919 suspension interest

[LDH]

Originally Posted by honda ng gingsa

LDH, hypothetically if one was willing to pony up for an Ohlins unit for the rear, what would one have to do to the stock front end to "balance" with the Ohlins out back?

Just match aftermarket springs to rider weight and ride?

It depends... In my opinion nothing.

1. Most owners I know have been more than satisfied with just the rear shock addition especially if they are just street riders. Remember on this bike the suspension mods are not about giving it razor sharp handling they are about making the bike more compliant & offering a smoother more comfortable ride. I've been saying all along that this is exactly what the Ohlins shock does for the 919 and is the only real reason I can come up with for spending so much money for a high performance part on a budget parts bin bike.

2. I actually like the front end of the 919. It has no feedback, but it does what it is supposed to do and if you ride smoothly like you should be as in gently squeezing the brakes instead of grabbing a big honkin handful and upsetting the chassis then the bike is actually very easy to ride even at an accelerated pace.

3. This whole balancing thing has been blown way out of proportion and there are way more variables involved than simply a riders weight.

Let me tell you a little story from a couple years ago. I get on my wife's 06 1000RR at Barber (my home track) and I basically found the bike unridable. It wanted to fight me tipping into the turns, it ran wide out of the turns and the slightest amount of trailbraking resulted in the bike trying to stand straight up in the middle of the turn and it wallowed constantly. I cussed the front end for its weak springs, an incorrect damping and yada yada yada for 3 weeks after that day.

Before we went back to the track the next time I slapped an Ohlins HO515 shock I had laying around on her bike just because I could and I cannot emphasize enough what a night & day difference it was. The bike was instantly transformed into a well mannered, precise tool. Plus the shock wasn't even sprung for my 180lb ass, but rather her 120lb featherweight and it still handled well enough for me to comfortably turn 1:40's at Barber on street tires...

At the time I initially rode her bike I would have bet my paycheck that the front end was the culprit all the time, but that simple shock install completely changed the way the bike handled. 80% of everything I was complaining about in the handling of the 06 1000RR was gone. Once the shock settled the rear end the front no longer protested all the movements.

To this day I have not touched the fork internals on that bike. They are still bone stock only having adjusted them externally. Are they correct? Well no, but they are close enough for her light weight and the point of this is that the shock was more than enough to get the bike set-up in the right direction. I think so, my wife thinks so and I know of at least a dozen other guys with 06-07 1000RR's that have had similar experiences with just replacing the rear shock.

What does all this mean to the 919 owners specifically? Not a damn thing and there is definitely some truth to getting the front & rear working together as has been mentioned by others, but for purpose built "streetbikes" like the 919 I think you will find that it is a riders bike in that the rider is responsible for making up for the what the bike lacks and/or making the most of what the bike does well. Learning to be smooth with your throttle, braking and steering inputs will do way more for the bike than bitching about how poorly it handles

[Farab]

Originally Posted by Lord Duckhunter

What does all this mean to the 919 owners specifically? Not a damn thing and there is definitely some truth to getting the front & rear working together as has been mentioned by others, but for purpose built "streetbikes" like the 919 I think you will find that it is a riders bike in that the rider is responsible for making up for the what the bike lacks and/or making the most of what the bike does well. Learning to be smooth with your throttle, braking and steering inputs will do way more for the bike than bitching about how poorly it handles

So to find a way around the bike's shortcomings by adapting your style on a budget bike such as a 919, will actually teach you more and make you a better rider?

[LDH]

Originally Posted by Farab

So to find a way around the bike's shortcomings by adapting your style on a budget bike such as a 919, will actually teach you more and make you a better rider?

I would say that sums it up nicely.

[mcromo44]

Originally Posted by Lord Duckhunter

I would say that sums it up nicely.

To be fast on a bone stock 919 requires good riding.
To get faster means having to get better as a rider.
Underdamped and undersprung makes for a most uncomfortable meeting with unsmooth and unskilled riding.
Personally, I wanted a bit more "chassis margin" to make up for what I will admit are my remaining inadequacies. LDH and others of his level would blitz me high on the outside at will, he on his stocker, me on my modified.

[Sniper]

I agree this subject has gotten a bit more complicated than it needs to be.

Honda Ginsa, I had real good luck with just the addition of the Ohlins on my 04.

I never felt the need to do anything with the front end, other than back off on the preload a bit. Like I said, the suspention guy at the track dialed it in for me. I had a lot of fun with the 919.

[honda ng gingsa]

It's all good. Just trying to get my head around all the concepts and info floating around.

[mcromo44]

Originally Posted by Sniper

I agree this subject has gotten a bit more complicated than it needs to be.

Honda Ginsa, I had real good luck with just the addition of the Ohlins on my 04.

I never felt the need to do anything with the front end, other than back off on the preload a bit. Like I said, the suspention guy at the track dialed it in for me. I had a lot of fun with the 919.

I found that the only way to get the Rider Sag number even in the zone, meant I had to dial in the ride height adjusters too much. That plus being as divey as it was on the brakes. It screamed for springs so that's what went in. Rider preference I suppose.

[mcromo44]

At present, with 0.925 in the front, 90 mm internal spacers, and two rings of ride height adjustment left to be able to add, Rider Sag is 35 mm. I have thrown out my old notes, but my memory of Rider Sag with the stock springs was 48 mm or so. I'm 165 # in the skinny now but was almost 10 # heavier when I had the stock springs in.