I installed Ohlins 30mm fork cartridges and a TTX MKII shock with front and rear 95 springs on my 08 R6. I am a 145 rider without gear and I keep getting mixed information regarding the springs. Most people are telling the springs may be too stiff for me. The bike feels ok on the track but I think I need to add more oil in the forks because the forks bottom out under hard braking unless I crank the preload all the way in. I was just wondering what springs you guys are running for riders the same weight as me with the same suspension set up.
I installed Ohlins 30mm fork cartridges and a TTX MKII shock with front and rear 95 springs on my 08 R6. I am a 145 rider without gear and I keep getting mixed information regarding the springs. Most people are telling the springs may be too stiff for me. The bike feels ok on the track but I think I need to add more oil in the forks because the forks bottom out under hard braking unless I crank the preload all the way in. I was just wondering what springs you guys are running for riders the same weight as me with the same suspension set up.
that is a lot of spring but hey. it can work. .. I weigh 165lb, pretty fast expert class, racing. not just riding. I use .95 front springs only at a track like Homestead where it's pretty heavy braking, but often .925 or even .90 at some tracks. Was running a .875 rear spring, upped to .90 recently... a .95 rear is pretty strong in my opinion. I have a race .875 Ohlins spring in was going to sell back. A race spring has an "R" stamped on it and is a true .875 spring. they cost about $140 vs. lots less for the standard rear springs but they can vary in stiffness a bit. Will not always be a true .90, .95, etc.
yes, more fork oil will keep the fork off the bottom. try 5ml at a time.
But i don't get it. So you buy the most expensive wammy jammy cutting edge suspension money can buy.. (short of gas shocks) but you don't work with a suspension guy? Seriously. put some money to a good suspension tech that can get you sorted out. otherwise you are potentially wasting good money on those expensive bits.
FWIW, I'm running .95 springs in my '05 track bike. I weigh around 185 lbs.
the 2nd gen bike had a longer swingarm.. even with my 165lbs i was running .95 rear spring on my 03,04 and both 05's. The 3rd gen bike can sometimes work a bit better with a little less spring. Again, nothing is perfect with gearing, suspension, or setup. It's usually a bit of a compromise somewhere..
.95 up front and rear won't be a horrible thing.. At a track like Barber, with it's massive elevation and parts of the track where you are diving DOWN into some of the corners and the bike g's-out, stiffer will work better!
I agree with Melk-Man (seems to happen from time to time, since I really think he knows more than he admits). That is a lot of spring in an R6. I tried 1.0 and dropped to .95, and now I'm considering .925. But I'm not a hard braker at all, although I find myself trail braking a lot more than I'm comfortable with.
And the bottom of the stroke is more about oil level than spring rate. Trim it with oil, a few mm (5 is the standard recommendation) until you find the feel you want.
I'd be more interested in knowing how much travel you are using in hard cornering, brakes notwithstanding (ever try Keith Codes "no brakes drill?").
what dan said.. (but i really don't know shit - googling it all ) .. check the travel and as he said, fork oil is how ya trim bottoming if the bike for the most part is working and sag is right.
put a zip tie on the fork tube. See how much travel you use during a session. It's not perfect, i will only show the 1 time lowest point of travel at the hardest hit (so try to not hit anything out of the ordinary) nor is it as good as on-board telemetry, but doesn't cost a $3,000+ either Ideally ya would like to see 5-10mm from the top of the zip tie left assuming you had a reasonable track session. Don't use a big zip tie as it could damage the dust seal or even the actual seal.. put 2-3 little ones together.
What would be pretty awesome is if you had a go-pro mounted on the belly pan and you video your forks. Bad ass.
I installed Ohlins 30mm fork cartridges and a TTX MKII shock with front and rear 95 springs on my 08 R6. I am a 145 rider without gear and I keep getting mixed information regarding the springs. Most people are telling the springs may be too stiff for me. The bike feels ok on the track but I think I need to add more oil in the forks because the forks bottom out under hard braking unless I crank the preload all the way in. I was just wondering what springs you guys are running for riders the same weight as me with the same suspension set up.
Maybe you're a tank climber or you are too grabby on the brakes forcing the bike to run through it's travel.
What is the fork position set to? The forks get 4mm shorter with the 30mm kit in em.. If the height isn't adjusted correctly you could be riding the bike very nose down and are over weighting the front. I'd also measure the length of the shock, etc. It's easy to pitch the bike so it turns sharp but overweights the front.
You can add a click of compression, see if it helps any too.
That's plenty of spring. But you can always bottom out a spring if you're super grabby on the brakes.
At 170 I ride on .975 in the front if you want something for reference. Run the bike with less gas
Thanks for all the info guys. The suspension was installed by Markbilt racing here on the east coast, but was not happy with the lack of support I got from him after I gave him the money. He didn't even set the rider sag when I picked up the bike. I just took the bike out to GMD Computrack in GA and had them check the frame and set the geometry of the bike. They raised the front and lowered the rear a little. Kent suggested the springs may be a little on the stiff side for me, but it was up to rider preference. I explained to him about the forks bottoming under hard braking and he suggested adding a little oil as well. I was juts curious as to what springs everyone else was riding for their weight. It seems from what I see here on the post that I may want to change to .90 springs.
Thanks for all the info guys. The suspension was installed by Markbilt racing here on the east coast, but was not happy with the lack of support I got from him after I gave him the money. He didn't even set the rider sag when I picked up the bike. I just took the bike out to GMD Computrack in GA and had them check the frame and set the geometry of the bike. They raised the front and lowered the rear a little. Kent suggested the springs may be a little on the stiff side for me, but it was up to rider preference. I explained to him about the forks bottoming under hard braking and he suggested adding a little oil as well. I was juts curious as to what springs everyone else was riding for their weight. It seems from what I see here on the post that I may want to change to .90 springs.
Kent S. knows his stuff too.. talk to him. Tell him what you are looking for. If changing springs on the 30mm is anything like the 25mm, it's a 5 minute job tops.. easy. I have a BAG of front springs. from .85 to 1.0, for 2 bikes. You don't have to change BOTH springs. If .95 is a bit stiff, just put a .90 on the left side and you now have .925 If that works for ya, great. Different tracks may like more spring.. but a .975 rate is a bit much for even a FAST rider on the 3rd gen bike.. even .95 for your 140lbs if you were running 5 seconds off a track record is likely too much.
Not sure what you are looking for bud. A highly educated suspension pro like Kent S. with GMD tells ya you likely have a bit much front spring. I would run with that..
it kinda sucks when you get the cold shoulder from a vendor after forking over good money. But it's not easy pleasing everyone.
I'll throw my two cents worth in here. I am consistently running 1.0's with varying weight riders. The lightest was 115 pounds (!) and he was almost using all the fork travel. The R6 is under sprung on the front from factory and they are .92's. If you are using all the fork travel and the preload is maxed you need stiffer front spring full stop. Damping can only do so much to control braking forces. It may pay to drop a 1.0 in the r/h leg first for an effective .975 rate.
On the rear the .95 should be in the ball park depending on valving as the opposite is true from the front (the rear spring is too stiff).
Both rates will depend a lot on what gearing and how long the swingarm is.
The 3rd gen bike can sometimes work a bit better with a little less spring. Again, nothing is perfect with gearing, suspension, or setup. It's usually a bit of a compromise somewhere..
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