Put radial tyres on before spending money on suspension.
You'll be surprised.
You'll be surprised.
R3 Thoughts From The Resident Big Guy
So, being probably the biggest guy on this forum at 320ish pounds in full kit (that's 145kg for the Euro folks), I thought some might find my first week of experience on the bike interesting.
So, first out of the gate, how does the bike itself cope? I figure this will be of particular interest to those who plan to ride two up with a passenger. Or those who plan to carry a lot of cargo. Well fear not, the bike will haul you and yours just fine. In fact even at almost full load the bike will remain reasonably speedy and plenty nimble. However, it will also be soft riding, currently I'm on the penultimate preload setting, and though I haven't actually yet bottomed out the shock, even during hitting the nearly motocross worthy heaves on 580 it is definitely very, very soft. Deliberate, smooth inputs are the order of the day. However, despite my initial fears I don't feel the rear shock is entirely inadequate under full load, however I will still be replacing it with a JRi Double shock unit sprung for my weight. The front end on the other hand doesn't cope quite as well. During regular or spirited riding it handled well enough, but when it's time to throw the anchors down the dive up front is definitely attention getting and conjures mental images of jet going nose down. Suffice to say Pattonme will be getting my business here very soon to stiffen up the front.
Speaking of anchors, the brakes seem to work quite well even with me on the bike. I'm sure they're far away from true sport bike capability, but they'll arrest as much momentum as you're willing to brave and seem to be very generous when it comes to not locking up.
The engine itself seems to be fairly unperturbed with hauling me around and will happily rev and up and bounce of its redline if I don't pay attention. Not that I'm revving it too much during the break in period, I'm having fun with it but I'm not going to abuse my beloved machine until it's ready. Thankfully the engine doesn't seem to mind working below 7000rpm, though if you want to spin it faster the motor does noticeably wake up past 7k-8k.
On the whole I'm pretty happy with the bike, save for a few minute details I'll cover below.
To bring up anchors again, who approved that monstrosity of a fender? It's hideous!
The bike seems to be a little nervous on the highway, it walks around a bit and the back end seems to wiggle more than I'd like. However this could be do simply to me being so heavy and the resultant higher COG, the soft suspension coping with said weight, the Bay Area's omnipresent and obnoxious rain groves, or my being a novice rider and thus unused to highway riding. Likely, all of the above rolled together.
The levers are very cheap looking, and as I've inherited my 5'1 mother's tiny hands, much to far forward for comfortable reach. CRG levers will be replacing the stock units very shortly. I've thought about the CNC levers, but I'm leery of anything made of chinesium and the bit of googling I've done on them seems to turn up almost as many posts of people complaining about fit and fit issues as people praising them, so I'll probably just go with the higher quality option. My wallet aches. :crying:
Anyway, that's it for now, peace folks!
So, first out of the gate, how does the bike itself cope? I figure this will be of particular interest to those who plan to ride two up with a passenger. Or those who plan to carry a lot of cargo. Well fear not, the bike will haul you and yours just fine. In fact even at almost full load the bike will remain reasonably speedy and plenty nimble. However, it will also be soft riding, currently I'm on the penultimate preload setting, and though I haven't actually yet bottomed out the shock, even during hitting the nearly motocross worthy heaves on 580 it is definitely very, very soft. Deliberate, smooth inputs are the order of the day. However, despite my initial fears I don't feel the rear shock is entirely inadequate under full load, however I will still be replacing it with a JRi Double shock unit sprung for my weight. The front end on the other hand doesn't cope quite as well. During regular or spirited riding it handled well enough, but when it's time to throw the anchors down the dive up front is definitely attention getting and conjures mental images of jet going nose down. Suffice to say Pattonme will be getting my business here very soon to stiffen up the front.
Speaking of anchors, the brakes seem to work quite well even with me on the bike. I'm sure they're far away from true sport bike capability, but they'll arrest as much momentum as you're willing to brave and seem to be very generous when it comes to not locking up.
