My First cat

First topic message reminder :

Figured i'd throw up a thread for my new baby, so here she is:





Picked her up This time last week for the princely sum of £1500.

40k miles, FSH + Extra servicing and brakes overhaul etc.

First thing i did was to bin the crappy headlight bulb, and (temporarily) chuck in a H4 HID that i had lying around from an old VW Golf. Difference is amazing, i can actually see enough to be able to ride comfortably at night!



On Sunday i went out for a proper ride with one of my usual riding buddies Chris, on his CBR600RR. As we started pushing on i could feel the bike wasnt quite right. she was twitchy at times, yet slow to react at others, and was hard work getting her "right" in the corners. Thinking it was probably just me on a new bike i carried on, until i had a rather brown pants moment involving a hairpin, pushing out wide, and an oncoming 4x4....

So i made it home, and today me and Chris had a look over the suspension and set up, which was set waaaay too soft for a lump like me! Matey before me was about 5'8" and probably 10stone soaked through, whereas im 6'1" and about 15stone.

We managed to get the Preload and rebound damping set all round, but the front left Compression dampening adjuster is seized solid, so we left that as it was, and the rear shock compression damper is also bust, It just clicks endlessely and makes no odds to the shock at all.

just adjusting the rebound and preload though has made a massive difference. The bike no longer feels nose heavy, and is a lot easier to set up into the corners, so hopefully that will keep me out of trouble until i get chance to replace the rear shock and sort the front left out. Will probably go for a full rebuild and revalve on the fronts, and keep my eyes peeled for a Maxton etc rear.

Quick pic of the 'Cat with the RR, just because i can:



Also today we sorted a few other niggles out, Chain was too tight so that was adjusted, rear brake was semi seized so that was free'd up, lubed and put back together, Brake lever was adjusted as it was too high for my Pasty feet, Throttle free play was adjusted to stop it sticking slightly, and clutch lever was adjusted also.

And whilst we were at it, i pulled the chipped and faded yellow rimtape off ( was a bit garish against the blue for my tastes if im honest), and replaced with some nice reflective blue stuff just to see how it looked. Ill need to redo a couple of bits as its a tad wonky in places, but im chuffed with how it looks so it will be staying.

Yellow can be seen in pics above.

Blue:



And what drivers will see at night when lights on it:



Pretty much all thats happened at the mo, will update this as and when bits get done/Broken/fixed!

Have been having a play with the suspension a bit, found that actually the bike wasnt set anywhere near as hard as i thought it was ( the mate helping me decided he knew best....) so i have been having a play.

Rebound now set 2 clicks from fully in
Preload at Max
Forks dropped through 5mm

Bike is now ridiculously planted whereas it felt a bit vague and wallowy before. only problem is it almost feels too planted, its actually substantially harder to change direction than any other bike i have ever ridden. Think im going to play around a bit more tomorrow and see if i can get a nice balance.

On reflection though, i think full replacements all round may be a tad extreme, so have downscaled my plans. Now just going to get a good fully working rear shock, and have my fronts refurbed with heavier oil and revalved to suit my weight, and replace any worn bearings along the way.

Rather spend £200-300 than £500-1000 if i can get away with it, as even if the cat stays another year come january, she isnt my dream bike, so she will get replaced and id rather not throw away silly amounts of money!

And the rear's set to ???. Out of interest how heavy are you?

Im 15st 8lb, so nigh on 16 Stone with gear on.

Rear preload set to max, rebound is as far as it will go without stopping the shock from returning!

Have done 240Miles on the bike today and i must say the handling is DIVINE! considering i have no Compression adjustment, its so close to perfect its untrue. Cant wait to get everything refreshed

In fact, its so perfect and has given me so much confidence, that i might have overtaken an unmarked earlier and got myself in a bit of trouble with the law....