Thundercat shock settings, any help please?

[John man and his 'Cat]

Morning Ladies and Gentlemen

Just a quickie if I may, firstly I'm new here so hello to everyone and thanks for the tips I've already picked up from reading around.

I have recently picked up a '98 Cat and as much as I love it cornering is a little unpredictable, it doesn't always seem to quite go quite where I'm expecting. Tyres are good and meaty, although I've just let the back one down to 38 PSI and that has helped (it was 42!) so I wondered if anyone can give me any advice on setting the shocks up please. I'm 5'10 ish and about 13 stone if that helps.

Might just make it a little more confidence inspiring on the corners.

Also, the front cowl seems to be at a slightly off angle, the screen and uprighty-thing are a bit further back on the left hand side. Any ideas what that could be?

I don't realy know anything about mechanics, I've been riding for a while and done a lot of miles but I've never really been interested in trying to take them apart although it's high time I learned something.

Thanks in adavance

John

[rf9rider]

Lopsided fairing could be a bent fairing bracket.

As for the settings, have a look through here.

http://www.bikersoracle.com/thunder/forum/

[Airhead]

Hello John and welcome to the forum mate, Heres my two penneth

The bike is ten years old...Did anyone ever change the fork oil in that time?, If you cant answer this then do it anyway

Check the swing arm bushes by putting the bike on centre or paddock stand, hold the back of the wheel and try to push it side to side, you should find no movement here

Find out the correct recommended tyre pressures for your bike and stick to these

Apply front brake sit on bike and rock the bike back and forward, check for movement at the steering head bearings

[John man and his 'Cat]

Excellent, thanks very much for the advice

[chezxjr]

Good morning John,

One thing you could also check is what tyres are fitted?

Dont get to use my `Cat so much ('98 with 5500miles), but have always had problems when fitting new tyres - basically by the time I need a new (usually rear), the model of tyre has been superceeded and so have a mix'n'match set up and the `Cat hates that! Handling is pretty dreadful to say the least when mis-matched pairs are fitted.

The bike is on its second front and third rear now, but only when I managed to get matching pairs again did the bike start to behave again like it was new.

JFYI; current tyres, latest Dunlop Sportmax, (pressures 32psi front and 36psi rear), suspension set up is bog standard, and Im a 5ft6 and 12stone shortarse

Hope that helps?

Ride free,

Chez

[Willenium]

I had mismatched tyres on my Cat when I bought it. There was a Pirelli Dragon Evo Corsa 120/70ZR17 on the front and a Pirelli Diablo 160/60ZR17 on the back. The Dragon Evo was pretty knackered and the Diablo was new so I decided I would probably wear the rear down before changing to a new set. Bought a cheap Michelin Macadam front off eBay which was an awful choice. Upon fitting correct sized tyre, handling improved a small amount but the bike still handled badly.

Due to never being able to ride properly on Pirelli tyres, I opted for Michelin Pilot Power tyres which are currently fitted and a massive improvement over the Pirellis. I run 38psi in the rear and 34psi in the front which seems fine but the suspension is rather wallowy when dropping into a corner (Probably due to being a 1996 4TV1 model).

I probably wont be bothering to buy any aftermarket suspension or renewing the stock items as I feel the Cat will never handle as solidly as a true sportsbike. I might chop it in for an R6 if I wish to stay with Yamaha or I might get an early to mid 90s Fireblade.

[Mr OCD]

Thundercats handle very well if the suspension is working properly as intended!

Tyre pressures should be 36psi front and 42psi rear as you will find out from most tyre manufacturers sites...

If its misbehaving suspension wise then spend £40-£50 getting it setup by a suspension specialist such as KAIS ... it makes a huge difference to the ability of the bike.

If the front forks have never had an oil refresh I would get that done at a bare minimum as its cheap enough and makes a nice difference.

I'll post my settings up later on if get time

[Willenium]

Suppose it doesn't really help my fork seals have leaked the majority of the oil out. Looking at getting them done soon so might start getting some better response from the bike. Will keep you posted.