thundernewbie

HI everyone.

First time i"ve ever posted on a forum, despite the fact that I have "lurked" at many over the years.

Just purchased a 2000 Thundercat, 20 oookms on the clock, red/silver. What a beauty. Coming from a background of riding Guzzis, Jotas and ancient neolithic Zeds this is my most modern purchase to date, and I'm quite smitten with her.

Gotta ask fellas, coming from a background of non-adjustable twin-shock suspension I'm all at sea with this 'adjustable' stuff.

Can anyone give me a quick briefer on what damping, rebound etc actually means and how one goes about 'adjusting' the forks etc to achieve this without screwing it up so badly one can't return to the standard settings.

Indeed any tips, hints, info on Cats would be welcome.

By the way I live in Johannesburg, where Cats are rare and the roads are fairly pot-holed.

Howzit en hartlike welkom, lekker om nog 'n Suid Afrikaner hier te sien kuier. I would imagine the potholes are getting worse. Where do you ride, Harties?

Click here for a previous discussion on suspension setup. In my posting there is a link to a write-up a guy did on his R1, similar settings on a Good luck, and if my Afrikaans was too bad to understand, Welcome

How do I upload pics of said Cat to this forum? Could someone give a quick rundown then I'll post pics of her for the edification of the forum.

I'll have a gander at the suspension set-up tutorial now.

Thanks

zedhead wrote:How do I upload pics of said Cat to this forum?

clicky here

two explanations in the link, for second one, scroll to bottom of post (Oldcat)

welcome to the forum

Morning Welcome to the site

Thanks for the welcome.

Will get the pics thing sorted soonest.

Starting to commute with ride the Cat regularly now on a 40km round trip. She makes for handy commuter as well, I see.

Still feeling out what the score is with her. No real complaints so far, except to say that the fairing does move about a bit above 160km/h (100, in imperial-speak). Does anybody else experience this as well.

I'm sure there is no 'fix' for this and must go down in the Cat's list of (not many) foibles.

Riding out to the Natal midlands with a mate on a Multistrada tomorrow. About 600kms all in. A few mountain passes thrown in as well.

If you're interested I'll let you know how it goes.

Hey & welcome to the site. The cat fairing should not move at all up to its capable top speed sounds like it is not fitted correctly or some screws are missing. Good luck with the suspension tweaking, one point is do not adjust dramatically but one click at a time then a short road test to try it.

I've given the Cat a good once over and there seems to be nothing amiss. The fairing doesn't so much move as vibrate slightly at high speeds. Nothing insurmountable. I remember reading a Fast Bikes review of the Cat in about 1997 complaining of the same thing. Subtle conditioning maybe.

I also remember them referring to the Cat as looking like an "escapee from Blake's Seven".

Sod that. I like it.

There is a bit of a vibration, but not noticed it at 160 though. From about 145 I notice the wind and head gets a bit of a pounding.
I had a video camera on the mirror stalk and the picture did bounce about quite a bit (not a particularly good camera)

zedhead wrote:Riding out to the Natal midlands with a mate on a Multistrada tomorrow. About 600kms all in. A few mountain passes thrown in as well. If you're interested I'll let you know how it goes.

Couldn't help but feel a twinge when I read this, lekker. Which way you going, blat down the N3 or through Standerton? Van Reenen's pass is good for a fast ride, I regret not having done Laign's Nek or Oliviershoek passes on a bike though. I'd like to know how it went and where you went

Welcome aboard

I must say, what a nice bike. First time I've taken her on an extended tour and she was near flawless for what I have in mind.

Avoided the N3 on the way down to avoid the tolls (left at Heidelberg, then Standerton, Vrede, etc. Roads conditions were an unpredictable mix from the near off-road (heavy roadworks, manifold potholes and heavy trucks) to the utterly sublime (the 60kms or so getting to Memel was deserted, wide and smoooth). Headwinds were pretty severe at times too.

The Cat lapped it all up, sometimes simply walking away my mate's Multistrada DS1000 at the top end. Got some great pics and as soon I've cracked this cyberspace stuff I'll post them.

The only criticism I have of the Cat (but it's a problem of all Yammies I've ridden) is that clutch is not a patch on those made by Kawasaki. Very grabby, either in or out like a light switch and unpredictable when you want to grab a handful away from the lights.

Apart from that I cannot fault much. The drive and urge above 7 000rpm are phenomenal and the brakes are superb (although not been tested in emergencies yet and I hope I'll never have to).

Welcome to the forum and I look forward to the pics