Sold the gixxer and now I'm back

I had a 96 gsxr750 with every bolt on you could think of and I rode it for about 8 months and started to grow tired of reving it to the moon to make any power. So I sold it to a buddy who highsided it less than 2 weeks later. Anyway, I need another bike and I am dead set on a rc51. I am 6 feet 230 and I am just wondering what kind of suspension mods would need to be performed to a rc in order to work with my weight? The reason I ask is because I hear they are undersprung from the factory. Is that true? The rc wouldn't be a daily driver and the twisties are only about 15 mins from my house and thats where the bike will spend most of it's time.

Youll probably want it resprung. The racetech website has a handy calculator for that
http://www.racetech.com/evalvi...=Fork

Ohlins rear shock, sprung for your weight. Send the forks to Dan Kyle & have him work his magic on them. If your really blingin' you could spring for the Ohlins R&T forks; I did and they are worth every penny.

John

i did the racetech calculator and it didn't bring up any part numbers.

Start Here: http://www.racetech.com/evalvi...t.asp

quite a bit less expensive than I thought

Good lord. Save the money, shim the rear and crank down on the preload. It'll be fine. You start listening to these guys and you'll have a $20,000 bike that can't get out of it's own way. If the twisties is where you're headed you won't need:
Ohlins, Sato's, a front mounted radiator, anything CF, rearests...

Buy an '02 or newer. Gear it down one tooth in the front ($30). At 230lbs you'll need that. Cut the flapper hose and plug it with a big metal screw ($.04), and the most important mod for weekend riding? Buy a Sergent seat. The stocker is a plank of wood.

well I have never gotten a chance to really work the gears on a rc51. I rode it in a neighborhood so I didn't get on it really. The stock rearsets seemed fine. Although I like the reverse setup on the shifter, just like on a cbr 600rr.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rocket51 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Good lord. Save the money, shim the rear and crank down on the preload. It'll be fine. You start listening to these guys and you'll have a $20,000 bike that can't get out of it's own way. If the twisties is where you're headed you won't need:
Ohlins, Sato's, a front mounted radiator, anything CF, rearests...

Buy an '02 or newer. Gear it down one tooth in the front ($30). At 230lbs you'll need that. Cut the flapper hose and plug it with a big metal screw ($.04), and the most important mod for weekend riding? Buy a Sergent seat. The stocker is a plank of wood. </TD></TR></TABLE> honestly just try learning to ride the bike! too many peeps think bolting on all the add ons they can afford will make them a faster or a better rider.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dadrc51 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> honestly just try learning to ride the bike! too many peeps think bolting on all the add ons they can afford will make them a faster or a better rider. </TD></TR></TABLE>

bolting on an Ohlins and redoing your forks, is very much worth the money no matter where you are riding....(and for sure if you are 230 or above)....if you don't think an Ohlins or Penske is an investment in the feel and works of the bike....you've never had one other parts like exhuast slips and PCommander, with a gearing change to 15/41 is another almost "have to mod"...and many say the cheapest and best of the above, other than suspension. Do your Free mods, flapper, and Pair, do soft Rev just to not have to deal with it...
and don't forget to get front and rear sag set so you have decent bike geometry.....which you can not do effectively with the stock front shocks.

good luck listening to people who tell you to do nothing to improve a bike that needs quite a bit considering the competition today. but at leasr it has some soul,,,when the stock pipes are replaced

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by throttlehead &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

good luck listening to people who tell you to do nothing to improve a bike that needs quite a bit considering the competition today. </TD></TR></TABLE>

What competition? I thought he said he was headed to the twisties, not qualifying for Superbike. The RC is enough bike in stock form to keep up with any bike on a Sunday ride through the mountains. If you're so good that you've reached the limits of the stock components, then get it off the street and take it to the track, 'cause you're riding too fast anyway.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rocket51 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What competition? I thought he said he was headed to the twisties, not qualifying for Superbike. The RC is enough bike in stock form to keep up with any bike on a Sunday ride through the mountains. If you're so good that you've reached the limits of the stock components, then get it off the street and take it to the track, 'cause you're riding too fast anyway. </TD></TR></TABLE>

+1

I even did 4 track days with stock suspension. There's guys on this board who have won races w/ stock rear suspension. I now have a Penske rear, Mori link, and DK re-worked front forks and am amazed at the difference. However, it's not required for spirited street riding.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rocket51 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You start listening to these guys and you'll have a $20,000 bike that can't get out of it's own way.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Absolutely not true!

