Bobby will be getting his first homework assignment prior to Daytona to this end. We don’t have time to lose with poor communication!

There’s a great deal of optimism in the PSFR camp for good reason. There’s a lot we can achieve together and everyone realizes the opportunity in front of the team. There will be several hiccups in the first couple of events, and that’s a good thing – to get them into the open right away so we can see what needs to be changed or how better to do something together, building interactive precision as per Swiss watch. We will all work as efficiently and effectively as we can and I will have to be very observant and willing to critique processes, space arrangements, location of parts, tool boxes, chemicals and keep completely on top of inventory.

“At this level, the devil is in the details, and preparation is everything” Chuck Sowerds, 1996.

Advice I have followed every time I have gone to the track and words of wisdom I would encourage others to adopt who want to succeed and achieve.

There are a myriad of items/criteria that combine to make the bike handle well: chassis geometry, fork springs, oil levels and valving, shock springs and valving, gearing, tire size, pressure and compound to name but a few, so here’s an insight into preparation when dealing with one item:- new for 08 Penske shocks that will be on all the bikes:

- All shocks are individually numbered and serviced prior to each race event with the service date annotated on the shock.

- Internal piston type and valving are coded and noted on each shock.

- Any shock that seems to have a problem will be tagged with blue tape with “inspect” and immediately removed to the trailer to be stripped and evaluated.

- Spring rates need to be clearly visible to the eye while on the bike and all springs will be tested for rate accuracy and relabeled if needed.

- All shocks will be installed in the bike with the same ride height, same installed preload and same hydraulic settings to expedite practice time.

- Lead mechanics will record all that information onto the specially designed data sheets prior to bringing the shocks/sheets to the hot pit during all practices.

- Designated crew will work in synchronization on shock removal and installation with all tools and stands ready prior to the bike coming into the hot pit.

- Springs with rates not being used will be removed from the pit space, re-boxed and put on the trailer.

- Any defective shocks will be removed, boxed, and placed on the trailer ready to be returned to Penske for evaluation on the Monday after the event.

That will get us through the first 30 - 40 minutes of testing in evaluating the shock amongst everything else – then we begin dialing the bike in geometrically and hydraulically. That leaves about 90 minutes to get the bike as good as it can be in every aspect of chassis and suspension tuning.

We are only a few days away from Daytona now, so I have to make sure I have as much of the process figured out as possible and then meet regularly in down time with all lead mechanics, support staff and Kevin to get the Swiss watch working as quietly as possible.

I need to be sponsored with Vitamin B injections – wonder if Pfizer is interested?

Red Bull Rookie event at Laguna Seca 2/27/08

I was very fortunate to be able to spend some time at Laguna Seca as part of the Red Bull event to see some riders that I have helped in the past ride the KTM's. The rules were very strict and rightly so as far as protocol and behavior for both parents and riders and each days events were printed out for all to see.

Two semi's set up a mechanics/bikes area and a riders classroom and no parents were allowed inside. I would want to have the riders completely focused on the tasks at hand while out on the track for each session. Parents and offspring could mingle between classroom/on track just to check in as needed - obviously parents were coaches, tuners etc in the past and will be in the future, so that makes a great deal of sense to me. Riders were split into 2 groups for both days to alternate class and track sessions.

Each rider received 3 sets of the Alpinestars Red Bull Leathers, gloves and boots (not sure about helmets, as to whether they were provided or riders brought their own) and it really reinforced that perception is reality philosophy in that the physical presentation was very impressive. That extended to the bikes with identical paint and equipment. The KTM's looked suitably equipped for this level of rider!

Each rider had his own bike, own mechanic and individuals had access to a suspension tuner. Riders could make any changes they thought necessary to make the bike work better but that only included geometry and hydraulics.

What I found out that interested me most was that all bikes were the same in terms of 45bhp, all used the same fork and shock springs and all ran the same gearing. With weight differentials from 70lbs to 130lbs it was funny to watch the acceleration differences out of turn 11 and turn 4 during sessions. I did not have time to stay through the end of day two, but Bryce Prince told me they were going to ballast all the bikes to make them even for the last session when everyone would be on the track at the same time. That would certainly have benefited the bigger riders as they had no or little ballast to add, so with good set up analysis they could have been miles ahead by that final session on set up. Others will have suddenly gained 30-50lbs to the bike and then have to dial it in within a few laps.

