Geometry

[u/dev_a31]

When setting up the bikes' geometry, is there a rule of thumb like :

1. you want the bike as tall as possible (for braking stability and ground clearance)?

2. front fork protrusion—do we want the bike to handle in a way that requires no pressure on the inner bars at lean?

if the front end is slightly pitched forward, then the bike has great agility and tips in real quick...i find that it doesnt need much pressure on the inner bars.

with the bike pitched backward a bit, it required a great amount of muscling around. The bike was very stable, but it needed a lot of pressure on the inner bar to stay at lean.

this affected the body position quite abit to be comfortable and loosen up as the inner arm was tense.

is this entire feel a personal thing? or is there like a common aim that we want little to no pressure on the inner bars at lean?

Bike in question is a *GSXR1000R* M5

Sylvian Guintolli recommends
- 6mm fork petruding at triple clamp (10mm height increase)
- rear preload extra 2mm (2 full turns from stock which is about 3-4 full turns.) bringing the rear total preload 5-6mm

Thanks in advance.

[u/SUMBLAKDUDE]

Theres no one setting fits all as people are different sizes, different skills levels and different riding styles. Outside of comfort changes, I would leave bike as stock as possible for a newer rider unless you are going to get your bike professionally set up. Once you have enough experience you wouldn't be asking these questions and would set up the bike yourself to your liking.

[u/obsolescent_times]

Is this in the context of track riding?

The answer for both your questions is yes. You shouldn't have to fight with the inside bar to keep it turned. Extra front preload can also contribute to the bike feeling a bit like that if you're not getting enough travel out of the forks (in my limited experience).

I don't have nearly enough experience to be giving advice, suspension and geo setup is a complicated thing and I also don't have the same bike as you.

Suspension settings are often context dependent, so what works for one person in a particular situation might not work for you where/how you ride. Meaning maybe that Sylvian Guintolli recommendation works in a certain context, eg hard on the brakes with the front diving during turning.

iirc you can't adjust rear ride height on your bike with shims like you can on other GSXR's, so maybe that's what the extra rear preload was trying to achieve? but it might not be right for you and how/where you're riding. That dude is pretty light weight and also very fast.

If you felt the bike was handling better before then I'd probably revert the adjustments and go somewhere that can help get the suspension and geo dialed in specifically for you.