New'ish owner

[Sprintive50]

Hi

Had the Sprint Exec for a few months now and still getting used to it, mainly the handling in corners to be honest, I can't seem to get the hang of them, the feeling of it wanting to 'fall in' is one I can't get over.... the whole bike is set up as in the Haynes manual and I was wondering if altering the height of the fork legs in the triple clamps might help, any ideas anyone ? Apart from that I really like it, I've had most of it apart and either cleaned or replaced what was needed just the valves clearances to check now. The back brake doesn't seem too good though and I can't see why, the pistons and pins slide easily and the pads are ok as is the disc, any ideas on that one too?

Any thoughts would be greatfully recieved,

Sprintive 50

[Roden]

Hi Sprintive, glad you are liking your Sprint.

I have the same kind of feeling getting mine through the corners, hard to explain but I know what you mean. These bikes do need some muscle to make them do what you want, but there are a few things that might upset the plot:

Tyre pressures are critical, make sure they are not under inflated. 36psi front, 41 rear is the spec and seems to work well.
How is the rear shock? The original shocks are prone to failure after only moderate mileage. Mine is stuffed at 71,000klms. There are plenty of options on shocks, I will be rebuilding the original.
Apparently, dropping the forks through a little further quickens up the steering, I think 1/2" is about all thats required but best to research that one a bit more.

The rear brake is not great, I think thats pretty normal too. I did improve mine a bit with a good bleed but yeah, it is what it is. It is sufficient enough to aid the front brakes or perhaps wash a bit of speed off into a corner.

All in all though, they are a good machine, rock solid and the engine is a kicker!

Enjoy,

Roden

[Sprintive50]

Hi ya

ThEse are the pressures I'm running so it might just be me, I'll just have to tell my missus I need to ride it more !!! I'd heard about raising the fork legs before but did'n know by how much, I've read that fitting spacers under the fork top nuts helps with the dive under breaking so I might have a read and try them out. Rear shock is stock but the bike has only done 30K miles and feels OK. I've not changed the rear fluid so that might improve things, I had a 600 GSX before this and the rear brake on that was really good so maybe I'm expecting too much. I agree the bike is really good, it still sounds a bit agricultural when it starts and until it warms up but after that it just goes and goes.

Stay safe

Sprintive50

[cpallen]

I felt this with my TBS too, and tried many different adjustments. If anything, dropping the forks makes this worse. I changed the weight of the fork oil and reduced the compression and rebound damping settings several clicks to compensate. I also think the tires might be contributing to it - the rear is someswhat flat in the middle so I can only presume the front is too, to a lesser extent. Too much freeway I guess.

I think the narrowness of the handlebars are also contributing (leverage) and have gotten used to it for the most part.

[gfiandy]

Hi, I experienced this problem on my 93 Daytona 900 when I first got it. It came down to a number of problmes.

1. The front tyre was worn, replacing this helped alot, also I agree pressure is critical. If your tyre is worn you may be able to improve feel by over inflaing it, if it feels better when over inflated to say 41lbs then the tyre probably needs replacing. However you should only do this as a test as it will decrease contact area and reduce grip.

2. Forks were too high in tripple clamp so I lowered them by 28mm. This made a very big difference, but was just setting it back to stock as someone had raised them so they were flush. So there may be some milage in dropping your forks through tripple clamp but take it easy, I would say 10mm would be a good first step.

3. Rear shock had sagged a bit, increasing rear pre load helped with this.

4. Front forks had pre load set to high so were ridding to high up. Reducing front pre load helped with this. So I would not recomend adding packing peices as this will increase front pre load. If the spring is too soft you need to replace it with a stronger one.

You probably don't have all these adjustments on the Sprint. However from my research what causes the feeling of falling into a corner is the front forks rake being to large. If you have ever ridden a chopper they suffer this really badly due to the long forks out in front.

So what you are trying to achive is to reduce the rake angle this will make the bike steer quicker and move more with you weight rather than force from the bars. If you go to far the bike will become unstable and prone to tank slappers however the Triumphs are so stable it is very unlikely that this will happen.

Having spent some time on adjusting my Daytona it now follows my body weight movements perfectly appart from slow tight corners such as T junctions and small roundabouts, in these you do still feel some drop but it only takes light pressure to support the wheel in the direction you want.

So I don't think you will eliminate it completely but you may be able to improve the situation.

Regards,
Andrew

[sailfish]

Speaking up here to pretty much agree with what has already been said. The spec (per Haynes) for the fork tube pass through for the Exec is 117 mm above the upper yoke. More will quicken steering and decrease stability so take small bites. You will notice 5-10 mm changes.

Try cranking in a little more preload on the rear shock. I'm 175 lbs and don't ride with the adjuster below 3. Loaded I take all the preload the adjuster will give me.

Several years ago I had what are now older Avons Azaros on the bike and I could never warm up to the front. Later, with Metzeler Z6s I was dragging the side stand. Pirelli Diablos are even better. It seems that every other year or so sport touring tires make another generational progression, which is only slightly slower than my rate of consumption.

The rear brake doesn't do much but it is adequate to keep the bike straight and settled while the fronts do most of the work. Compared to the front, the rear DOES consume pads quickly, so keep an eye on those, the rotor is expensive.

[Sprintive50]

Hi

Thanks for your input, the front will need changing in the next 1500 miles or so, the back has a nearly new BT020 so will stick with this for the front, changed the fluid in the rear brake over the weekend to try to improve that but haven't had chance to try it due to work commitments and the fact it's been snowing here today !!

I'll carry out the suggested mods over the next few weekends and test during the ride to work and see how I get on,

Sprintive50

[ezride]

My 2 cents based on experience:

Worn tires can really hurt the handling, and you don't notice since it happens slowly. This is especially true if you ride a lot of motorway and wear the center of the tire flat. Will make the bike not want to lean initially, until it gets past the 'corner' worn by the flat spot on the tire at which point the bike will want to 'fall in'. Very difficult to corner smoothly with tires like this.

For the heavy Sprint, I haven't found tires that I think are a better grip / wear compromise than the metzeler Z6. That's a presonal taste thing of course, and I certainly haven't tried all options. Surely there are other good ones out there (but I personally did not like the BT-20 on this bike).

Biggest change for me was from having the forks rebuilt. The stock front is cr@p, way too soft, provides no control or feel. Had Gold Valve cartridge emulators installed along with stiffer, constant rate (.95) springs, and a generally very good setup by Traxxion Dynamics. When I reinstalled the forks, I also raised them 1/2 inch higher than stock (lowered the front 1/2"). After these mods I thought I was riding a new motorcycle. Steers quicker, controls better, gives more feedback, and is still as stable as can be. Forks should be everyone's #1 mod, IMO.

I still have the stock rear shock , but that will be next if I can locate a suitable unit at a decent price.

That might have been 5 cents, but there you go!

[tripletom]

I found my S3 to be a bit of a beast initially but have pretty much got it sorted at the moment. I found I need to countersteer a lot, and also use pressure through my outside foot to keep the bike set on line through bends. This helped a lot during quick roundabout in-outs. Best bit of advice I got was to brake hard whilst upright then drop the bike in and use the power to pick it up through the bend. Works like a charm.
For what it's worth my stock suspension is shagged right out. Forks have 50+mm sag in them and rear shock has been wound fully on from when I got it. Fork springs are being replaced with Hagon items and I have a Proflex rear shock to go on. The bike has been dropped 5mm over stock at the front and feels better for it.