oops...

ok, finally did the tyres today..the pressures were way out on both wheels, so i put the 36/42 in as reccomended by most of you, then took her for a spin......ahhhh, what a difference. i can actually get round corners now lol,lsson learnt there is do the job when your suppose to, not 3 weeks later lol

Cool, glad you enjoyed it

Well done, you'll be flying now then!

hmmm dunno bout flying, but at least i can lean the bike without feeling like im gonna lose her

she will be on friday down the A38 ellie
pete

TBF, Ive been looking on the other forum I belong too (thundercat/thunderace owners club) and they suggest lots of different pressures on there. No wonder Im confused. But thats not hard.

But I'd stick to the tried and tested pressures that peeps seem to get on with on here.

I tried something a bit different regarding tyres.

The standard size for the front is 120/60 ZR17, but read some good stuff in a US forum about using a 120/70 ZR17 instead, so I thought I'd give it a bash. (It think it works out at 12mm taller on the front)

Personally I felt that it was far better in the corners than the /60's I'd used and I'll probably stick with the size.


To qualify the thinking: I'd used a few on the front..i.e. Pirelli Diablo (too soft, lasted a month), BT020 (too hard, liked to slide away (same on the rear)), even had a set of mega horrible BT021's, which I got shot of for Conti Road Attacks..which was a decent front, but not so good rear that wore the centre out far too quickly..cornered nice though. (It's an Avon Storm ST on the back now, which is a great tyre, but been superseded with the bike being off the road for a year)
Anyhoo, with the /60's they all felt like they snatched at the corners when leaning beyond a certain point (with the exception of the Diablo), but the /70 I've been using (another Road Attack that's not got much left in it) feels far better on the corners, with no nasty surprises..especially in the wet.

I don't know anyone else who has been riding a Cat for as long as I have (6 years?), or anyone else who has tried the /70's over /60', so I don't know if it's just a personal preference I've found based on anecdotal evidence (as this post is).

p.s. I didn't bother to drop the forks either, never felt the need.

-edit- maybe I should loan it to Rosco for an hour or two to see what he thinks.
(Unless he's using a /70 as well)

might be an idea for me to get someone else to have a ride on mine and see what the handlings actually like, as i have nothing to compare it to

It'd be different for them though since there's a lot you can adjust on the suspension front and rear based on weight etc..

(I've never managed to get mine perfect in 6 years..it's good for most conditions, but a bit too hard if I hit some of those small humpback bridges down in the borders backroads too fast..giving me a good kick up the arse. )

mines really solid too, and i dont wanna start messin about with no idea what im doing lol

Wooster wrote:
-edit- maybe I should loan it to Rosco for an hour or two to see what he thinks.
(Unless he's using a /70 as well)

Hi Wooster

That sounds like a plan. A wee ride out (in the dry) after I come back from Bishops Castle.
I've Avon storm st2's on front and back (standard sizes) . Front is very nearly worn on shoulders but not so much in centre.

Cheers
Rosco

Just a suggestion and I'd wait for someone to back me up/disagree with me first, but it might be an idea to reset all your suspension to the stock settings. I was told that this is the best place to start and as all bikes spend ages in the design stage and the engineers come up with those factory settings as the best for all-round use (I assume - that makes sense doesn't it?) you won't discover the bike is suddenly rubbish. When I got mine it was far too stiff so I started by dropping the rear pre-load a couple of notches and it immediately felt better. BTW I'm no mechanic but it really is easy to do. You just need to go step-by-step.

a full suspension reset and then adjust from there is what I want to do to mine but I'm proper lazy. Will do it in the autumn when I have a garage again!

I'm much the same as littlecat though, I don't really have enough to compare to so... *shrug*

Rosco wrote:

Wooster wrote:
-edit- maybe I should loan it to Rosco for an hour or two to see what he thinks.
(Unless he's using a /70 as well)

Hi Wooster

That sounds like a plan. A wee ride out (in the dry) after I come back from Bishops Castle.
I've Avon storm st2's on front and back (standard sizes) . Front is very nearly worn on shoulders but not so much in centre.

Cheers
Rosco

No probs, should be interesting to see if the higher wall makes a difference.
My front is in pretty similar nick. (got about a good weather month/fortnight(?) of cornering left in it)

As admin, you should have my email. Just bung me a mail and we'll get it sorted.

Y-TC.org road test #1 (Almost fucked tyres, but different sizes).