| Author | Message | ||
     Uawjesse |
Looking at an xb12s cg after the first of the year. With such a short wheelbase do any of you feel the need for a steering stabilizer? Anyone running with one? I found this one while doing a search. http://www.spieglerusa.com/cfm/Steering.cfm What do you guys think? Necessary, luxury or just another cool gadget for your bike? | ||
| Tleighbell |
I have no personal experience with a damper. I am seriously considering getting one. There have been a number of threads on this in the XBoard. I think that nearly all who bought the damper felt it was an improvement. The only situation where I feel that my bike (XB12S)needs a damper is when encountering mid-corner bumps. I find that the bike can develop quite a wobble which will go through 2 or 3 cycles. I had a crash in such a situation and I feel that a damper might have helped. Of course, that is probably also a suspension issue and with some more work I may be able to adjust that problem out. Softening the compression damping seems to have helped. But there are always compromises in suspension set up so that I doubt that the problem can be entirely eliminated. I feel the damper would be good insurance those few situations where the problem arises despite a good suspension setup. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
In my opinion the damper is necessary when hitting bumps at full throttle. Then the front loses contact with the ground and the bars shake (tank-slapping). It can get scary !! But I do not think, this will lead to crash and generally the XB is stable and not so powerfull to causes major tank-slapping problems. Tleighbell, if the bike wobbles mid-turn I think is because of the suspension set-up. As you said it is a compromise but I think the XB needs the rear end to be pretty hard. I weight 210lbs and this is my set-up Front preload = 4.5 front compression = 1.75 front rebound = 1.5 Rear preload = 6 rear compression = 0.625 rear rebound = 0.625 I have done hundrends of experiments with the suspension and I noticed that the rear end is the most difficult to set for my XB12r. Also 1/8 of a turn can take you from heaven to hell. If I reduce the rear dampings (comp&reb)I feel my rear is not making good contact with the ground as I lean over. You have to do it yourself. I hope this helped Also tire pressure is very critical. I use 36psi front 38psi rear for the street. | ||
| Tleighbell |
vagelis46 Thanks. that is helpful. Is your weight 210 with gear or not? And what tires are you using? I weigh about 178 without gear. I have front preload at 5 and rear at 6. I forget what my compression settings are. I am pretty sure they are as per the manual for my weight, maybe a little softer. I was thinking less compression for the bumps but can try going the other way. I can get a little headshake on acceleration but that doesn't bother me. Its the weaving, wobbling when leaned over hitting a bump that bothers me more. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I think with gear I weight 210-220lbs. I am using Pireli Diablo Corsa. But I think the Michelin Pilot Power suits this bike better since their leaning potential is greater. And YES you can reach the leaning limits of the Corsas in the road, if it has a good quality tarmac. So for me the extra potential of the Michelin is a bonus. My bike does NOT work if the rear comp. damp and the rear reb. damping are not within 0.75-0.5 . I took me about 1000 miles to realise this. I was influenced by the manual settings to go 1.25-1 . And then suddenly I could not push the bike because I could not feel the rear tire making contact with the ground. I actually lost the rear end 2-3 times and that was scary and disappointing. Then I started making things harder progresively and started seeing continous improvement. The statement "everything is a comperimise" is true but you have to reach the setting that suits you, and then the comprimise is within +- 1/8 of a turn. Unless you are within a 1/8 of a turn then the bike will NOT work and will NOT give you confidence. For a example when I set rear reb. damping at 0.75 I can hold a tight line but as coming to the corner and start leaning I do Not feel 100% the rear making contact. When I set the rear reb. damping to 0.5 the rear feels 100% in contact but mid turn giving some gas the bike does not keep a tight line. So I use 0.625 which gives me good rear feel and I can keep the tight line. So you see I have reached a point that the bike WORKS and then I fine tune it. Setting this bike takes time and effort, but when it is done, NO-BIKE comes close, GSXR R1 ZX included. If the bike is NOT working then you are in trouble. I think this is because the geometry is very aggressive and gives you an advantage, but it must be set to WORK. Try the setting I sent you in the previous thread, but since you are lighter use 0.75 for the rear comp.&reb. dampings instead the 0.625 I am using. Then go +-0.125 (1/8) and see for yourself. | ||
| Tleighbell |
Yassu Vagelis! Thanks for the pointers. I would love to have your experience around when I go out to try to improve my setup. Maybe I'll take a Blackberry and get the step by step by email. I haven't bothered fine tuning that much, just ride. But right now I am mostly on smooth roads. The bike is pretty well getting put away for winter now so I might wait until spring. I saved your posts. I think I went by your town in 1980 on my way from Athens to Kerkira. Is that right?Must be some great riding in the mountains. | ||
| Tleighbell |
should have mentioned, my bike is an S. What how would you expect that to affect the settings? Maybe I'm just too slow to notice the difference. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I have family members in Toronto, that I meet once every 2-3 years when they visit home. I know how cold it gets in Canada. You are heroes out there. The manual suggests slightly different settings for the S models because you get more upright riding position and better leverage from the bars. So maybe try rear preload at 5 instead of 6. But do not forget to test for yourself preload 6 as well to see if you prefer it. The whole procedure sounds too much work but it is NOT. Since you have a basic set up that works, then each time you go for a ride, take the time to change something in the dampings and FEEL the difference for better or for worse. The procedure is very satisfying. Set this bike and then you get instantly faster and you start enjoy riding much better. If you do not like to go fast, and like to take it easy, then at least the bike is safer since when you reach a difficult moment you know it will react better. Do NOT forget that if the suspension feels right in the straights, I does NOT mean that it works for the corners. I definatelly believe that the settings suggested by the manual for the rear end are very soft, while for the front are hard. I think they are trying to improve the trail braking and sucrifising the lean angle potential and corner speed. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
I am a big fan of steering dampers. I am a larger rider, 235# in gear. I find the damper helps especially with bumps in a turn, as well as very fast transitions under acceleration. I also find it helpful in fast corners with undulations in them. Available units are: Storz side mount, LSL under steering head, and Ohlins for the R model only, ( as used on the Buell XBRR). These are available from American Sport bike, and Daves at Appleton HD, both sponsors. I use an Ohlins side mount in custom mounts on my XB12 S cr  |
