25/08/2010
Team Suzuki Press Office - August 25.
Hi, I'm Andy White from KAIS Suspension Services and we've been specialists in Ohlins suspension since 1983. We're contracted to give specialist support to the Worx Crescent Suzuki BSB team and you'll see me working with Tommy Hill and Yukio Kayama at every race meeting and testing session during the season.
The kit that is fitted to the Worx Crescent Suzukis is a step ahead of anything that's available on road bikes, but that's due to their extreme operating conditions. The race bikes put their suspension under a lot more stress, they're going much higher speeds, creating much harder braking forces and are looking for more side grip than is ever needed on a road bike. The Ohlins fork, the FGR000, is brand new this year, gas-charged with totally separate cartridges inside and so is much easier to work on and it's simpler to change the settings - they're the best product I've known Ohlins to make. The TTX36 shock has been around a while and you'll see them on MotoGP bikes as well, but the ones we are using are ex-World Superbike Factory.
The way the TTX system works is it's a twin-tube design so it pushes the oil through two different shim stacks for compression and rebound damping; it's very advanced compared with a typical road bike system. There is a trickle down on the technology, although it has to be modified to suit the different performance parameters needed for the road, so Ohlins have a good road and track fork, and if that's beyond your budget, then they also do cartridge kits to upgrade standard forks. TTX shocks are available for road bikes, too. Looking at what goes on at the race track, I can tell you one size does not fit all! In the Worx Crescent Suzuki team, well, Yuki and Tommy are radically different in riding style and so their set-ups are totally different as well. One likes his bike level, the other has his jacked up at the rear. They prefer different linkages, one quite progressive; the other quite linear. There are so many differences and it's all down to the rider, so it's my job to listen to them and give them what they want to do the job, in the style that they do it.
Tyres make a massive difference, the level of grip is a serious issue - but given that we're on a control tyre, it's the same for everybody. Different circuits require different settings depending on corner types, the speeds and the bumps. For instance, Thruxton is very fast with a lot of bumps - and there the bike spends a lot of time at high speed and extreme lean angle combined. But suspension settings need to change with the weather, too; all of which makes it a very complex and forever busy job.
So, the worst word in the English language for a suspension tuner is 'but'. You see, suspension is a compromise, always a compromise. So when you cure a problem in one area, you'll find it generally creates a problem in another. That's when we hear the 'but' word: "That's great, it's much better through Clearways now. But..."