Hello all,
I have a 2014 R1 for both road and track use, and just had the chance to ride it on slicks for the first time at Donington (I'm in the UK) two days ago.
Having worked out a pretty good set-up suspension and tyre-wise, I found the high speed-steering was awful - pulling the bar to make the direction change diving down Craner Curves was actually so hard it felt like I was pulling my shoulder out of it's socket! I used to coach at Donington and have done thousands and thousands of quick laps around there, so when something feels off, I can be reasonably sure it probably is!
Having geared the bike down, I know the speedo is over-reading, and this started a train of thought - I'm wondering if a) the OE electric damper is just crap on track, and b) if the speedo is over-reading, the electric activation of the damping may be over-stated as well.
I see no reason why this bike would be so heavy to turn when it's pretty much spot on everywhere else, but with the speedo (over) reading just short of 130mph as I start to turn, I think the electric damper could be making things difficult.
So, long-winded build up to a simple question - has anyone ditched the OE item and found an improvement? I see Ohlins do one (the SD024) which comes with the damper delete plug to stop the warning light on the dash. If anyone has done this, especially for race or track use, I'd love to hear!
Cheers in advance,
Paul B
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I have a 2014 R1 for both road and track use, and just had the chance to ride it on slicks for the first time at Donington (I'm in the UK) two days ago.
Having worked out a pretty good set-up suspension and tyre-wise, I found the high speed-steering was awful - pulling the bar to make the direction change diving down Craner Curves was actually so hard it felt like I was pulling my shoulder out of it's socket! I used to coach at Donington and have done thousands and thousands of quick laps around there, so when something feels off, I can be reasonably sure it probably is!
Having geared the bike down, I know the speedo is over-reading, and this started a train of thought - I'm wondering if a) the OE electric damper is just crap on track, and b) if the speedo is over-reading, the electric activation of the damping may be over-stated as well.
I see no reason why this bike would be so heavy to turn when it's pretty much spot on everywhere else, but with the speedo (over) reading just short of 130mph as I start to turn, I think the electric damper could be making things difficult.
So, long-winded build up to a simple question - has anyone ditched the OE item and found an improvement? I see Ohlins do one (the SD024) which comes with the damper delete plug to stop the warning light on the dash. If anyone has done this, especially for race or track use, I'd love to hear!
Cheers in advance,
Paul B
