Took a trip back to Norfolk and visited Baz. He kindly offered to help me check the rear shock setup out (geo) as my garage knowledge / equipment are somewhat lacking. I was fairly sure that the rear end was jacked up with the BW041 XXF from the 2015 in place - no matter how modified by Buildbase it was. With the eccentric flipped and the shock long I'd noticed the tail was visibly taller than other S1000RR's, all this meant it was really on its nose and I think Baz was worried that Almeria being so front loading was going to see me undone.
Those hydraulic workshop tables for maintenance...first purchase when I get a garage again! Soooo much easier. The shock, due to the position of the canister, wouldn't come out without unbolting the swingarm linkage as well as the shock itself. It was a two man job - one lifting the tail as the other got the shock out. Once out we measured it at 316mm eye-2-eye. The stock Gen2 is 308mm with the 5mm eccentric unflipped. So this was +8mm & +5mm taller than spec as the eccentric had to be flipped for fit purposes too. From his own experiments Baz explained the Gen2 needs to be as flat as possible and the rider has to put the effort into making it turn, pitching it down on the nose helps tip in but is a negative in many other ways (rear grip, front loading etc).
I was told when it was built early last year the shock was as short as they could make it. But, to our delight (and confusion), we found 8mm of thread at the bottom of the shock unit. We still had to use the eccentric flipped due to the position of the canister. So she now sits at just +5mm. Result! She seems less nervy from my first ride back, the roads were wet so couldn't do much to test it.
There's 3 rings of fork showing (nose down) still to be looked at but I'll do that with the suspension guys in Almeria if I feel a need. I also have 2x 10.5kg/mm fork springs I can fit if the 9.5's can't cope on track with slicks. Spoke to MCT and they confirmed I can fit 1x 10.5 and 1x 9.5 and it will sort of work like 2x 10's, not ideal but there's a halfway house.
I've now fitted the Performance Friction Compound 95 Front Pads and checked the piston movement. All bar one pot moved freely, gave that a damn good clean. The PFC95's were ~?130 for a set direct from Ursula Jordan of PFC (
[email protected]). PFC95's are closer to Brembo RC's for performance. Their Z04 competitor is the PFC13 (the numbering makes no sense). On the one ride I had I can tell the 95's need a little extra warming than the Brembo SC's and SBS HS870's I've had in before. But I'm not unduly concerned on the road...three roundabouts in quick succession get them going. A certain S. Byrne used PFC95's in the past.
FYI, The PFC13's are ~?190 delivered for a Gen2 RR (both calipers). This is far less than Z04's from Brembo. Something to think about for the track/race guys. Quote from Ursula "The 13 compound we most commonly use at national level racing etc British Supersport, Superstock. The 13 compound is a high bite, high torque pad, that’s offers a slight progressive feel, to help keep the bike stable under braking."
Baring the removal of a metric tonne of salt the bike is pretty much ready for the Spanish inquisition. Next job, after cleaning, is to get the wheels off and down to FWR for some Metzeler Racetec RR CompK's which were new out last year 2016. They are supposed to be for trackdayers that are training. Wide operating window. If I feel they are holding me back I will move onto V02's for Jerez. The only other tyre I'll fit right now are the Conti Race Attack Slicks as I like Conti's usually and when discussing tyres with Baz he recommended them over Pirelli Superbike Pro's (discontinued) and the previous CompK model (tyre life and feel). The newer 'RR' CompK's are supposed to replace the Superbike Pro's and old CompK's for both companies whilst moving the game on. I'm not going to set record breaking pace whatever I fit, but I do want a tyre I can just fit and forget whilst I work on learning the track and riding better.