The engine itself seems to be fairly unperturbed with hauling me around and will happily rev and up and bounce of its redline if I don't pay attention. Not that I'm revving it too much during the break in period, I'm having fun with it but I'm not going to abuse my beloved machine until it's ready. Thankfully the engine doesn't seem to mind working below 7000rpm, though if you want to spin it faster the motor does noticeably wake up past 7k-8k.
On the whole I'm pretty happy with the bike, save for a few minute details I'll cover below.
To bring up anchors again, who approved that monstrosity of a fender? It's hideous!
The bike seems to be a little nervous on the highway, it walks around a bit and the back end seems to wiggle more than I'd like. However this could be do simply to me being so heavy and the resultant higher COG, the soft suspension coping with said weight, the Bay Area's omnipresent and obnoxious rain groves, or my being a novice rider and thus unused to highway riding. Likely, all of the above rolled together.
The levers are very cheap looking, and as I've inherited my 5'1 mother's tiny hands, much to far forward for comfortable reach. CRG levers will be replacing the stock units very shortly. I've thought about the CNC levers, but I'm leery of anything made of chinesium and the bit of googling I've done on them seems to turn up almost as many posts of people complaining about fit and fit issues as people praising them, so I'll probably just go with the higher quality option. My wallet aches. :crying:
Anyway, that's it for now, peace folks!
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
Matt does great work, I'm very happy with the setup he did on my FZ09. The wifes R3 will be going to him in the next few months to be reworked as well.Suffice to say Pattonme will be getting my business here very soon to stiffen up the front.
Agreed, however at over 3 ton I can imagine how it "conjures mental images of jet going nose down". First time out on mine I almost managed to bottom the front out, and I weigh a puny 2 ton. Tires and a front-end respring worked wonders. Spring kit maybe $150 and a DIY job if you have skilz.Put radial tyres on before spending money on suspension.
You'll be surprised.
Could someone explain this a bit more?Put radial tyres on before spending money on suspension
You'll be surprised.
I can understand how better rubber adds more traction / control.
But given the same tire inflation psi and size, is better rubber more / less compliant and thereby improves suspension somehow?
I know this is a bit of an older post. But just wondering what your height is also. Plus any pics of you on the bike? I'm 5'11" and about 290lbs. I've still not gotten a bike yet as I planned on getting one by now but got laid off and only recently was able to return to work. So the new goal is mid season this year.
I'm still leaning towards the R3, but the ABS on the Ninja 300 is tempting.
I should be in mid/late June be doing the riding class at my local dealer then start the process of picking up a bike.
I'm still leaning towards the R3, but the ABS on the Ninja 300 is tempting.
I should be in mid/late June be doing the riding class at my local dealer then start the process of picking up a bike.
I'm 5' 9" and about 265 sans gear. The OP about nailed the bike for me. The shock and factory pre-load are just enough for me in the back, barely. However, the forks are like sponges and I'm currently looking at options for replacing the springs.I know this is a bit of an older post. But just wondering what your height is also. Plus any pics of you on the bike? I'm 5'11" and about 290lbs. I've still not gotten a bike yet as I planned on getting one by now but got laid off and only recently was able to return to work. So the new goal is mid season this year.
I'm still leaning towards the R3, but the ABS on the Ninja 300 is tempting.
I should be in mid/late June be doing the riding class at my local dealer then start the process of picking up a bike.
I've had no issues at all with the brakes. I got my R3 at the end of February and have ridden in substantial amounts of really cold weather and rain and the brakes have preformed better than I would have expected. My only lock up at all was the rear brake during the first few days of ownership when I was still trying to feel the pedal and figure out how much rear brake I could give it before it locked. I don't feel like I'm missing anything not having the ABS of the Ninja.
The stock bias ply tires are meh at best. As soon as I get my suspension sorted out I'm going to replace the tires with Bridgestone S20 Evo's, or the like.
Happy shopping!
Giff
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
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