Ground clearance

Message

Falcorob · #1 Post by **Falcorob** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:56 pm

How do I get more ground clearance then?

Did Anglesey on Sunday and, as well as scraping the bloody exhausts on both sides, I've managed to grind away the ends of the footpegs. And that's on Pirelli Diablo Strada's.

I know my body positioning needs working on but, so I've been told by a senior instructor, that will only give me a few degrees at best. He recommends a different bike but I love the way the Falco does things.

So, how do I do it? Rearsets? Will the Mille ones fit and make an appreciable difference?

High level exhaust? As above?

Now I seem to remember that someone on here did the Mille thing with the exhaust but that it wasn't quite as straightforward as swapping pipes. So if I do have to go that route what are the issues?

Apart from that she performed flawlessly and I managed to gradually improve through the course of the day. And the brakes are truly astonishing when you miss your braking marker. Goes to show how little of that particular aspect of performance I actually use on the road I suppose.

Look forward to reading your replies.

Rob.

Samray · #2 Post by **Samray** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:14 pm

If ever a post needed pics .......

Falcorob · #3 Post by **Falcorob** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:19 pm

Falcorob · #4 Post by **Falcorob** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:22 pm

Me undertaking a large chap on an inline 4.

Samray · #5 Post by **Samray** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:23 pm

Falcorob · #6 Post by **Falcorob** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:23 pm

First pic was in the morning when i was bloody cold. Second pic is in the afternoon sunshine so sans fleece.

joecrx · #7 Post by **joecrx** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:30 pm

dont care what you instucto says you need to hang of that bike your sitting to high if you want to take corners faster, move yur bum right across , and you can keep up with any bike on a falco

#8 Post by **mangocrazy** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:39 pm

First question I'd ask is what rear shock you have, and does it have ride height adjustment? Also, how much preload do you have dialled in, and have you set up your static sag?

I'm pretty sure that a Falco can give you as much rear ride height as you need, as long as the shock can do it. If you still have the blue spring Sachs, you're out of luck. Any of the other Sachs or Ohlins variants should be able to help you in that respect.

But it's looking good. You look nice and relaxed; just need to get a bit more weight to the inside of the bike.

Falcorob · #9 Post by **Falcorob** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:47 pm

mangocrazy wrote:First question I'd ask is what rear shock you have, and does it have ride height adjustment? Also, how much preload do you have dialled in, and have you set up your static sag?

I'm pretty sure that a Falco can give you as much rear ride height as you need, as long as the shock can do it. If you still have the blue spring Sachs, you're out of luck. Any of the other Sachs or Ohlins variants should be able to help you in that respect.

But it's looking good. You look nice and relaxed; just need to get a bit more weight to the inside of the bike.

It's the Mille shock and linkage at the back. Static sag was set up by a man that can as I can't and suspension is all set up more for comfort than speed, so on the soft(ish) side.

I'll be doing Cadwell in May so will work on body position then now I've got all of the other stuff sort of dialled in. Braking, accelerating, track position, turn in points, and so on and so on. Head was cabbaged for the first few sessions tbh. I thought I was a reasonably quick road rider but riding on track is a different kettle of fish altogether. But by hell it's fun.

#10 Post by **mangocrazy** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:17 pm

Yes, track days are just the most fun a biker can have, no question. I'm really fancying doing a track day this year - the last one I did was in 2005, ferchrissakes. And Cadwell is not that far away from us...

As for your suspension, I'd definitely add some preload at the back for your next track day, even if you do nothing else. Make a note of how many turns of preload you add, so you can put it back to standard for road use. Put a blob of paint (or marker pen) at a suitable point on the top ring and then screw the castellated ring(s) down by two full turns. Then try it out and see how it feels. If necessary, add more preload. That will raise your rear ride height and give you more lean angle before you deck anything. It also stiffens the back end up, so a balance needs to be found between ride height and suspension compliance.

The preferred way of raising the rear is by using the shock's ride height adjustment, but it normally means removing the bottom shock mounting bolt so you can adjust the ride height. This means supporting the back end of the bike so it doesn't collapse when you undo the bottom shock bolt. If you don't have an Abba stand or similar, then don't try this...

Either way, raising the back end will have the beneficial side effect of making the steering quicker; i.e. easier to turn. You should find yourself hitting apexes easier and with less effort than before.

What date are you booked in for Cadwell in May? I'm mighty tempted...

Falcopops · #11 Post by **Falcopops** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:02 pm

Fark me Rob, I reckon you must have been feeling the cold in the morning 'coz of the hole in the front of your leathers.

You know, the one you needed to cut due to the size of your cojones.

Props on the angle of dangle. The bike of course, bloody prevs!

#12 Post by **mangocrazy** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 8:38 am

I'll second what Falcopos has to say, btw. And what tyres were you using?

D-Rider · #13 Post by **D-Rider** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:17 am

mangocrazy wrote:I'll second what Falcopos has to say, btw. And what tyres were you using?

Falcorob in the first post of the thread wrote:
Did Anglesey on Sunday and, as well as scraping the bloody exhausts on both sides, I've managed to grind away the ends of the footpegs. And that's on Pirelli Diablo Strada's.

Aladinsaneuk · #14 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:56 pm

what others have said

and i reckon your ride height is set to mininum....

how many rings do you have showing on the front?

#15 Post by **mangocrazy** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 8:47 pm

Aladinsaneuk wrote:what others have said

and i reckon your ride height is set to mininum....

how many rings do you have showing on the front?

I'd venture to suggest that it's the rear ride height Rob should be looking at...

And as Andy has pointed out, Rob's cornering heroics were performed on Pirelli Diablo Stradas. Just goes to show that most modern tyres will hugely outperform their riders...