Took the stinker to mallory today. It was very wet out there. First session I lost the back very badly. Some bloke came up to me in the pits after and said how did you save that. I told him I just closed my eyes (he thought I was joking...). Niel McKenzie was doing training all day and was very keen on my MC21. I am so pleased with it, it gets lots of attention. Not running right though, needs a good tune up.
It is a 150, but a strange Dunlop "Sport" tyre. The winter rebuild will see the old girl on some decent rubber in time for next years action. It was a great day, but a bit too slippery. The last thing I wanted to do was drop it.
The back end seems to be sat down a long way and you don't look like a heavy fella so i'd say your rear shock wants some fettling. If you use the bottom edge line of the belly pan as a reference you can see that the bottom edge of the rear rim is about inline with it but the front is way below - indicating a problem with rear ride height. You might be able to sort it just by increasing preload.
The side wall of the rear tire is massive! It looks like the profile of the tire isnt designed for high lean angles - the tire is quite 'flat' in profile, hence the tall side walls. So when you lean a long way over, you soon reach the very edge of the tread, way before you do so on the front tire. That would be my explanation for your near crash too. _________________ After years of moaning about immigrants now i am one...
A 150/70 maybe? It certainly looks like a 160 balloon compared to all the standard NSR rears I've seen.
I thought the same thing as Hermit regarding the rear suspension too. Looks like you have some kind of after-market shock there? Of course, you may have backed it off for the wet conditions, but if not, it does look like you have a bit of a saggy behind! _________________ Andy.
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Thanks for the advice guys. The rear does ride low with me on it. When I strip it I will get the shock off and measure the length, perhaps it is not correct. It has a white spring that makes me suspicious. The rear tyre is a 70 profile and needs swapping out. The track day was all a bit rushed and I wanted to give the old girl a run out before the end of the riding season. Now it is rebuild time.
What rear shock would people recommend? Is the standard Honda unit rebuildable? What tyres would suit this bike best? I had planned on BT090, but BT003 seem like a reasonable choice.
Thanks again. It's great to get people input, so I don't miss anything when it's in bits
Here is my bike before i made changes to the front and rear ride heights:
This is on the gas, coming out of turn one at Manfeild here in New Zealand. I had been running (old) Michelin Pilot Race tires on it for years in 120/60 and 160/60 sizes and the bike's 'stance' on the road had looked fine. I have an RVF400 front end fitted by the way, hence the wider front tire size. I recently changed to some beauuutiful new Michelin Power Ones (soft compound DOT) in 120/70 and 150/60 sizes. These are the ones in the photo. The front tire has a 10mm greater radius than the old one and the rear has a slightly lesser radius, which had the effect of tipping the bike nose high. As you can see in the photo, i ended up with a similar stance to yours.
Luckily i have an Ohlins 46HRCL remote resevoir shock which has adjustment for length/ride height. So i've since wound it out to maximum length to jack the rear end up which has compensated for the difference in tire radius and then some. Andy and others tell me they have had good results with this adjustment too. I also chopped 20mm off the length of my fork springs to lower the front end down to compensate for the taller front tire. You can achieve the same effect by merely dropping your forks through the triple clamps if you like. The RVF fork doesn't allow me to do this.
If you can find and afford one, the Ohlins shock is a nice, trust worthy replacement part but you'd probably get better results for the money by finding a standard NSR shock and having it rebuilt. I paid £400 for my Ohlins five years ago, bought from HPS in Alfreton, UK (near where i used to live).
As for tires, i've been extremely pleased with the Michelin Power Ones but the minimal tread means they'd be useless on a day like your Mallory trackday so i'd only go with them if you want to get a second set of wheels for wet tires (which is what i take with me to trackdays). The Power Ones were really expensive too unfortunately... Both the bridgestone tire models you mention look good and the prices seem good online (i'd seriously considered them myself). I recommend you try 110/70 and 150/60 sizes of which ever tire you go for. _________________ After years of moaning about immigrants now i am one...
Harryredchow wrote:
What rear shock would people recommend? Is the standard Honda unit rebuildable? What tyres would suit this bike best? I had planned on BT090, but BT003 seem like a reasonable choice.
HRC shock, undoubtedly! Like gold rocking horse teeth though, so best of luck with finding one for less than about £500 these days, especially given exchange rates etc.! I imagine Hermit's Öhlins is a superb shock though, but again, rather expensive.
White springs are often found on WP shocks, and I think i-Factory... but Aprilia RS250 shock maybe?
There's nothing wrong with a well rebuilt MC21/28SP shock though, and I think K-tech are still doing them, albeit under protest last time I sent one to them, as I don't think it's a straightforward job! I think the last one I had done was about £200, for a "basic" rebuild.
Personally I hate Bridgestone (bike) tyres, but others love them. Never easy to offer advice on tyres as it's all down to personal preference, and I'm hardly fast, so I imagine most tyres are better than I'll ever be! One tyre that does seem to be well regarded by just about everyone who tries it, even if maybe it doesn't offer the outright grip of some of the more extravagantly priced boots, is the Dunlop Alpha 10. _________________ Andy.
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Like gold rocking horse teeth though, so best of luck with finding one for less than about £500 these days, especially given exchange rates etc.! I imagine Hermit's Öhlins is a superb shock though, but again, rather expensive.
I think the last one I had done was about £200, for a "basic" rebuild.