Parks Lee - Race Techs Motorcycle Suspension Bible

Race Techs Motorcycle

Paul Thede and Lee Parks

Dedication

This book is dedicated to those with an open mind and a thirst for knowledge. For the enthusiast who wants to go faster or smoother or safer or all of the above.

First published in 2010 by Motorbooks, an imprint of MBI Publishing Company, 400 First Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

Copyright 2010 by Paul Thede and Lee Parks. Digital edition 2013.

All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purposes of review, no part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from the Publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without any guarantee on the part of the author or Publisher, who also disclaim any liability incurred in connection with the use of this data or specific details.

Race Tech, Gold Valve, Emulator, and other trademarked Race Tech products used by permission of Race Tech.

We recognize, further, that some words, model names, and designations mentioned herein are the property of the trademark holder. We use them for identification purposes only. This is not an official publication.

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Digital Edition: 978-1-61059-166-9
Softcover Edition: ISBN: 978-0-7603-3140-8

President/CEO: Ken Fund

Publisher: Zack Miller

Senior Editor: Darwin Holmstrom

Editor: Peter Bodensteiner

Creative Director: Michele Lanci-Altomare

Design Managers: Brad Springer, Jon Simpson, James Kegley

Designer: Danielle Smith

About the authors

Paul Thede is widely considered motorcyclings preeminent suspension guru. He is the owner and chief engineer of Race Tech, the largest motorcycle suspension modifier in the world. Paul lives in Corona, California.

Lee Parks is the best-selling author of Total Control. Based on his internationally renowned Total Control Advanced Riding Clinics, Total Control is considered by many to be the riding skills bible. Parks lives in Apple Valley, California.

I first swung a leg over a mini bike at the age of 10 and was hooked. My life instantly had direction. I raced professional motocross, studied hard in school because I wanted to work in the industry, went to college and studied harder, graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from California Polytechnic University in Pomona. I started a business with partners building high-performance motors and suspension and then opened Race Tech in 1984.

It didnt take long to realize I could drop lap times far faster by setting up suspension than by building superfast motors. Somewhere in this timeline I realized I wasnt going to be the next national champ, and while I continued to race, I really enjoyed helping others go fast and stay on the rubber side.

Back in the early 1990s, we turned our attention to road race and street bikes and were blown away with the results. I invented the Gold Valve and the Gold Valve Cartridge Emulator back then and started to produce productsincluding a line of suspension toolsthat would help others tune suspension. In 1994 I created the first Technical Edge Suspension Seminar and have taught more than 100 seminars and thousands of students around the world.

Through the years Ive had the privilege of working with many top-level riders like Doug Dubach, Gary Denton, Mike Beier, Jeremy McGrath, Tallon Vohland, Rodney Smith, Ty Davis, Danny Magoo Chandler, Jamie James, James Randolph, Tom Kipp, Lee Parks, Rich Oliver, David Anthony, Micky Dymond, Darryl Atkins, Benny Carlson, Josh Brooks, Mike Metzger, Jordan Szoke, Bonneville legend Paul Livingston, Mike and Jeff Alessi, Jake Weimer, Eric and Ben Bostrom, Kerry Peterson and the Peterson gang, Malcolm and Alexander Smith, Brandon Thede (my six-year-old son), and riders like you.

In the following pages, I promise to avoid big words as there is very little value in you being impressed with my vocabulary. In some cases, you may want to read a section more than once, and in fact, you may want to read the book many times. I encourage you to use the forms available to download free on www.racetech.com. Refer to the Troubleshooting and Testing chapter as you are testing, because it can jog the marbles. Use our website to look up suggested spring rates and see whats available for your model. Feel free to contact Race Tech and ask questions about your specific bikewe have great technical support. Lastly, if you are really intrigued, take advantage of our suspension seminarsmany of the worlds top tuners have done just that.

It has been my experience over the years that much of the information available on suspension was hard to understand, incomplete, or contradictory. In fact, much of the most important information was simply not out there for public consumption. For that reason, most people find suspension tuning a mysterious black art. My goal is to help you understand this challenging subject at a higher level than you do now. Be willing to learn something new, and keep in mind that there is always a next level of understanding as well as suspension performance. Theres always room for improvement. The best youve ridden is the best you know.

It is my opinion that almost any brand of suspension can be made to work well. This depends mostly on setup. However the maximum potential can be limited by its design. I have immense respect for other suspension manufacturers and tuners and my hope is that this book complements and enhances their work too.

People with many different levels of interest and understanding will read this book. Perhaps you simply want a little clarity on a mysterious subject, or maybe you are reading this because your kid races. On the other hand, you might work on suspension for a living (or you may want to). If you want to become a great suspension tuner, you will need to be many things: a detective, a salesman, a psychiatrist, a technician, and most of all, a student (like my son Brandon).

Good luck and great riding.

Paul Thede

T o understand the genesis of the Race Techs Motorcycle Suspension Bible is to peer into the minds of three enthusiasts who love all things that go fast and smell of hot oil: Paul Thede, Al Lapp, and myself.

In my first book, Total Control, it was my mission to demystify the art of advanced ridingas part of that project, I took the bold step of including two chapters on suspension theory and setup. I did this because so much of proper riding technique is about minimizing suspension movement so that the limited amount of wheel travel remains available to maintain traction. It seemed obvious then that part of the advanced riding equation would be to help riders get their suspension systems set up properly. And, because Im a big believer in teaching people how to fish as opposed to simply giving them a fish, we spend an entire hour on suspension in my Total Control Advanced Riding clinics (www.totalcontroltraining.net).