marcusgunby

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Jan 9, 2000
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Now ive read the test on RCs bike and watched the videos of the nats-Rc seems to have a really slow rebound.How does he break all the rules in the book and go soo fast as well.

When i 1st started riding i liked alot of rebound damping-it gave me confidance, as i progressed and rode with a top UK rider i got used to a very light rebound on the shock-this was partly due to the rear brake on the KTM being like a lightswitch, and scareing me bad-so i used the quick rebound to get the front down over jumps instead of using the brake.

Now im going back to a more normal amount of rebound, and im thinking of trying alot more to see if i can get anything out of a different set up.

So the question is having lots of rebound must have consequeses and how does ricky overcome them and use it to his advantage, as far as i can see he brakes harder in braking bumps than most-how does he overcome packing??

Let the debate begin :yeehaw:
 

bigred455

"LET'S JUST RIDE"
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Sep 12, 2000
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Have you noticed when ricky was on the kx and the same with the cr talk about the rear getting out of shape.I read the same article, they said he runs so much rebound the front wants to loop out going off of a jump.The only benefit I can see with running more rebound(STIFFER)is if you come up short on a table it will soak it up better than if you ran a soft rebound which would throw your rear to the side or up, going down the downside of the landing which would pitch you.The only other benefit I see is running a couple clicks in on the rebound will aid in bottoming. I have noticed on my kx I like 1 or 2 in from stock on the rebound on the rear,this helps me over jumping small jumps, and I can plant the bike better with A flat landing, instead of waitng to soak it up,but I still have plushness coming out of a choppy corner with the compression setting.Ricky is so in tune with the rear of his bike it is scary, talk about manhandling a bike when it gets kicked to the side or swaps what a stud...ARE YOU GUYS STOKED I AM STOKED. :scream: :scream:
 
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mxneagle

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Jan 7, 2001
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RC isn't the first to run the slow rebound setup. MC has been doing it for a long time (he just runs normal amounts of race sag). The biggest benefit is keeping the bike low over jumps I would suspect. The lower you go, the faster you need to hit the jump to get the distance. Obviously getting going fast enough is not an issue for RC. He is probably just strong enough to hang on to the bike around the rest of the track when the slow rebound is a hinderence. Also I would imagine that going at those speeds, you don't want the bike to rebound off the chatter that your just hitting the tops of and make you swap back the other way.
 

JTT

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Aug 25, 2000
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I wonder if it also effects cornering? I mean, when braking, the front typically dives and the rear "jacks"...with all the rebound he runs, maybe the rear can stay down more allowing less dramatic geometry changes on the entrance to turns and a lower CofG? I'm reaching here, so bere with me :)
 

RGalesi

Member
Aug 19, 2002
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I think you've got the point. He can handle that (and make good use of the benefits) because he holds the bike with his legs so strong... That's why these (RC and MC, mainly) spend so much time in the gym...
 

bclapham

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Nov 5, 2001
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is it just a case of evolution? I bet he was allways a little kid, and i expect this is why he runs the rear of the bike low. Thus, did he dial in slower rebound since he didnt like the bike kicking him in the butt, and since then he had had to accomodate the rest of his risind technique around this setup. Thus he can make up time in the corners with his back in corner style and also by flying lower over jumps since he the slower rebound doesnt shoot him into the air. But as far as the packing issue, is it just a case that with his strenght fitness and determination he doesnt lose time through the rough stuff since he just holds on and carries momentum.

When he was on the KX, david bailey always commented that when he was getting squirly that no other rider would have stayed on the bike, but RC would just wrestle with it and stay upright. I must admit, he does look smoother on the CR, it is definetly a more mild mannered rodeo bull.

ps. while we are on the topic, does anyone belive his CR is putting out 55-60HP like the mags are saying. This is nearly as much as the CR500!
 

marcusgunby

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Jan 9, 2000
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52hp at the rear wheel is possible from a Husky GP bike and thats one of the best engines on the circuit.Its possible he has 55-not 60 but it will compromise on bottom end (which probably isnt a problem for him)he must have at least 50hp to beat the 4 smokes every start.
 

shed

Member
Dec 9, 2001
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From what I've seen and read in Dirt Bike magazine, RCs whole bike setup especially the shock rebound setting is pretty radical, and far from what I percieve to be a conventional setup. The picture showing the dude hitting some whoops and the rear of the bike is an inch or two off the ground is quite surprising - surely the fastest way around a track is with the rear tyre on the mud?

I would go as far to say that RC is maybe redefining the way that a bike should be setup for a really fast rider, or at least him. It would be really interesting to completely redesign a dirt bike for RC, and see how different is was to a normal bike. We may even learn some new stuff about what is important for speed along the way. At the moment Honda are only taking a small step toward this by making quite small changes to the bike to tune it to the rider (understandably).
 
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