Daytona Handling Issues

[[Terry]]

Hi all,

I'm riding an 06 Daytona that was unfortunately lowered by the previous owner (unknown to me until it was too late). I've had this confirmed and turns out the bike was lowered by at least 4".

The bike has always handled very poorly and this was confirmed when I rode another members Daytona (Thanks Karl) only to find out I could ride his twice as quick with twice the margin. I.E. Riding mine at 90% and riding his at 60%. His felt like an entirely different bike, not just slightly different. The difference was extreme.

I have since replaced the rear shock entirely with a completely stock one and have replaced the front fork springs with the OEM ones (were 0.85kg now 1kg?)

The bike still does not handle nearly as well as the other Daytona so my question is what else could there be that would cause such poor handling? I've dialed in my suspension and set my sag / preload / comp / rebound and have made minor adjustments as I'm riding but it's not nearly as easy to ride as the other Daytona.

The only difference between our bikes is that his has alloy rims and is yellow. Mine is graphite...

Does anyone have any ideas as to what may cause such poor handling or what else I could try to rectify the problem?

Cheers,
Terry!

[munch]

This is fairly common with yellow and graphite tonas. Everyone knows that the red one are superior in the suspension and looks departments. I would try and get my hands on a set of red fairings.

Try taking it to a shop that deals with suspension. Where are your forks in relation to the top triple? Are they lowered or raised compared to stock? Do you still have original links on the back suspension? You mention that you replaced the shock, how was the bike lowered?

[Gerard7AA]

What year is Karls bike?... If newer than 09 then it might be the change in geometry that was born that year..

Is tire pressure ok??

[[Terry]]

Good questions! Lowered version was running a modified OEM shock that had been internally shortened (spacer I guess?) and a much softer Ohlins spring. A 9.6kg/mm if I'm correct. (My weight is 70kg).

All linkages / triangles are standard OEM parts.

I started with the forks 4mm out of the triple clamp as mentioned in the manual and I am currently running them 7.8mm out (lowered front) to try and get a more aggressive turn in.. Still not turning in properly.

[[Terry]]

Originally Posted by Gerard7AA

What year is Karls bike?... If newer than 09 then it might be the change in geometry that was born that year..

Is tire pressure ok??

Karl's bike is an 06, exactly the same as mine. Tire pressures were checked before the ride and were correct.

[munch]

how about the tires? old, new? your tires compared to karls tires? if they have a bunch of miles on them they tend to get round. Every time i put on new tires im amazed at how fast the bike steers because they still have a nice aggresive profile.

Was the bike lowered before by moving the forks? if not i would have them checked over to make sure the PO didn't hack any internals up

[[Terry]]

My tires are older than his yeah. Not by too much though so I'd be surprised if they were the issue. They're actually the same model of tire as well come to think of it. It is a possibility so I have a new set on the way which I'll try out.

Forks weren't lowered, they were actually riased. Only the rear was lowered. PO was like a midget almost so they lowered the rear and raised the front to make for a more 'comfortable' ride I guess.

Forks could have been revalved but cannot be sure. I know the springs were changed but I have stock springs in there now.

[[Terry]]

Would having my grips too far inward on the handlebars make any kind of difference? I have about half an inch of bar coming out the end of my grips. I have new grips so I'll install them tomorrow.

[Geof3]

I might be wrong, but in order to lower the 675 the rear linkage needs to be changed. A new shock isn't enough. Unless the previous owner was completely stupid... Might be your problem...

[[Terry]]

Originally Posted by Geof3

I might be wrong, but in order to lower the 675 the rear linkage needs to be changed. A new shock isn't enough. Unless the previous owner was completely stupid... Might be your problem...

You can lower the bike just with the shock. After all, adjusting the preload will alter the ride height by a bit so essentially a shorter shock and shorter spring will mean that the back of the bike will just sit lower. Think of it this way... if you lift the back of the bike with your hands, the shock extends.. let the back of the bike down and the shock compresses again... now if your shock is shorter it will just compress further.