It's mine!

[hubert]

jbraslins,

Beautiful bike! Congrats!

How was the change from a twin to a I4? I'm considering a similar move (996 to GXR750).

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[jbraslins]

You'll love it! Thats all i can say.

I was incredibly worried about my throttle control and the whole high-side ordeal. Being used to linear managable power of the twins, i thought i'd be launching myself to the moon on I4 every time i come out of the corner. Has not happened so far. So unless you're really bad with throttle control, there's absolutely nothing bad i can say about 750.

I think the thing i love the most about 750, is the higher RPM limit and the way it revs up quick up high. It's just a different type of riding. Definitely changes all your shifting points.

It's especialy fun when you have short straights between corners. On 999 i'd run out of RPMs coming out of the corner and have to upshift, then downshift again before the corner. On 750 in the same place i find i am able to keep the same gear, just cause RPM limit is so much higher. I dont know if that means i am not staying as close to it's power band as i should, but it sure makes for a lot of fun.

Another thing that i absolutely love is ability to stay on throttle as i flick it from right to left in the esses. The side-to-side transition just seems easier with 750 than with my 999. Perhaps someone can explain why

[duc1036]

Originally Posted by jbraslins

Another thing that i absolutely love is ability to stay on throttle as i flick it from right to left in the esses. The side-to-side transition just seems easier with 750 than with my 999. Perhaps someone can explain why

Because, contrary to popular belief, the GSXR is a better motorcycle than the Ducati across the board. Handling, performance, reliability.
But it has to do with the rotating mass of the crank shaft. The twins have a built in inertial resistance to that flickability you are talking about.

[duc1036]

On your problem with the transmission, the post about the incorrect clutch pack might be right.
I have a 2006 GSXR750 also and it has a stock slipper clutch which is very good. The previuos poster is right about the Ducati slippers. I would contact Fred at Yoyodyne about the pack in those slipper clutches. Also check the Suzuki shop manual as it has a slipper clutch stock from the 2006 model year and I am sure the pack sequence and stack hieght are all in the manual.
Please post up what you find as it will be very informative for the rest of us!

[hubert]

jbraslins and duc1036,

What about the myth that I4s have a tendency to be 'nervous' mid-corner v. the twin's reasonably good mid-corner stability?

Thanks again for all your input, I appreciate it!

[jbraslins]

I did not notice any "nervousness".

I do have a pretty decent suspension tho:

ohlins 25mm kit, ohlins rear shock, ohlins steering damper and even some fork extenders (i think prev owner raised the front a lil), maybe thats why he did it? dunno

[eye-p]

Fork extenders are designed to flatten geometry on GSX-R's running N-Tec Dunlop tires which are substantially taller than normal slicks or DOT's.

[jbraslins]

Strange.

The story i got was:

Jensen had his bike setup all squirly and 2nd owner did not like the super high back end feeling. He said it would slide all over the place.

He said he had fork extenders installed and raised the front and ran it with Michelin Pilot Power Race tires.

The current setup aint bad. I might have to give Thermosman a call and see if those fork extenders need to be removed since I am running run of the mill Supercorsa Pro SC2s.

[jbraslins]

Re: Fork Extensions

I just spoke with Thermosman and he was kind enough to give me a small supension lesson

He said that fork extenders are there to allow you to raise the front more than stock forks would allow. He also said that it was Jensen who had them installed because he likes his front higher. (Totally opposite as to what the seller of this bike told me).

Thermosman also said that there's no magic numbers for a bike or magic numbers for particular tire type of how high the the front should be. It's all about personal preference.

He also said that as a baseline, he starts with 12mm of drop in the front and 329mm in the back.

I should have asked him, but i forgot, how do you measure this values?

Thanks.

[ductedfan]

J, ! my man, how goes it buddy? sorry to hear about your gixxer woes? Have you figured out the tranny issue yet? I haven't touched the duc in about a month, the rainy season has come on strong lately here in the NW. Cheers buddy!
J.R.

[duc1036]

The fabled mid corner stability is a line often used in the magazine tests. I have tracked a Ducati 900SS with upgraded set up suspension, a Ducati 996 purpose built RS race bike and the GSXR750 recently and extensively.
The "mid corner stability" in my layman's seat of the pants experience is related to the overall slow steering type handling of the Ducati. The GSXR seems to have a much better balance of steering "quickness" and stability. This is all very subjective, and the faster a rider is the more sensitive to thier own set up preferences they are. What may be un-ridable to me could work very well for a real fast racer.
On the fork caps. I had my suspension set up by GMD in Ct. Mike re-did the forks, added a Penske (my choice) and did the set up for the Pirelli DOT race tires. I could not be happier the bike is amazing. The fork caps do allow more room to raise the front end. I spent a good amount of time with Mike at GMD going over what I needed and so forth, well worth it.