Found a Bike Whisperer

[Oz22]

The Yamaha shop that sold me the Busa replaced the fork seals before delivery and botched the job! I only ended up with 8 and 10 clicks of rebound damping on the top of the legs. Failed to correctly set the lockout on the center rod? Failed to back out the adjuster screw fully before putting the end caps on? I took it to a local-ish Suzuki dealer and the service manager went and got the head mechanic to come and look at it. I told him something was definitely going on in there because it just didn't ride right, I said I wanted it pulled apart and setup right and while he was at it replace the springs with some rated for me weight (our weight as it turned out, 100kg)

I asked what he thought of the springs and he checked the preload, which was out 4 rings and then sat on it. "Perfect he said, these springs are fine". Both the front and back sagging together an equal amount and not much dive when you throw your weight forward. So I saved a couple of hundred there... Then he got out a screwdriver and tweaked the compression and rebound on the front and said try that on the way home. He had adjusted them a bit off to suit what was happening inside I think, but it rode like it was on on rails all the way home. Amazing! Much confidence I have now, I'll get him to go over the whole bike and just check it out for me, something he as an older mechanic would be better at than my haphazard inspection. It can be hard to find a serious mechanic these days.

 

[Dai.]

Which shop was this at?. I had a trusted mechanic service my Busa for nearly 8 years before he partially retired and moved away.

No issue was to big or small and cost next to nothing.

 

[sixpack577]

8-10 half turns on the forks, compression or rebound sounds right for a Gen2 fork.

 

[Oz22]

8-10 half turns on the forks, compression or rebound sounds right for a Gen2 fork.

That wasn't the settings, that was the complete range of clicks on the two upper rebound screws. 8 one side, 10 the other When I first began riding it the screws only went through a range or 5 and 6 clicks. From memory the range should be around 16 clicks?

 

[sixpack577]

That wasn't the settings, that was the complete range of clicks on the two upper rebound screws. 8 one side, 10 the other When I first began riding it the screws only went through a range or 5 and 6 clicks. From memory the range should be around 16 clicks?

They should definately be equal, but no, only around 5 full rotations counter-clockwise on the forks, clicking at half-turns.
There are closer to 20 on the rear shock.

 

[Oz22]

Which shop was this at?. I had a trusted mechanic service my Busa for nearly 8 years before he partially retired and moved away.

No issue was to big or small and cost next to nothing.

Ultimate suzuki Ipswich, Connor is the service manager, a young mechanic himself, Chris is the head mechanic. Did you go to Andrew at Springwood Suzuki? Andrew told me a few years back that he was moving away up north. He was a legend that guy, did all the work on my first Gen-II. Chris up at at Ipswich has a similar personality I found. Very methodical, took his time inspecting and adjusting my bike, and no charge. I didn't even have to ask to see him, the manager just went and got him. Before going to Ipswich I had gone to Springwood Suzuki, as you do`, and the service manager said they didn't have a head mechanic, just a bunch of mechanics.

When I asked who was the best and that I wanted to talk him the toad of a service manager wouldn't even let me talk to a mechanic. "Just book it in if you want work done" Like a totally F*@K you attitude. I really couldn't believe it. I won't be going back to Springwood Suzuki, even to look at their bikes, at least for a little while HaHa. I went in next door and told a salesman I know there and he just raised his eyebrows and... Well he told me they had a big backlog doing all the KTM and Ducati stuff and that was the reason. Glad I never bought a ktm. Credit where credit is due, Springwood Suzuki is a great dealership, but their service center is questionable now.

 

[Oz22]

They should definately be equal, but no, only around 5 full rotations counter-clockwise on the forks, clicking at half-turns.
There are closer to 20 on the rear shock.

Well I don't know about that. The manual states that the standard position is 8 clicks out. Top and bottom. I'll pop down and see how many in total are on the compression screw at the bottom, those screws wouldn't have been messed with.

 

[Oz22]

My lower compression screws have a range of 20 clicks and are set 8 out from bottom.

 

[sixpack577]

Well I don't know about that. The manual states that the standard position is 8 clicks out. Top and bottom. I'll pop down and see how many in total are on the compression screw at the bottom, those screws wouldn't have been messed with.

View attachment 1686115

8 clicks = 4turns, they click on the half turn, not a full rotation

 

[Oz22]

8 clicks = 4turns, they click on the half turn, not a full rotation

yeah. I never bothered with the turns myself, just the clicks, do you measure by turns?

 

[sixpack577]

yeah. I never bothered with the turns myself, just the clicks, do you measure by turns?

I count turns because some brands of forks do not click at all.
Suzukis do on the half turn, which is nice, but I still count to know where I'm at.

 

[Dai.]

Ultimate suzuki Ipswich, Connor is the service manager, a young mechanic himself, Chris is the head mechanic. Did you go to Andrew at Springwood Suzuki? Andrew told me a few years back that he was moving away up north. He was a legend that guy, did all the work on my first Gen-II. Chris up at at Ipswich has a similar personality I found. Very methodical, took his time inspecting and adjusting my bike, and no charge. I didn't even have to ask to see him, the manager just went and got him. Before going to Ipswich I had gone to Springwood Suzuki, as you do`, and the service manager said they didn't have a head mechanic, just a bunch of mechanics.

When I asked who was the best and that I wanted to talk him the toad of a service manager wouldn't even let me talk to a mechanic. "Just book it in if you want work done" Like a totally F*@K you attitude. I really couldn't believe it. I won't be going back to Springwood Suzuki, even to look at their bikes, at least for a little while HaHa. I went in next door and told a salesman I know there and he just raised his eyebrows and... Well he told me they had a big backlog doing all the KTM and Ducati stuff and that was the reason. Glad I never bought a ktm. Credit where credit is due, Springwood Suzuki is a great dealership, but their service center is questionable now.

Yeah it was Andrew, before that it was Stef before he started doing his own work at home.

Not sure who is the lead mechanic now as I live 2 hours away on property and do the work myself. Did you talk to Lee?. Speak to Anthony or Troy if you want to make some noise.

Andrew does dirt bikes up near Caboolture.

 

[SASSIN8]

Yeah it was Andrew, before that it was Stef before he started doing his own work at home.

Not sure who is the lead mechanic now as I live 2 hours away on property and do the work myself. Did you talk to Lee?. Speak to Anthony or Troy if you want to make some noise.

Andrew does dirt bikes up near Caboolture.

Lee is a good guy, I like him a lot… but he’s just workshop coordinator as far as I’m aware…

 

[SASSIN8]

I changed the fork oil in my Gen 2 to 7.5W, it works really well… I found a lot of shops set the suspension up too hard making them difficult to ride on Queensland crappy roads…
7.5W is very similar to L01 which is around 6.8W, it’s been a while so I forgot the C.stokes…

 

[Dai.]

Lee is a good guy, I like him a lot… but he’s just workshop coordinator as far as I’m aware…

Lee is Tony’s son and the workshop manager, Ryan works in there too at the counter and a knowledgeable young bloke.