Lap times were below 1.40 for the most part with a fast lap of a 1.35 for a certain well known young CA rider who did very well last year with this event! Not bad for a 45bhp bike, and the fastest I managed with my AMA 250 bike was a 1.38 at 215lbs. You do the power to weight math.........

I was really impressed with the whole event, it's professionalism, focus and presentation. This approach will undoubtedly find some new talent but more importantly, give access for true talent to shine on an even playing field. Kudos to everyone involved :)

PS: Kevin Schwantz was rumoured to be sandbagging. Conjecture, pure conjecture.

MotorcycleUSA.com 600 shootout

MotorcycleUSA.com 600 shootout at Infineon Raceway 4/3/08

PART ONE: 2/20/08

I have seen Ken Hutchison of MotorcycleUSA for the last year and a half at many track days testing various bikes and occasionally we have chatted about tuning idisosyncracies with certain models. Ken thought it would be a good idea to get some help one afternoon with one of his test mules at some point in the future. Lo and behold, so it came to pass………

I spent time putting Ken Hutchison through my Suspension Boot Camp for 3 hours one afternoon late last Fall on the Buell Super TT. With his diligence, good feedback and my interpretive tuning we turned the bike around from a wallowing headshaking handful of a ride into a very competent track tool enabling Ken to hurtle around Thunderhill on Shinko tires (yes, he was flying on it bar to bar with one of Lance Keigwins instructors at full tilt boogie).

Read the first of two articles about this:
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Article_Page.aspx?ArticleID=5460

Based on that experience, Ken has invited me to come out to the Infineon event for the 600 shoot out, so this will be a great opportunity and experience.

Having witnessed and closely observed many of these tests over the years, I have been very interested to see how the Factory techs work with the journalists to make the changes they are looking for with the OEM stock suspension on OEM tires in the morning and then further changes due to sticky rubber being fitted for the afternoon sessions. There’s not much time for riders to meet the new bike, evaluate it at a reasonable pace, make suspension adjustments and chassis changes and then pick up the pace. More and more now it seems the stop watch is the deciding factor to many readers and so lap times are dutifully recorded and presented. Given that these bikes will be ridden 99% of the time on the street, the track evaluation might be considered to be crazy if seen as the “be all and end all” criteria as no-one will get to that pace without coming to the track. Fortunately, readers are very savvy and read the whole article to understand what the journalists thought about every aspect of the bike not only on the track, but also via performance reviews during commuting duty and weekend rides and long term test impressions.

In a most unusual step for the magazine world, I will be required to record the way the bike came to me in every aspect and then carefully log the riders weight and all changes made in sequence for that rider to get the bike to handle correctly so that they could really relax, become one with the bike and get a good lap time. I would ultimately translate that into a table and provide that to Ken as an article for MotorcycleUSA, for whom I will be writing this year on a monthly basis.

Who knows what state the bike will come to me? It may have been pulled from the Press Pool, so all manner of riders may have changed the bike around on multiple occasions in search of riding zen/nirvana, so I have no idea what to expect. Mileage, fork oil condition, uncrashed, bolt head condition, brake pad wear, chain and sprocket condition?

AMA TEST FONTANA, CA

Working with On The Throttle (www.onthethrottle.tv) as their technical reporter we went to the Fontana test to look at the factory teams 08 effort, inspect the 08 race bikes and talk to the riders. Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki were there along with Attack Kawasaki, Matsushima, Jordan and Corona. We were also working with Amar Bazzaz and his traction control wizardry on a Jordan Superstock bike with Aaron Yates let loose for the on board cameras. Talk about an amazing product -just go read about it for yourself! http://www.bazzazperformance.com/

Day one was a slow start with high winds and cold track, so about 10am teams started rolling out. With all new bikes, new tires, and a slew of parts to test, for many riders this was going to be a long 2 days. Ah, such is the life of a professional racer.

