What do you have the ride height set to on the shock? Mine is set at the max ride height that Ohlins allows (groove in threaded section just on the verge of being exposed)

What are your rider-aboard sag measurements front and rear?

What fork springs do you have? I had to go a couple steps stiffer than Ohlins recommends for my weight in order to control bottoming, on both ends. (I've been told that this is not unusual)

Are you trail-braking into the corner?

Tire pressures? I don't know those tires or what Bridgestone recommend - start with that and check temperatures.

 

rear is at 277. I had it at 287 (max on the ohlins ya467) when I had a bigger tire but I’m back to 140.

Sag: 18 free/34 rider sag up Front; 6 free, 20 rider sag rear.

Springs are .7N/mm that came with the forks (set for a rider in my weight range)
cant remember weight/part number for the shock but it was purchased for a rider of my weight.

trail braking into some turns. There is one particular turn where I am currently experimenting with just engine braking through it (not ideal)

my pressures are 32f/30r hot. Bridgeston RS10’s don’t have a specific hot temp on the official site, probably because it’s a street tire. This is off track temps As soon as I pit.

 

It sounds like you could use a little more stability. Try turning in front preload 4mm or so (so that front rider-aboard sag is 30mm). Other settings look in the ballpark but often it doesn't take much of a geometry change to have a big effect on the steering.

 

You would recommend altering the sag before the fork height? If the stock fork is in fact 25mm protruding, then I should be at normal height now, so will do the preload +4mm and see how it feels then. If not, I might decrease the amount of fork tube showing first.

 

For track use, I think your front sag is a bit much, particularly in view of the springs being a bit light.

I have fork springs meant for a MT07 NIX22 kit in mine. Ohlins doesn't like you going outside the lines. "The springs you have are the stiffest ones you can get for the R3". Okay, then get me some meant for the MT07. They solved the problem that I was having (bottoming) ...

 

I kinda thought they felt light, even though it’s what they recommend.

 

My bike+rider is about 230 kg, yours should be around 200 kg. In hard braking all that is on the front suspension.

My springs are 0.85 kg/mm and that has worked out about right (Ohlins says 0.75 is the max available). If we were to guesstimate that the spring rate needed is in proportion to bike+rider then the 0.75 springs should be about right in your case.

 

So I took some measurements. Not sure if my numbers are right, but I am fairly they are.
swingarm pivot center to ground= 40 cm.
axle center to ground=30.4 cm.
axle center to swingar center = 58.8 cm

after spending some time trying to figure out math formulas, I ended up finding an online calculator lol.

turns out my swingarm angle is only like 9.4 degrees. How to get to that magical 12-13? Raise the front a bit? Gonna mess with numbers some more later on and see what everything says on paper before I raise the front end a bit and start messing with more stuff.

 

So I took some measurements. Not sure if my numbers are right, but I am fairly they are.
swingarm pivot center to ground= 40 cm.
axle center to ground=30.4 cm.
axle center to swingar center = 58.8 cm

after spending some time trying to figure out math formulas, I ended up finding an online calculator lol.

turns out my swingarm angle is only like 9.4 degrees. How to get to that magical 12-13? Raise the front a bit? Gonna mess with numbers some more later on and see what everything says on paper before I raise the front end a bit and start messing with more stuff.

If you raise the front (less fork above triple, i like to specify this because different people tend to mean different things with the same phrasing when it comes to geometry ), it will make the bike more stable in corners, but harder to turn in. Me personally, especially where I practice at kart tracks, I like a good happy medium to this, with good "flickability" but also want the bike to stay where I want it as the faster you go on a tight track the less time I have to react. This means a once stable corner can suddenly loose the front end when picking up speed, so I want the bike to stay where I put it when I put there until I tell it otherwise, but also not require any effort to keep it there, and still be able to change quickly.

You can counteract any lack of turn in by bringing your handlebars in for a sharper angle, but it will compromise comfort (eg. endurance). Im an oddball here and prefer slightly wider angels than most of my peers for longer endurance, maybe working out more would help lol. I believe I have my forks set to around 18mm fork height, with about the same handlebar rake of a stock 636 (because I have a 06 636 with stock handlebars for reference), and my rearshock is about 5mm taller than the Ohlins shock recommended height (I think that's what Jesse (Norton) said it looked like when he looked at it). I feel very confident in tight corners, flicking back and forth with it, I'd have to check what pre-load I have set, but I'm also running a fork brace and 20wt fork oil with springs for my weight. Rearshock has been revalved.

 

IMHO, What you are experiencing on slow tight corners is not solved with geometry, but with rider position. Lean forward more, and further to the inside to reduce the lean angle of the bike. This makes you turn into the corner a little more, which eliminates the tipping over feeling. Geometry is going to have more impact on higher speed turn kn and straight line braking stability. Everywhere else, its rider position and steering angle employed. Too many people try to fiddle a bike around to compensate for rider approach. In most cases, unless you are a pro rider with top level skill, you can get far better results from improving and developing rider skills.

 

I already hang off the bike alot, so I don’t think it’s an issue of the bike needing to reduce lean angle. In fact, data logger doesn’t have me leaning more than 45-47 degrees on right handers on my fastest laps.


its also not black and white that took many people fiddle with a bike and only a bike, neglecting the rider improvement part. Why do you think we are on track in the first place? For rider improvement! I am not sure if you are implying that unless you are a top level rider, you should work only on rider improvement. The way a bike feels and handles has a big effect on how you ride it, regardless of your level of riding.

 

I was looking for the answer to the original poster's question but no consensus was ever determined.
Does anyone remember the STOCK fork height above the triple of a first generation R3?

I read 15, 18, 20-25 with one member at 23.

The first R3 (Gen 1) I bought for my son to start his motorcycle journey on has the top of the fork tube cap about 2 inches above clipon clamp.
I know the bike has been lowered but he does not need that and I want to get it back to "zero" so I can have a legit baseline to work from.

 

I was looking for the answer to the original poster's question but no consensus was ever determined.
Does anyone remember the STOCK fork height above the triple of a first generation R3?

I read 15, 18, 20-25 with one member at 23.

The first R3 (Gen 1) I bought for my son to start his motorcycle journey on has the top of the fork tube cap about 2 inches above clipon clamp.
I know the bike has been lowered but he does not need that and I want to get it back to "zero" so I can have a legit baseline to work from.
View attachment 71017

If you have a set of the OEM clip-ons, its easy to figure out, as the fork caps will be flush with the clip-ons. See below for reference.

 

Stock is 22mm