I finally got around to installing my shock and linkage last weekend. Everything went fine, but for the life of me I can't get the preload adjusted. I've tried with the shock on the bike, off the bike, with the rearset removed, with two different preload tools (spanners), including one that I ground narrower to fit the collar, hammer and screwdriver, and sprayed PB Blaster on the thing, but it won't budge. WTH am I doing wrong? :angry:

This is the 07-08 cbr shock with the black collar...are the 09+ shocks with the aluminum collar easier to adjust?

 

Wondering about the angle on a standard Street now that I have the 08 CBR shock installed. Seems to steer a bit more aggressively, as would be expected by the more extreme geometry. Has anyone lowered the forks in the triple tree to compensate a bit?

 

So the back end is higher than it used to be right? Wouldn't lowering the forks make the bike steer even more aggressively?

 

lowering forks = raising front end

 

I put one of those shocks in as well, and didn't bother with touching the front forks. I found it a slight bit different, but not extreme or dangerous at all. Getting rid of the squatting and pogoing was so satisfying.

:thumbup:

 

Tuning...

It's all about tuning your suspension to get it how you like it to feel and behave as you ride.

Originally, I followed the lead of Flux, who made his street triple into a back roads weapon by lowering the bike to get the COG where he wanted it for better / faster handling in the tight bends against bigger bikes.

Since then, I've played around with tuning the suspension a bit to get it how I like it.

I'm currently running the rear Honda shock at stock oem height with Mk.2 Flux plates fitted.

The Honda shock is set at position 2 preload with compression and rebound damping adjusted to suit where I mostly ride.

The front end has 5mm of fork showing above the top triple clamp. The fork is fitted with a set of heavier springs and runs a lighter weight fork oil.

I run with Apex GP clip-ons, as well as rearsets set right back and up for maximum ground clearance in the corners.

The street triple handles very well, and will pull away pretty easily from most other bikes in the tight bends on the back roads with this suspension setup.

S.

 

First you need to make sure the front and rear ends are balanced as far as spring rate, preload, and damping are concerned. Then you can raise or lower as needed for the handling you want.

 

How's the stiffness compared to stock? I'm seriously thinking of pulling the trigger but unfortunately the roads here in Detroit are horrendous.

 

Just got a CRB shock with linkage for 44$ today. Im excited to do this in the next week or two.

 

Just installed mine today. 20 minutes, worth every penny.

 

It's stiffer than the pogo stick the standard comes with, that's for sure. I set mine on preload setting 2, as the linkage is pretty small compared to the CBR. The sag feels appropriate, and while stiffer it suits the bike in my mind, doesn't change geometry significantly and has actual damping.

Not as good as an aftermarket kit, but for the price of a case of beer and an hour of time... why the hell not

 

spooky, is it still possible to source the FLUX plates? if so, where? I've got a 2011 CBR600RR shock on the way from ebay, figured while I'm in there i may as well swap the plates, especially if you're suggesting such an improved backroads experience. Up here in Sonoma county we've got plenty of curvey pavement...but lotsa bumps!

 

As far as I know, the plates can still be obtained.

I purchased a set from the guy myself complete with the height adjusting spacers a few months ago.

He advertised them on the Classified / Parts for Sale forum section.

I'm pretty sure that he still has some left.

http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=104066

Felixx does a great job with these plates, they are really well made.

He will ship them anywhere.

S.

 

did you try your CBR shock WITHOUT the plates first, and then WITH to test the difference? what did you notice? I was excited about doing the shock mod(just 60 bucks or so), and am afraid to put another $100 of blood money in. what do you think?

 

The CBR shock is a big improvement over the stock OEM one just by itself.....

Simply because you can adjust the preload, compression and rebound damping to tune the rear end of the bike and get it to feel how you want it to handle.

You can't do that with the stock shock.

I originally purchased two CBR shocks from ebay for $60, fitted one and have had it on the bike for almost 4 years now.

There is no way I would put up with a bad handling rear end where I ride, it would kill me....literally.

Whilst the CBR shock is not the best one that money can buy, for the amount of money that you can pick one up for, it's bloody hard to beat!

You get a quality well made shock that has three adjustments built in for pocket money.

As far as the Flux plates go, nope, you don't need them. BUT I would fit them if I was doing it all over again.

The plates give you another advantage that Flux [Stewart] worked out scientifically and mathematically when he originally made them.

Go ahead and fit the CBR shock, tune it up and try it out for a few months on the bike. Then decide whether or not to purchase the plates. You may decide you are happy with the shock alone.

Ride safe, ride fast...

S.

 

What do the plates and shock do? I have the shock and love it.

 

Short version...the plates change the rising rate of the spring.

Long scientific version...search for "Flux Plates".



S.

 

thanks spooky, you dodged my specific question but I still got my answer. :thumbup: I ordered the plates, and I'll just slam it all together at once.

You've mentioned you've aimed to turn your ST into a backroads weapon...I'm wondering what else you did? front suspension work maybe? 1050 throttle mod?

looking forward to bumps in my future...

 

She's Quick !

Yes, a back roads weapon / cafe racer is what I had in mind when I started modding the bike.

Stewart [Flux] gave me the impetus with his set up originally, but I've always been a fan of cafe racer style bikes.

I stripped all the unneeded parts off the bike to get the weight as low as I could without spending a huge amount of money.

