BN Race Science Suspension Day

Brian will adjust what is there to be adjusted, or at least that is my experience of it, its just that in the hands of an expert you will get all components set precisely for you, and with each adjustment its effect on other parameters is taken into account, he makes it look simple, but anyone who has tried doing their own will tell you it takes an age of fettling and note taking, Brian just gets it right, in about an hour. cant recommend tis highly enough.

Yes but the service I offer is a lot more involved. I will detail all the settings on arrival and do a mechanical check of the whole bike: Head race bearings, wheel bearings, suspension linkages and bearings, tyre condition/wear and pressures, fork seals (stiction/leaks) etc etc.

Once i’ve got the sag and damping information I will have a picture in my mind of ‘where’ youre bike is. But before I adjust anything I will ride the bike. This is the ONLY way to clarify ‘where’ we are.

Then after the test ride I will be able to dial in the new settings. Another test ride will then be needed to clarify ‘where’ we are and see the direct results of my adjustments and so on.

Riding the bike before and after adjusting the settings will also teach you a lot about the affects these tweaks make…that’s the only way to truly learn.

After doing a few thousand bikes I’d like to think Ive got the hang of it now.

Also I’d humbly say that rider skill and bike set up are two sides of the same coin and having competed at a reasonable level for may years has taught me a lot. To set up a bike you need that ‘feel’ as a rider to understand what the bike is doing.

Yes a book will help and that’s a good start, but there is a lot more to it.

I’d be very happy to talk further about handling and suspension on the day to anyone or please give me a call or pop to the workshop for a cuppa!

To put things in perspective, I have yet to hear of anyone who has come away from B disappointed. I have the workshop and tools to tinker with bespoke suspension settings, but I invariably pass them on to B. Doing things by the book is all well and good, but to truly fit the bike to the rider you need the dark arts of BnRacescience. :wink:

Anyone with a Spanner, Screwdriver and Youtube video can fettle with suspension (I’ve even tried it myself) but as with any job, it takes expierience and Knowledge to get it spot on. I’ve never used Brian or Scorch before but going on Recommendations They come Highly recomended by people i know, trust and respect (Yes Slan that means you, but don’t get too excited!!) so although there are places (A LOT) closer to me that i can get it done i’m chosing Brian and Scorch to do the work on my bike as word of mouth is a great tool to live by in my eyes.

1+

i’m definitively going to be coming along, if anything to check if my suspensions are still ok :smiley:

[quote]
KTM D (02/03/2015)

Yeah, I’m mostly interested in adjusting what isn’t there to be adjusted at the moment, for which £70 sounded fantastically cheap :slight_smile:

Cool, thanks! I agree entirely. Suspension set up is a true asset, but pretty much limited by how adjustable your suspension is; unless you’re taking them apart. I was just wondering how in depth you went into geometry, tyre wear, oil weights, air gaps. damping and compression or just dialled in rider sag. I guess requirements play a huge part in it.

a mate of mine swung by yesterday to adjust his suspension. I had the tools and he had some know-how from mountain biking.

he said it felt a lot better and more planted on the way home, which is great, but then it’d feel a lot more better if he’d taken it to B (like I told him to)

[quote]
Big Red S (02/03/2015)

I find that the standard suspension on most modern bikes has a big potential for improvement without you having to spend a fortune on aftermarket parts or rebuilds.

In fact I do not do any rebuilds or sell shiny expensive bling. I just dial in what you have on your bike to suit you.

I can always check your bike over and advise accordingly.

Well, there’s no adjusters on the forks so I’d need to swap something out to get them to change :slight_smile:

I HAD to have my suspension set up when I first bought the Daytona simply because of its height. But after doing a ride out on stock set up and then riding after Brian worked on it, the difference was phenomenal. I was expecting to be able to touch the ground, not much more but I was pleasantly surprised by the overall ajustment, for starters my rear tyre had grip! Then there was the softening of the rock solid suspension so it was much nicer to ride and the overall handling was greatly improved and it really boosted my confidence on the bike.

The next Daytona I bought went to Brian after 3 days to be set up as just the feeling of stock set up was horrific after I had been used to the previous set up.

To me £70 is nothing for the time and effort he puts in as well as he expertise and its one of the best mods you’ll give you bike to improve performance :slight_smile: I wouldn’t trust anybody else to do it!

Ah in that case you could consider new oil and springs to start. I could only advise on whether to go to harder/softer springs once I’ve seen your bike though.

Thanks everyone for the kind words and healthy scepticism…if your passing the workshop, let me know and I’ll put the kettle on!

do you sell blocks of wood i could put in place of my shock and forks as i need them rock solid :slight_smile:

Before you spend £70 on carbon and bling use it to get your pride and joy set up to you, it will be the best money you can spend on your bike.
B has been setting my bikes up for years and it’s the first thing I do when getting a new one. You will save your £70 just on tyre life alone.

You’ll have the first ‘hardtail’ bike of it’s kind…I mean dovetail:)

Seriously though, I’ll have a look when I visit your workshop;)

It’s definitely worth it for anyone riding with a pillion. Stops travel-sickness round fast bends and reduces kidney-punching.

Brian, will be in contact in the near future to sort the Pani out.

Don’t get me wrong, it feels great ‘as is’, however the R1 did for 9 years before you worked your magic… Then it just become razor sharp in the bends and felt more solid! :slight_smile:

No problem Franc.
Yes there’s always room for improvement even if all seems fine.

I’ve yet to see a bike that has not benefitted from some tweaks.