bike weight/fork springs

[RHill]

I'm about to order some springs for my bike and I'm not sure of the weight to put into the calculator for the bike. They are going in a 05 gsxr 600.

I'm guessing between 430-450 but that is bumping me between a 1.0 and a 1.1 spring on Sonic's calculator.

Racetech has 425 in their calculator which gives a 1.0 spring rate, but that weight seems low to me.

[LongDogRacing]

racetech calculator has never done me wrong. what did you put in for your weight? i'd say a 1.0 would be good for a 200+lb rider...

[RHill]

I'm 210-215 without gear

Hopefully closer to 200 by the time I'm back on the bike.

[serpentracer]

use traxxion dynamics

they pick the proper spring for you provided you give them your actual weight.

http://www.traxxion.com/ForkSpringKits.aspx

[RHill]

Went ahead and picked up the 1.0 sonic springs...

Rich from Sonic was quick to respond, was very helpful and the price can't be beat.

[Moto-Brian]

You might also want to consider grabbing some 9.5s or maybe also some 10.5s as well. Depending on your skill level, braking ability and overall feel desired, you can take and mix the springs (10.0 in one leg and 9.5 in the other for a 97.5 rate, for example) and be able to get the suspension dialed in even more.

The issue is that calculators are great for a starting point and most guys usually fit into those suggestions. BUT, you get generic responses and middle of the road results. If you are a middle of the road guy or average rider, they may work fine.

You can also mess with spacer length. The GSXRs are very easy to change these spacers. You can get with McMastercarr and get some aluminum tubing to do it right and make a few different lengths to be able to change for different tracks. This helps tremendously.

I have a few I have made and stock I could give you to make a couple of sets...

That would save you from buying so many springs...

[RHill]

Thanks for the tips.

Depending how it turns out, may tweak the hardware more. I'm hoping the springs put me in a usable adjustment range that way I can feel it out as opposed to maxing out the preload like the bike sits now.

Cranking in the preload and compensating with some compression damping made the bike feel so much better under braking, but I was still nearly bottomed out at Nelson where I was not really braking hard anywhere.

Edited November 13, 2012 by RHill