Took the thou out for its first proper ride around the local B-roads yesterday. Everything working fine until we hit a badly surfaced patch at speed at which point the Raptor did its best to throw me out of the seat and throw my hands off the bars, which was possibly a little too much fun.
Coming back and checking out this forum there are lots of messages from the early days of the Raptor talking about the roughness of the suspension.
What are my best options now to get the suspension working more smoothly? Hyperpro rear shock? And can anything be done about the front forks?
Sus-p-p-p-pension
try a baines rear linkage from baines racing this goes some way to calming the front end by tipping the bike on its nose and putting a bit more weight over the front wheel. they cost about 100 quid which is miles cheaper than a new shock cuz the standard raptor suspension is pretty good for stock stuff really.also remember that most bikes with sporty geometry dont like badly surfaced roads and will shake their heads about.also with those big wide bars any movement from you will transfer to the steering so a relaxed grip on the bars will keep the steering a bit calmer.do a search on this site for baines racing (thier near silverstone)and they seem to carry them in stock.the linkage will also quicken up the steering and make the front feel more planted,its an exellent mod cos the raptor doesnt come with alot of ride height so you can also try putting a bit more preload on the rear shock as well hope this helps - see ya
Hi jim
My front end skipped badly over small ripples in the road.
Then bought a set of progressive springs (hyperpro) with some 10 w oil.
Put the bits in and started riding,some inprovement but not what I was hoping for.
Then checked the preload : 22 mm static sag as to 25 mm in the spring mounting manual
Gutted the forks again to find the plastic preload bushes in the fork to be:
Not even in length (0,75 mm difference)
Not sawn off straight (Yuck,cheap).
So I tried to get them from the approx. 123 mm that they were to 120 mm
and ended up destroying them (Inpatient? Me?)
Then got some made from aluminium at my local iron works.
they are exactly the same lenght (120 mm) AND straight, rode the bike again and WOW the best inprovement till now.
Maybe worth a try on standard forks!
You can also play with the forks preload by adjusting the nut that holds the spring collar in place if your bushes are straight.
At the rear I now got a fully adjustable Hyperpro shock thats a bit longer than standard and some tailraisers so it stands on its nose more.
Makes it steer quicker too!
Bought it standard then started with buying a Hyperpro progressive spring kit, this was a big step in the right direction
After that I made some tailrisers (improved the steering)
But still was not completely happy with the rear damping
(only showed during trackdays as I started to make progression and corner speed went up, on the road it was still fine.)
So no real need to buy a new damper for road use but I have to say the shock I have now is REALLY GOOD.
Still happy with the front as it is now ,not too comfortable on B roads but not dangerous anymore! (Want comfort? buy a car!)
on smooth tarmac it's great!
Can't remember all the measures I took but I can look them up if you want me to!
Oh yeah, don't spend a lot of money on tailrisers , you can make them yourself very easy ( mine were about 5 euro for the aluminium and a few hours work in the shed)
My front end skipped badly over small ripples in the road.
Then bought a set of progressive springs (hyperpro) with some 10 w oil.
Put the bits in and started riding,some inprovement but not what I was hoping for.
Then checked the preload : 22 mm static sag as to 25 mm in the spring mounting manual
Gutted the forks again to find the plastic preload bushes in the fork to be:
Not even in length (0,75 mm difference)
Not sawn off straight (Yuck,cheap).
So I tried to get them from the approx. 123 mm that they were to 120 mm
and ended up destroying them (Inpatient? Me?)
Then got some made from aluminium at my local iron works.
they are exactly the same lenght (120 mm) AND straight, rode the bike again and WOW the best inprovement till now.
Maybe worth a try on standard forks!
You can also play with the forks preload by adjusting the nut that holds the spring collar in place if your bushes are straight.
At the rear I now got a fully adjustable Hyperpro shock thats a bit longer than standard and some tailraisers so it stands on its nose more.
Makes it steer quicker too!
Bought it standard then started with buying a Hyperpro progressive spring kit, this was a big step in the right direction
After that I made some tailrisers (improved the steering)
But still was not completely happy with the rear damping
(only showed during trackdays as I started to make progression and corner speed went up, on the road it was still fine.)
So no real need to buy a new damper for road use but I have to say the shock I have now is REALLY GOOD.
Still happy with the front as it is now ,not too comfortable on B roads but not dangerous anymore! (Want comfort? buy a car!)
on smooth tarmac it's great!
Can't remember all the measures I took but I can look them up if you want me to!
Oh yeah, don't spend a lot of money on tailrisers , you can make them yourself very easy ( mine were about 5 euro for the aluminium and a few hours work in the shed)
No bike is ever finished!
