Clearence issues on the Duke

Hi there,

just back from a weekend on the track.
Weather was great and of course,
Riding the Duke => Pleasure on the maximum

I 've been studying the photos i got and i am quite worried about the lean angles i am getting. The bike seems to be leaning more than it should, given the skills of its master

Whenever i tried to step up in a faster pace, the pegs (Rizomas) where touching the tarmac making it rather uncomfortable. I am still working on the body position (1st photo), but i am also looking for other alternatives as well.
Some people told me to mess with the suspension, but i prefer to keep it simple.

I thought that chopping the pegs would make sense.
However, as i see the second photo, the bike is nearly at max (?) lean angle with the pegs like they are, so maybe chopping them would make it more dangerous.

What do you think? Do you face the same problems when riding on track?

I dont know much from experience, it looks like you've got it cranked over pretty far!! I'd say hang off more if you can....tinkering with the pegs isnt ideal....i think most n here find the headers touch down on the rhs. Me, I'm still trying to use all my rubber to the edges!

Good shots btw, looking good mate!!

Aaah! So you have touched down already. That changes things a bit.
First, check your suspension as ratemut has advised. This can make a huge difference, not only to leaning but also riding bumps and stopping/accelerating.

Then assuming nothing in the "proper" undercarriage touches down, such as the exhaust, the next thing is to work on your body positioning and possibly raising your pegs.

When it comes to the body position, you must be relaxed. If you can take your left hand off the bar whilst cornering right you're on the right path. Your legs should be gripping the bike, not your hands. If you're relaxed the rest usually follows. It's difficult to say from those pics, and I'm no superbike-school-teacher either, but my own experience is that the more laps I do, the better it goes. If you find yourself tensing up, stick your tongue between your teeth; if you tense up, you'll bite your tongue and automatically relax.

When it comes to pegs, they're kind of designed to touch down first, as a warning above all. If you use rearsets you should eliminate this problem (and the warning).

But somehow I feel you already know this...

You have enough space.....check this photo from 24/08/2008 on Megara Circuit. Just keep as much as you can upright the motorbike when you cornering and move your body more to the center of the corner.

I think that i 've found the answer to my questions.

It seems that Rizoma makes different pegs, especially for track use.

They are shorter and look stunning, as all the Rizomas do



I ordered them and i am in the wait...

Hopefully some more space...

When you are out of the wait, please post some good pictures of them fitted.

Where are you buying from and how much?

I am bringing up the topic once again as i just came back from a weekend on the track.

The Rizoma racing pegs were quite a disappointment as they are exactly the same length with the standard ones in the photo...



The racing ones were touching the tarmac quite easily, so i decided to change the suspension settings.

RTFM they say... and that is what i did.
Guess what... the manual proposes suspension settings for the race track. So, that is what we did. We changed the settings as exactly proposed in the manual and suprisingly, everything felt just perfect. The bike did not touch down, unless i was doing something wrong.

It was really a pleasure throwing it into corners and feeling so secure.

Tyres (2 pairs of Dragon Supercorsas) worked perfectly and the hole weekend was really great.

Here are some pics...






We also had a Desmosedici going round the track. Will post some pics when available. It was really amazing...

This one i like the most...

Leonidas, you make joe jealous.....

mate the pics are great, i have done a few trackdays not on the SDR as yet. i wish i could scrape my knee must admit i am nearer touch down on the sdr than any other bike i have ridden. my style really aint hanging off the seat dont feel right. my mates reckon i will lose the bike one day as i use all the tyres but dont hang off at all.