The rake is the angle of the forks. The steeper the rake the sharper the steering and the more prone a bike is to head shake. The modern 1000s for example have very sharp angles of rake which is why most have some form of damper fitted as standard.
I tend to drop my forks a little on all my bikes. Firstly it helps with little leg syndrome and secondly it sharpens up the steering as I quite like quick steering on my bikes.
I've done absolutely nothing to mine, other than lower it, and its fine. You learn to live with what you have. I dont miss what i havent got. I didnt even lower my forks when i lowered my suspension, and it rides perfect to me. I come back to the 'if it aint broke' diagnosis lol. Its horses for courses i suppose. I've been on about trying some bar risers on mine for the last few years, but in all honesty i dont want to change how it feels now. I know what its going to do at the moment. Does that make sense?
yes that makes perfect sense, I have put new levers on which has made a big difference, but wasnt sure about the steering damper on the grounds of if it is needed as a safety feature why is it not built into the design but lots of people do have them.
DC is absolutely right, I haven't changed my CB at all either.
Well apart from the Maxton front forks dropped through the yokes by 12mm.
Oh, and the recently rebuilt and reshimmed (is this a word) rear shocks set up by Firefox Racing.
So I suppose that apart from having both the front and rear suspension completely rebuilt to suit me, I haven't done anything to the running gear of my bike lol!!
Julie .. Being an R1 owner .. Mines a 2003 model .. I`ve found i don`t need one and i reckon i ride quite a lot harder and faster than you .. The earlier models as Geoff said are prone to shaking their heads .. But thats over 90 to 100 mph .. My advice is get to know the bike .. when you feel confident to be able to ride it harder and faster through corners , then you can consider having a steering damper .. until then as DC says .. " don`t mend, what not broke "
if your bikes set up reasonable Julie you wont need one, if it does start shaking just relax and dont try to fight it, the bike should sort itself out.
but some of them are shinny......
only bike i`ve had which shook badly enough regulaly to require one,
was as previously mentioned only above 105, but then was terrible and constant,
if you find this happens, it tends to be less head angle and more tyre related (or bearings worn) not ridden the R1 model your on so hard to give an acurate opinion, tho does seem if you`ve had no probs, road/speed related so far, leave well alone,
tho i would stay clear of domestic decorating shopping!
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