Stock Suspension

How long will stock suspension last for trackday purposes before I need to upgrade? I'm not incredibly fast but I do very well in A-Groups at Thill and Infineon.

I weigh 175 before gear on a 2005 R1.

Thanks for the info in advance

It will be fine until it stops working well.

Most stock suspensions tend to be soft in front and way too stiff in the rear ( no cracks Berto )

The bikes seem to be set up for 140 pound riders for the forks and 300 pound riders for the rear shock (two up)

I am not familiar with the R1 setup but assume it is similar.

Generally the bike will tell you what it needs. If the forks are bottoming out under hard braking or locking up on "fast square' bumps you have reached the limits of the forks.

Not sure what pace you are running but I suspect that 2:07s are the point at which the stock suspension starts telling you that it can no longer handle the braking stress and added speed.

The symptoms from the stock shock are more of a hard ride and a tire that will spin up too easily from too stiff a spring.

But your bike will tell you long before anyone else can.

IMO, the best low $ improvement is a set of equal load rate fork springs...the stockers tend to be mushy at the begining of hard braking and rock solid when the forks reach the end of their travel.

It all depends on how fast you want to go right? The R1 is fun with stock suspension, it is fun with reworked suspension. It just depends on you and your wallet. Are you going to start racing? I hope so since this is "the racers corner" forum If you are, then you want to go as fast as possible; you'll definitely go faster with re-worked/aftermarket suspension.

In the right hands (pick any of the top 5 FP racers), I'm sure the bike could do 1:56s at Thunderhill with stock suspension.

KimDN said:

It all depends on how fast you want to go right?

Are you going to start racing? I hope so since this is "the racers corner" forum

In the right hands (pick any of the top 5 FP racers), I'm sure the bike could do 1:56s at Thunderhill with stock suspension.

Click to expand...

Thanks for all of your feedbacks!

Well Kim, I don't want to go as fast as I can. I'd rather go as fast Rossi, Melandri or even Jacque can. But thats not going to happen....

I asked in this forum to get the right responses from racers and not street skid markers.

I'd go faster with your 16.5" wheels but I just bought some stocks for trackday use

Thanks again!

Spend the money on getting the stock stuff setup right. As others have said, that will likely mean new springs in front and in back. It may also require some revalving up front and in back as well, but getting the right springs and preload dialed in will make a noticable improvement.

If you got the cash, it will make it much better on the track.

How much you willing to spend? A rear shock is an investement if you go for ohlins or most(plus install). The front at 400 bucks is prolly the best bet first -- maybe? (I did the rear first on mine).

The stock suspension while set-up right, should do you fine in brisk A pace. If you start reaching the limits soon, definatly do it.

Key is if you can afford it. The question is how much do you need it. It definatly, if not make you faster, will make the ride much smoother and more stable(which I like better than speed).