-
snapdragon
- Moderator
- Posts: 3245
- Joined: 21 years ago
- Location: Wiltshire
Had my front boings fettled by raptordoc at about 28K he took em apart and skimmed the fins which were catching the springs and preventing proper boingyness, then refilled with 10w oil as I felt it was also getting a bit soft with the 5w in it (after having slammed to the stop on a pothole 
)
)SnappY
~~X~X~{:>
~~X~X~{:>
Baines link and Maxton
After extensive road testing on Scots A and B roads, I found the Baines link stopped wobbles and made directional control better all round, a very real improvement The link subtly alters the leverage ratio on the shock allegedly improving the allover action as well as raising the rear a tad putting a bit more weight on the front. result, the bike is far more stable and less squirelly over bumps particularlly on ragged crests.
Even so still felt the need for better front suspension.
The critical problem with the front suspension is the over damping, this causes poor response to ripples and series of bumps in poor road patching, rubbish reallly. No amount of fannying with preload will compensate for this.The flip side to using thinner oil is lower rebound damping so no win there.
The Maxton conversion is very good and stops the front skipping on ripples. It also adds the option of compression damping adjustment ( which I have left in the mid setting and not fannied with).
The Baines link was very good for value / effect, unless you have a lot of poor surfaces around then the the fork conversion by Maxton ( rebuild with new cartridges about £400) is a bit of a luxury, but once youve spent it youll love it.
I have also fitted a Hagon rear shock, the old one was shagged any way, not as sexy as an Ohlins but a lot better than the std item .
The bike is now very predictable, certain road sections that were impassable at speed are now better and allround stability is great , the bike has less tendency to self right when braking into corners .
Ive put around 20, 000 miles on this set up now and wouldnt change it, maybe fit a better shock when the hagon gives up, probably not though .
If you can figure out how to open up the crimped damper cartridge and ease the compression danping then reealy it would be a doddle for a guy with a lathe who new how to mess with dampers,
Cheers
pod
Even so still felt the need for better front suspension.
The critical problem with the front suspension is the over damping, this causes poor response to ripples and series of bumps in poor road patching, rubbish reallly. No amount of fannying with preload will compensate for this.The flip side to using thinner oil is lower rebound damping so no win there.
The Maxton conversion is very good and stops the front skipping on ripples. It also adds the option of compression damping adjustment ( which I have left in the mid setting and not fannied with).
The Baines link was very good for value / effect, unless you have a lot of poor surfaces around then the the fork conversion by Maxton ( rebuild with new cartridges about £400) is a bit of a luxury, but once youve spent it youll love it.
I have also fitted a Hagon rear shock, the old one was shagged any way, not as sexy as an Ohlins but a lot better than the std item .
The bike is now very predictable, certain road sections that were impassable at speed are now better and allround stability is great , the bike has less tendency to self right when braking into corners .
Ive put around 20, 000 miles on this set up now and wouldnt change it, maybe fit a better shock when the hagon gives up, probably not though .
If you can figure out how to open up the crimped damper cartridge and ease the compression danping then reealy it would be a doddle for a guy with a lathe who new how to mess with dampers,
Cheers
pod
Stay calm.
Thanks for all your input. I do see (or feel) the need for raising the back a bit, but one of the things which appealed about the raptor was it's low seat height, as I'm built with a low seat height myself. I love being able to get both feet down at traffic lights. However it tends to lumber a bit round corners that the SV would have darted round in town.
Two follow up questions. If I decided that I wanted to go for the Maxton conversion where would I get it done? And who is this fabled raptordoc?
jim
Two follow up questions. If I decided that I wanted to go for the Maxton conversion where would I get it done? And who is this fabled raptordoc?
jim
-
snapdragon
- Moderator
- Posts: 3245
- Joined: 21 years ago
- Location: Wiltshire
maxton
Maxton Engineering,
Chapel Works,
Bushells Lane
Kingswood,
Frodsham,
Cheshire, WA6 6HX
Tel: 01928 740531
Fax: 01928 740635
Email: sales@maxtonsuspension.co.uk
there you go.
I put my fork legs in the post and got them back around a month later , job for the winter.
Cheers
pod
Chapel Works,
Bushells Lane
Kingswood,
Frodsham,
Cheshire, WA6 6HX
Tel: 01928 740531
Fax: 01928 740635
Email: sales@maxtonsuspension.co.uk
there you go.
I put my fork legs in the post and got them back around a month later , job for the winter.
Cheers
pod
Stay calm.