My old TL1000s

Post by **FZRDude** » Fri May 28, 2010 11:42 pm

No really..... if you scroll quickly by.... (no not that quick).... the white ring gives the illusion of a single round headlight.

spook · Post by **spook** » Fri May 28, 2010 11:52 pm

Yep I'm with you Tim

The white race fairing pictured is going to be eventually 'grafted' onto the tlr lowers, and a ram air duct made to mate with th RS intake and hense feeding the airbox.

It will have a single endurance racer style headlight on the opposite side. i have actually found a compact HI/Low HID that will do the job nicely.

But for now it's naked. Just finalising it for track tomorrow.

spook · Post by **spook** » Sat May 29, 2010 2:48 am

Some last minute ecu fuelling adjustments

spook · Post by **spook** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 11:42 pm

Here's a couple of shots from the rideday. No better place to shake down a new bike! To start with it was cold and wet, and I had a bit of an oil leak...

What could possibly go wrong???

As it started to dry out the leak got worse, and was starting to wet the rear tyre. The oil hitting the exhaust was upsetting some of the guys behind. So I put it on the trailer.

All in all not the weekend I wanted but an interesting shake down. The road Dunlop roadsmarts didn't respond well to typical track tyre pressures, initially they where causing a wallow through the longer corners, which was a little disconcerting. Upping the pressures pretty much negated the sensation, and a surprising amount of heat was generated by the tyre in cold conditions. The rear only spun up on a couple of occasions. I think they will probably make a very good real world (ie: road) tyre.

I have a gasket now for the clutch cover, but little else has been done in relation to finishing it. We are in the depths of winter here, so I'm not in a huge hurry. Will have it finished for spring. I will get it to the track again in the next few weeks, oil leak fixed and have a little more serious go at it!

Have come along way with this bike, over 10 years now. So here is a re-cap of the story thus far...lol.

It looked okay at first:

Then I did this to it

Then it was like what the hell no rules now:

need better suspension:

Still plenty to do:

hotcam · Post by **hotcam** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:34 am

Good to see it lives and rides ok! Damn that looks cold, I can see the fog on your visor

Post by **FZRDude** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:59 am

spook wrote:

It's probablly just me again, but the tail seems to be off a bit to the left again......

:ha

spook · Post by **spook** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 8:50 pm

No doubt about you Tim, you sure have a good eye!

It was bloody freezing Cam, and slippery. Not really a fan of conditions like that. They wouldn't let slicks out on the track until late morning, which was a good call. So are you keen to come and have a crack shortly?

hotcam · Post by **hotcam** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 12:43 am

Love to get out on the Sunday 18th July if I can and the weather ain't crappy. Will look into it.

haunter · Post by **haunter** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:23 pm

bloody good work so far

Post by **jjs777** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 7:07 pm

good thread

spook · Post by **spook** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 5:39 am

Thanks for all the input

Hope to have it finished one day....

Also, would like some input on the following...lol. Seriously.

So much has changed with the upgrades. One characteristic, that the track made evident, is the feeling that the front tyre is flat (roadsmart @30psi), and the tendency to wallow (sway slightly) through corners. Have I jacked the rear too much? Is it the tyres? Pressures? Or could it be other

Any feed back is appreciated.

Post by **jjs777** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 9:50 am

from what I read - the tillers had a instability problem causing folks to crash
whether it was just the rider or the geometry...seems interesting that you point that out in your impressions

I'll see if I can find the article...I just read it within the past week.

Okay..I was reading about tillers because there is a tlr1000r for sale around the corner from me...and I always wanted a v-twin.
So I was reading up on them.

Post by **jjs777** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 9:53 am

found the piece I referred to on wiki

Reputation
The TL1000R's sibling, the TL1000S, was widely known as a "widow-maker".[3] Some riders crashed, and blamed the bike's instability. Although Suzuki claimed that they fixed this problem on the TL-R, the reputation stuck and Suzuki reported "sub-optimal" sales on both TL models. The TL1000R was also criticized by many in the motorcycle press for being overweight,[1] and is faulted for its rotary damper rear suspension. Despite these setbacks, the TL-R enjoys a strong, almost cult-like following amongst its owners, who take pride in their bike's history and uniqueness.[citation needed]

I'm wondering if this is more like the old cbr900 when it debuted with the smaller diameter front tyre and steep rake...causing the instability claim - which honda then addressed.

sickle44 · Post by **sickle44** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 1:41 pm

Yes they did have a bit of a rep, but after riding a buddy's myself, a person can tell that the suspension issues are just like any other bikes suspension issues. The rotary dampers were actually a good idea, unfortunately, most manufacturers would never take the time to educate their customers on proper suspension setup techniques, which really is labour and time consuming enough with standard suspension compenents let alone a rotary damper which is apparently a lot harder to set up correctly, but great when they are. If I recall correctly the early S models were the real problem as some of them developed stress fractures in the steering head and were prone to breaking.

I myself would love to own either, although the R's body work, the tail-section mostly would for me, need a definite re-work, otherwise, I really like the machines and Suzuki's boldness to do something about the then winning Ducati Twins that were proving so problimatic for everyone on the race tracks back then. Hard to believe that's more than 10 years ago now, getting closer to 15.

Big Jon · Post by **Big Jon** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 10:23 pm

I almost bought an S (money in hand), the widow maker rep was only one euro mag, no one else was ever able to make them do the same things. I was seduced by the Ace and the rest is history, but a good friend has one. Once the damper dies he'll be replacing it with otherwise, but they worked just fine for the street.

spook · Post by **spook** » Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:47 am

They (the TLS) have quite sharp steering geometry standard, and a wooden rear end due to the rotary damper that transfers all input through the frame rather than absorbing it. You have got to remember that this bike in 1997 was voted iboty international bike of the year.

They will shake though, I remember years ago my brother came for a squirt up the road on it with me during one of the prior rebuilds, there was no damper fitted and when the front came down it shook like hell, we road it out but we gently then proceeded home with our wet tails between our legs

This time at the track I road the last couple of sessions without a damper fitted... and it didn't even twitch... I think I have already mentioned this... But if you had ever said this back in the shaking days i would cut some laps on it without a damper I would have have laughed. In fact I have never ridden a bike at broadford that didn't complain as it lifted off the hump in the back straight.

It has been interesting to look at the photos of the bike side by side up the page. I had calculated an increase of 20 mm in the rear ride height, but I think I have gone way over that. Front has been dropped 15mm also so I think partially I may be weighting up the front too much. The sway was interesting, though it almost disappeared completely as the pressure was increased in the front.

Anyway... time will tell. I'm on the lookout for an inclinometer, so will be able to measure it all up. This area is of great interest to me, and are looking forward to sorting this one out

Here's a pix. from the press article that killed the TLs.... Cheers

hotcam · Post by **hotcam** » Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:56 am

Looks like that photo is about to kill that particular TL too!

An old school protractor (and a weight on a string for vertical)
should be able to help you measure the fork angle, if that's any help.

Yes the hump in the back straight at Broadford is almost the only time I've ever
been able to get my FZR1k to give a slight twitch. That bump must be some kind of interesting on an R6!

I was quite surprised to get a wobble as it's quite a steady bike, doesn't twist up like all the old steel-frame stuff I was used to before.
The FZR has forks like treetrunks and a frame like the westgate bridge, so any twitch is an achievement. The FZR is also the only bike I've never gotten
a hands-off decel wobble at about 70kmh.

So if your TL is working well there, then I'm sure the huge improvement
you made in the shock etc is really paying off.

Hey there's a broadford track day on the 12th...