A must - raise the fork fluid level or you will bottom out the suspension.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rocket51 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

What competition? I thought he said he was headed to the twisties, not qualifying for Superbike. The RC is enough bike in stock form to keep up with any bike on a Sunday ride through the mountains. If you're so good that you've reached the limits of the stock components, then get it off the street and take it to the track, 'cause you're riding too fast anyway.
</TD></TR></TABLE><TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by throttlehead &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

bolting on an Ohlins and redoing your forks, is very much worth the money no matter where you are riding....(and for sure if you are 230 or above)....if you don't think an Ohlins or Penske is an investment in the feel and works of the bike....you've never had one other parts like exhuast slips and PCommander, with a gearing change to 15/41 is another almost "have to mod"...and many say the cheapest and best of the above, other than suspension. Do your Free mods, flapper, and Pair, do soft Rev just to not have to deal with it...
and don't forget to get front and rear sag set so you have decent bike geometry.....which you can not do effectively with the stock front shocks.

good luck listening to people who tell you to do nothing to improve a bike that needs quite a bit considering the competition today. but at least it has some soul,,,when the stock pipes are replaced</TD></TR></TABLE> honestly ive never seen a person on the street with the ability to ride a modern day sport bike(in stock trim) to a 10 tenths pace(yea i know this is a pissin contest,im sure ill hear everything about this, that and the other is the reason it cant be done. in terms of real world performance im lucky to reach 5 or 6 tenths of the bikes(rc51) ability.thats being realistic! im in no way saying that an upgrade in suspension wont help(myself instead of getting a penske shock/race tech forks,am willing to wait and save up for the top ohlins and dk fork work,having listened to so many others speak words of praise of this combo i think its worth the wait!) but most peeps will benefit better in learning how to ride their bikes(like not running wide in curves,something about an on coming car thats not gonna agree with my body as part of its fender and windshield)lost a couple of riders that way at deals gap(they had the bolt ons,didnt help them!the rc's sprung pretty stout for the street(and we are talking about the street,not the track),ride it long enough to figure out what you do and dont want then seek help.oh yea get the bike first!

If you ride at 10/10s on the street, you are asking for serious medical bills or worse. But sorting your suspension will allow you to keep and maintain a steady progressive line throughout the turn and more importantly allow you to alter that line without much drama. You should not take everything said here as gospel but to quote Blade, "Some motherphuckers are always trying to iceskate uphill!"

I pounded my 01 last year during a couple of different track days. Each time I was easily in the top five fastest(yea I will toot my own horn) and there were several "racers" out there with all the goodies on 600cc bikes and gsxr 750 (they were only novice). One other guy there on an rc was a second a lap faster than me...guess what for mods...braided front brake lines that was it for me the other guy had slip-ons and braided lines fornt and rear. I was on street tires (012ss) and he was running Pilot race tires. Neither one of us had a single complaint about anything to do with the bikes. Set the sag and ride!

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by throttlehead &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

bolting on an Ohlins and redoing your forks, is very much worth the money no matter where you are riding....(and for sure if you are 230 or above)....if you don't think an Ohlins or Penske is an investment in the feel and works of the bike....you've never had one other parts like exhuast slips and PCommander, with a gearing change to 15/41 is another almost "have to mod"...and many say the cheapest and best of the above, other than suspension. Do your Free mods, flapper, and Pair, do soft Rev just to not have to deal with it...
and don't forget to get front and rear sag set so you have decent bike geometry.....which you can not do effectively with the stock front shocks.

good luck listening to people who tell you to do nothing to improve a bike that needs quite a bit considering the competition today. but at leasr it has some soul,,,when the stock pipes are replaced</TD></TR></TABLE>

+1 on the suspension improvements. Unless you're a horse jockey, the RC is undersprung. At 230, I would at least shim the rear (I can mail you some shims!!) and respring the front forks. Ride the bike hard in stock form and then do the suspension mods when $$ allows. You will not be disappointed.

And the question remains would he or you be even faster with aftermarket suspsension?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jamarben &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">And the question remains would he or you be even faster with aftermarket suspsension?</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's not the question. The question was "I am just wondering what kind of suspension mods would need to be performed to a rc in order to work with my weight? " My humble opinion is none. Maybe a shim in the rear. But for riding on the street, I'm guessing he won't need to go blow thousands of dollars on an Ohlins suspension.

To answer your question, yes, it would make for a faster bike. So would a Saturn V rocket strapped to my ass. My point is, it doesn't need to be faster than it already is (again, for street riding). I keep up just fine with the boring old Showa's that came bolted to the bike.