A CBR rear shock and Flux plates with height adjusting spacers gave me the rear end handling I needed.

Then a stiffer spring and lighter weight oil in the front fork along with some tuning gave me the front end handling for cheap cost.

Apex clip-ons and some rear set foot pegs gave me the riding position I wanted.

The 1050 throttle mod and ESI grips along with short levers on the GP Apex bars.

I re-routed the SAI to the exhaust, blocked off the air box and removed the SAI gear.

A manual cam chain tensioner and a manual idle control let me remove the stupid triumph idle system and gave me a constant tension on the cam chain.

Light weight alloy rear sprocket and front cog with a light weight chain set up. A 17 tooth front cog helps to keep the front end down out of tight bends.

Tech Spec knee pads on the tank for those hard braking situations.

A full Arrow 3 into 1 exhaust system and a custom map.

No passenger pegs, a tail shroud to cover the back of the seat.

Light weight carbon belly pan and rear hugger.

Tail tidy with light weight LED indicators.

I upgraded the electrics [Shindengen] with heavier gauge wire with good connectors and soldered some suspect wire connections.

A race MWR air filter so she breathes well.

Light weight Shorai battery.

Good sticky Dunlop Q3's front and rear.

Triumph quick shifter.

There are other bits, alloy and carbon here and there, but those are the main mods I guess.

The bike has 124,000 hard K's on the motor and goes like a rocket!

A real back roads weapon that can murder most other bigger sports bikes.

All with a $30 CBR rear shock with Flux plates ...heheheh..:thumbsup:

S.

 

sounds awesome...are there pics of this beast somewhere?

 

and don't most folks go DOWN one tooth in the front as opposed to up 1? I can understand wanting to keep the front end down, but not so much that I would reduce potential acceleration, which in my untrained mind is what adding a tooth in the front would do. What was your thinking/ experience?

that said, my biggest whine (besides the rear shock) about the Street Triple is the snatchy throttle, which I find totally destabilizing to the bike mid-corner, especially at low speeds. I've read countless threads about it (get used to fuel injected high-power bikes, adjust your throttle cable and chain tension, etc.) but as a relatively experienced trackday rider, I can tell you something about the fuel delivery or the throttle on the Triple is glitchy. the first few millimeters of throttle give the equivalent of the first 30% of the power, which makes smooth inputs mid-corner very challenging, even to someone with a delicate hand.

The only ideas that I haven't tried are manually adjusting fueling via tuneECU(which is outside of my pay grade) or manipulating the throttle cam itself, like this guy did:
http://www.triumphrat.net/street-triple-forum/129288-progressive-throttle.html

(which I'm thinking I'll try next week)

Do you have any thoughts/experience with that? I guess I ask because you mentioned
"A manual cam chain tensioner and a manual idle control"
which I'm unfamiliar with and thought might be related.

 

Fast idle...

Plus one tooth on the front sprocket...yes.

With the stock gearing or minus one tooth on the front, the bike tends to want to lift the front end out of slower corners when you give it a handful of throttle. This makes it a little harder to control as you have to steer off the back wheel.

To get around this I added a tooth to the front. It works for me. I can get the power on sooner in the corner and keep the front end down for more control.

As far as the throttle goes, mine works well for me, the stock Triumph set up was terrible.

I added a 1050 throttle setup which gave me a nice fast delivery of power but I needed to be able to keep the idle speed up so that the power delivery was smoother without having to think about it.

So I dumped the Triumph idle system and installed a manual idle control.

This allowed me to dial up the idle to exactly where I wanted it.

When I'm racing on the back roads I turn the idle up so the throttle is never closed. The bike idles at around 2000 revs. The power delivery is smooooth in the slower bends, especially in those long slow, knee dragging corners that seem to go on forever.

Keep in mind that I have my bike set up the way *I* like it. Not everyone would agree, but that's ok.

Pictures? Nothing to see, really. She looks pretty much like a cafe racer, all black and stealthy. Most of the mods are not really noticeable. The average rider wouldn't even notice the cheap CBR rear shock...:grin:

S.

 

Your bike sounds like a beast.

 

Sounds cool...is there a walkthrough somewhere about swapping in the idle control?

 

Idle control? I don't know if there is.

It's pretty straight forward work though. Not too complicated. About on the same level as the sai or CBR rear shock.


S.

 

Does anybody know the dimensions of the 1000rr shock? From photos, it looks similar to the 600rr shock accept the reservoir is mounted differently...looks like it might work if the underseat exhaust has been removed.

They're even cheaper than the 600rr shocks...I wonder if they are spec'd similar or have a heavier spring?

 

Does anybody know the dimensions of the 1000rr shock? From photos, it looks similar to the 600rr shock accept the reservoir is mounted differently...looks like it might work if the underseat exhaust has been removed.

They're even cheaper than the 600rr shocks...I wonder if they are spec'd similar or have a heavier spring?

I have an R1 shock on my 13+ stripple. Use 09-13 R1 shock, it fits the best. The CBR shock will not fit any stripple 13+ due to the nitrogen reservoir.

There are slight differences between the R1 and standard shock, I think the R1 is like 5mm longer. Also you have to use the upper shock yoke of the R1, the stripple yoke is to small. And you have to modify the frame slightly to fit the R1 shock. But the R1 shock is SOLID, with hydraulic preload and high speed compression (although I still cant dial that in) PM me if you have questions.