Track day settings

I recently did a coaching/track day and am now fully addicted and cant wait until my next fix.

Not knowing any other setting, I set the suspension up as per the 'sport' setting in the owners manual. Bike is an '08SD with stock suspenders.

For the day I fitted new Dunlop Sports Max Q2 front n rear at 30psi. No complaints here. Fast warm up and stuck like snot to a blanket.

The bike was very stable on the brakes, and turn in was precise and the bike stayed where I pointed it, but, on exit the bike tended to run wide.

The faster the exit the more it wanted to understeer on both right and left handers.

How do I over come this and can anyone recommend a better setting overall. I've had the sag set for my weight which is about 15st (95kg) geared up.

I was having the same problem and what I believed to be a problem at the rear is actualy coming from the front end, point of entry is fine but as soon as I go to get back on the gas it was running wide, this showed up even more on chicanes I helped it by fitting a stronger spring on the rear, I am having work done to the forks this winter to sort this what are your preload settings front and rear

I'm about the same weight so you might try my setting for a base setup. I tried to describe what I did to solve certain problems.

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Try to find out if the understeer happens every corner or just in longer corners and coming out of chicanes. If it's the last thing, the rear might be stacking and/or the front might need extra rebound to keep the geometry right. This all depends on whether the front feels like it doesn't have enough grip or if the rear feels a bit low.
Always adjust one setting at a time and make sure you've ridden enough to get some heat in the sussies before analyzing what the problem is.

Good luck!

And remember a different preload means you need to change all damping settings. I think mine can't be setup better for track use right now with the current stock parts. It feels too hard most times on the road until I really push it, then It feels like everything falls in place and makes a smooth and stable ride.
On track I could get out of the shorter corners in 2nd with almost full throttle when I tried to go as far as the grip allowed me to and I didn't get the rear spinning one time so even with the stock suspension there's a lot possible with the right settings.

prob best take it to a good suspension house as sdnerd says, I have dicked about with mine all summer and have improved things to the point of it getting no better, but still no cigar, of coarse its fine as standard until you start pushing for lap times ect

As Nerd mentioned...you could stand a slightly stiffer spring. Short of that try and add 1-2 turns of preload to your shock spring, this will help eliminate the rears propencity to squat on coner exit causing understeer. If it works add just a little rebound damping to compensate for the additional energy in the spring. Note: don't add too much rebound as it will defeat the adjustment you made in additional preload.

I experienced similar symptoms one weekend at the track. There was no front end feel and it was running wide out of every corner. Fixed the problem by installing fork bleeders and bleed before and after every ride or session like the manual says.

I mean clicks from fully hard.

Try some more rebound at the front to reduce the light feel in the front. When you compare my settings to yours you'll see I have more rebound.
I noticed good handling when braking deep into a corner but running wide when I didn't brake that hard. Rebound solved my problems.

Also I do bleed forks regularly.

Thanks for the input guys. A lot of info here to chew over.

As I'm aiming for a dedicated track bike in the near future, I dont want to throw a pile of money at the SD.

I'll try a tad more preload on the rear, tinker with the rebound and grab a set of fork bleeders.

Our British friends, seem to prefer softer springs than we generally do over here. The 9.5s in your forks are soft-ish for your weight, but servicable I suppose ... Maybe the roads are a little better here ... And tracks a little less bumpy (?). Temperature also plays a role: Helluva lot cooler most of the time there than here or in much of Oz. Makes not only a significant difference on how an identical tyre will perform, but suspension parts as well.

BTW - "180" (Newtons/mm or 18.0 Kg/mm) is the same as comes on the SDR shock. Only mentioned as used ones might be around. Not going advise that you obtain one at that rate, or any springs at any rate yet.

Once again (first time in this thread) I'm going to ask my standard magic question(s): What are your sag numbers?

For front and rear, both rider (full kit on) and static (bike only) - ? How much preload (ideally in mm) is in at the forks and shock already There is nothing ambiguous in the sag numbers if measured properly. Only then is it really reasonable to begin discussing spring rates.

Yes - repeating myself - I can only advise consulting with a well-reputed suspension house/tuner, that's seen a few SuperDukes already. You should be able to uncover who they are on sd.net, as this same exchange has taken place on many a thread. Like consulting with your physician, the outcome is likely only as good as you are able to communicate with them about the symptoms.

Good luck, and no, you don't have to spend a fortune to have truly great suspension. And great suspension is a bargain compared to most so-called "performance" (engine) modifications.

What about tyre pressure in all this?

I didn't know what to set the pressure at apart from somewhere lower than for street use. So I put front and rear to 30psi.

By the end of the day the pace was quite quick and the tyres were well scrubbed. Could I have had too high a pressure causing a lack of front grip and feel allowing the bike to drift when leaned over under acceleration.

I have to say that I never felt the bike was sliding at any time.