Rear Shock Length (and how it changes the ride)
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barbagris
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As Steve pointed out - it's not just the rear. The Plus of the tyre swap is it also improves some weight transfer dynamics.
I think Steve and I now run the same rubber - Michie Road 5 150/70 up front and E-Max rear. : the crown radii seem to match very well so far - cornering is now lovely; light and neutral. This is a Darkside-front though. As a plus the Michie grips the road like soft shyte to a blanket.
On ABS bikes you cannot go extreme as the ABS will not cope. I have a non ABS bike but wont change the front. I would like to fit a slimmer rear as that would make a HUGE difference, but involves serious money having a rear wheel made up.
1olbull
Riding Motor Since 1950
warp9.9
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MikeCR
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@barbagris sorry you lost me on the ABS not coping. ABS won't cope with too much of an angle change?
In general I am looking at extending the rear shock length to 335mm at this point. Together with the exedra on back I had expected that to give me somewhere around 25mm of total lift. I'm always up to try to new stuff so maybe ill slap on the miche road 5 to give it a try which will bring the total change to something like 31 ish mm... based on the expertise here, does that seem crazy?
In general I am looking at extending the rear shock length to 335mm at this point. Together with the exedra on back I had expected that to give me somewhere around 25mm of total lift. I'm always up to try to new stuff so maybe ill slap on the miche road 5 to give it a try which will bring the total change to something like 31 ish mm... based on the expertise here, does that seem crazy?
warp9.9
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My opinion is you won't really know what you did if you do it all at once. The two tire changes -- larger rear and smaller front -- will drastically change things including shock sag. You're a flat lander most of the time so set the bike up how you want. But if you're spending 90% of your time on flat roads I would work on tire details first.
Change the front Metzler and throw it on the burn pile. Now you just made a weight transfer. Take her out and you'll feel the difference. Then once the Meztler goes out in the back, put the Bridgestone on. Feel the weight shift more to the front. (You will feel this even on flat roads) Try going fast. STOP if you feel the death wobble at high speeds (you will maybe see this at 140ish or so as the front end is diving more from wind pressures). After that you can decide do I need taller shocks or just a good set that are adjustable. Now of course this will not help long distance ride comfort. But keeping a spare front tire on hand of normal size will be good backup, as well as an extra rear with the new long wearing cobra chrome. Just my opinion!!! Have fun -- the corn is not too tall so you can observe things farther out if you're running up in the dead zone.
Change the front Metzler and throw it on the burn pile. Now you just made a weight transfer. Take her out and you'll feel the difference. Then once the Meztler goes out in the back, put the Bridgestone on. Feel the weight shift more to the front. (You will feel this even on flat roads) Try going fast. STOP if you feel the death wobble at high speeds (you will maybe see this at 140ish or so as the front end is diving more from wind pressures). After that you can decide do I need taller shocks or just a good set that are adjustable. Now of course this will not help long distance ride comfort. But keeping a spare front tire on hand of normal size will be good backup, as well as an extra rear with the new long wearing cobra chrome. Just my opinion!!! Have fun -- the corn is not too tall so you can observe things farther out if you're running up in the dead zone.
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barbagris
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No it won't cope with a huge difference in the ratio between front and rear rolling circumference.
Edit: bear in mind that as you shift weight forward ( immaterial how ) - you're going to be looking at new fork innards.
MikeCR
R3 n00b
@warp9.9 Thanks very much! Yeah the plan was shocks, then rear, then front. I honestly just HAVE to ditch these progressive 412s they are killing me. So maybe I just go with standard height shocks now just to get them swapped out then start messing with tire diameter and eventually change shock height if I really have to. Probably the same with you, so much of our ride is flat and straight but I really want to be ready to have fun in twisties when I get down onto river roads.
@barbagris oh interesting, I don't know anything about the physics of ABS only how it behaves in cars (typically with 4 identical tires). I will keep that in mind. Indeed, the plan is front forks next, probably even before tires depending on how they last. They seem fine right now but from the way it seems they can go very abruptly. The price difference in front and rear is pretty interesting. Looking at going wilbers for front if I don't get them for the rear.
@barbagris oh interesting, I don't know anything about the physics of ABS only how it behaves in cars (typically with 4 identical tires). I will keep that in mind. Indeed, the plan is front forks next, probably even before tires depending on how they last. They seem fine right now but from the way it seems they can go very abruptly. The price difference in front and rear is pretty interesting. Looking at going wilbers for front if I don't get them for the rear.