We filmed all the riders throughout the morning making sure that we got sufficient footage we needed based on an Excel spread sheet shot list. Seems as though that would be easily done..... not at all. Riders don't dress, ride out, ride a few laps, dismount and spend set amounts of time with crew chiefs. There's a lot of running around and a spotter makes things incredibly useful. It is not all it is cracked up to be, but many know that. The OTT film crew got some amazing on track footage and Bazzaz's traction control unit is very audible with the plugs being cut out as the rear wheel starts spinning.

We had an oportunity to look very closely at Yamaha's R1 superbike, the new Honda CBR1000RR and the new 08 GSXR 600. Look to the OTT web site for websiodes on what we saw including quick change equipment for Daytona, new technology in abundance and interesting tips on 'how to's' on the new bikes.

Day 2 was gorgeous right from the get go, so for those who followed times on Roadracing World and AMA Superbike, they could see how quickly riders started hammering on lap records. Seems as though it is par for the course as the bikes and tires get better every year, so the lap times fall. Personally I think this will be a banner year for the Supersport class with hopefully racing much like we saw in the Boxer Cup Series a few years back at Daytona with several riders going at it bar to bar. Chaz Davies might come out on top for 08 if his finishes are consistent and look for him to build on his 4th place from last year in the Daytona 200.

Daytona is but a few weeks away, and all teams continue to test and prepare. Almost time to unleash the hounds :)

Florida Test with Michelin and Police Safety First

MICHELIN TEST, JENNINGS FL

BIKE: 2007 Police Safety First Suzuki GSXR600 in AMA Suspersport spec.

RIDER: Bobby Fong, second year with SFR,

TARGET LAP TIME: 1:16

TRACK RECORD: Geoff May, 1:14.7 M4 AMA SUPERSTOCK GSXR 1000.
DAY ONE:
Arrived 7.15am to a wet track with standing water in places. Prepped the bike and then took time with Brian Stokes who graciously provided a walking commentary lap while the track dried out – very informative! The track opened at 10am, with ambient temp at 50 degrees F.
- 1st session on an old 07 PRC front and new 07 C rear to learn the track.
- 2nd session on second used 07 PRC front and same rear tire.
- 3rd short session at pace on same tires as S2, running lap times of 1:22’s.
- Lunch.
- Riders meeting and announcement re: 10 sets of tires to be tested. Format of 1 out lap, 10 fast laps, 1 in lap at pace to return to the pit for tire temp data collection and completion of rider evaluation sheets on the set of tires just tested.
- 4th session: - focus Bobby on getting laps times down to within .5 of a second in each session to allow him to focus on tire side grip and corner entry feel thereby providing qualitative feedback. After completion of the session with the bike back on the stands, the front tire was wearing very well and when I read the rear tire wear characteristics it was obvious that there was too much abrasion, too much rebound damping, too much low speed compression damping. We changed rebound from15 to 17 out and low speed compression from 5 to 8 out, both from full stiff.
- 5th session, reviewed tire wear, improved on compression and rebound but abrasion still too pronounced. We removed the Penske shock to change the spring from a 525lb spring to a 500lb. In checking the Penske shock thoroughly, it was discovered that it was leaking so a new 08 Penske was shock installed with the 500lb spring, with 8mm installed preload.
- 6th session running mid to low 17’s and settled into a rhythm. Tire wear improved significantly, but abrasion still somewhat excessive – this was accredited to the track surface by Michelin technicians based on their experience.
- 7th session Bobby complained of a lot of front tire push only when under most duress off throttle and trail braking in turns 1 and 10. Gone as soon as the throttle was applied. The GP Suspension forks were removed as per test plan and Traxxion gas cartridge forks installed. Geometry was changed significantly to put more weight on the front wheel with forks raised 10mm from previous position (15mm through via GP Suspension billet extended fork caps) and 5mm of ride height put into the shock (previously with zero ride height).
- 8th session bike turned much more responsively, held the line better going into the corner but push was still evident under duress. Chassis far more neutral and responsive overall.
- decision made to work further on geometry with fork positioning and rear ride height, based on 180 tire measurements for day two (see specs below)


