rode my brothers TL1000R today

[YamR1V64motion]

my bike is currently off the road because it needs its second service and its not booked in for over a week, but i needed to take a bike out and i have to say i wasnt too impressed at all the front felt strange and i had little confidence in it and i found it took a lot of forcing around to get it to go where i wanted compared to my bike which i find will take nearly any corner in its stride, i didnt find riding a V twin to be particularly difficult although i do have to say it has a rather nasty clutch which as far as i know is a TLR thing not just V twins in general, one thing i did like though was the engine although not nearly as fast i was most impressed by the low down grunt, also ive heard aftermarket suspension completly transforms the bike and makes it much more rideable, could any owners shed some light on this?

[Fire99]

Well im lucky to be able to comment first hand on this one..

Mine has Gixxer 1000 front forks (revalved for the TLR) & Brakes plus a Hyperpro rear shock with high and low speed damping adjustment plus a 180 rear tyre.. Its also got a Full M4 Exhaust system & lots of engine mods.
The clutch has been replaced with an aftermarket slipper clutch and the operation is by a Cable Operation like the TLS instead of the TLR's Hydraulic.

Cutting to the chase, the bike handles great now. Its still gonna feel noticably heavier than a new Gixxer thou etc but once on the move it steers quickly and very precise.

I'm lucky cause the mods were done before i bought the bike so i didnt spend the money but as it is now it feels and rides great..

If you want any other info feel free to give me a shout.

Nick

[YamR1V64motion]

i think changing the rear shock for a normal one instead of the standard rotary one would be the best starting block and go from there, the bike has a good engine and if it wa set up right as yours sounds to be im sure it would transform it.

[Fire99]

YamR1V64motion said:

i think changing the rear shock for a normal one instead of the standard rotary one would be the best starting block and go from there, the bike has a good engine and if it wa set up right as yours sounds to be im sure it would transform it.

Yeah possibly.. I think an hour or two spend with a Suspension expert is money well spent as i know setting up the rotary shock is quite tricky (i.e. Chain Slack is quite critical)
The Engine is a stonker with good prospects for tuning..
But a decent aftermarket rear shock does seem to do the trick, even if its cause its easier to setup.

One thing i have noticed and was pointed out to me is how deceptive the speed is on one of those. After my zx-9 you think you're going slower than you really are..

[YamR1V64motion]

Fire99 said:

One thing i have noticed and was pointed out to me is how deceptive the speed is on one of those. After my zx-9 you think you're going slower than you really are..

my fireblade is the same it feels like im doing about 70 and i look down and its 110