DAY TWO
Arrived at a dry track with a very cold 45 degrees due to a solid cold wind. The SFR GSXR 600 has no thermostat, so we placed two and a half strips of tape onto the radiator to minimize airflow through it in order to keep the engine temp at 190 degrees to avoid cold seize damage. Forks were lowered to the OEM stock position and 2mm of ride height was added to the shock.
- 1st session with slicks in at 2 laps to add one more piece of tape as the engine was running too cold and then back out to complete the session. Bike handled better, even more quick turning but push still evident and now running wide on the corners. Changed low speed compression to 8 clicks out.
- 2nd session with slicks saw Bobby drop into the 16’s for the first time but the running wide problem was amplified with compression change. Changed low speed compression to 16 out and changed the rear sprocket to a 42 as at this pace the rev limiter was frequently reached.
- 3rd session with DOT’s running at flat 17’s. Improved the running wide but still present. Front push still present. Change Penske low speed compression to 16 out.
- 4th session on DOT’s at low 17’s. Still running wide, slightly better.
- Lunch, sun came out so all tape removed.
- 5th session. S1 slick front with new 180 DOT D rear. 5 laps out, ran high 16’s and focused on forks and corner entry re push. Added ¼ turn of compression and push eliminated. Cause: forks compressing too quickly to the bottom of the stroke.
- Still running wide in corner exit, so half a turn of preload removed and 2.5 turns of ride height added to the Penske shock. In after three laps saying corner exit was improved but the rear tire spun far more easily. Half the ride height removed with the expected results – bike ran slightly wide and rear tire spun up a little less easily. CAUSE: shock spring too stiff, and when the throttle was applied the shock stopped working an consequently took weight off the front wheel.

TEST SUMMARY:
- Bobby did incredibly well to get down into the 16’s with brand new tires and a track he had never ridden before. A testament to his ability to put a new track together and ride hard and smart.
- the chassis set up from 07 was far too tall in the front fork position with the rear shock at stock length and the axle all the way to the back of the slot causing the front tire to push as there was not enough weight on it going into the corner. With geometry reset, the chassis became neutral and turned very easily.
- the bike would not finish the corner as the 500lb shock spring was too stiff and we didn’t have the opportunity to change it to a 475lb to see if this would solve the problem as there were no more tires available.
- We have a good baseline for geometry and spring rates to use as a platform for further refining the chassis and testing with different valving combinations.

08 Front Tires:
- V slick tire provides more grip and more compression over DOT settings.
- V slick tire gave most consistent and trustworthy feel.
- V DOT stable but feels like it is ready to fold under max load.

08 Rear Tires:
- 190 E DOTgave best side grip.
- 180 D slick gave better hook up/drive.
- 180 D DOT gave best short term drive (8 laps) and fastest lap time 1:16.8.

Test protocol in place

With the test plan confirmed by Team Owner Kevin Hanson and the new 08 Michelin Tires with Ron Wood we are ready for Florida's Jennings track (www.jenningsgp.com). Day one on 1/30 will be structured to analyze front tire traction and side wall control to see if the tire remains in shape under the most severe trail braking in specified corners. Bobby Fong will be meticulously briefed on the flight Tuesday so that he is ready to execute the required testing as soon as he gets on the bike and becomes familiar with the track. All required data will be recorded and I will provide a new post on the evening of 1/30.

Preparing for Michelin Tire Test with Police Safety First AMA team

In getting ready for this test in Jennings FL, it was essential to create a test protocol for the rider and coordinate that information with Michelin and Penske staff so that we could methodically work through new tires, shocks and forks. The primary goal was to set the bike up for the rider and eliminate handling problems at the Jennings track and then begin testing the new 08 Michelin front tires. The focus will be on heavy trail braking corners to see how the new compounds and carcasses held up. This will be the key feature of the test. Penske has a new shock for 08, and that will be tested along with the Traxxion gas cartridges for the supersport bike. There's a lot to get through in 2 days, but with good preparation and effective communication, the time spent should yield some excellent data.