MAN(UAL) VS MACHINE

f you’re a half-serious racer, the first thing you do to a bike when converting it for the track is whip out the stock suspension and replace it with something aftermarket. Let’s not faff around and get straight to the technicalities on this; the reason we do this is twofold, firstly for consistency. Standard suspension as a generalisation is great for the road, it’s subtle, competent and gives you enough confidence to crack on down to your favourite butty stop at a brisk pace and be back home in time for Sunday lunch. Why does it suffer on track, you ask? Well, mainly because the track is an intensified version of the road; it’s faster, it has more frequent directional changes, the lean angles and cornering forces are higher, the acceleration and braking is significantly harsher, and there’s less time spent upright checking for speed cameras, scantily clad women and wildlife running out at you. This extra load, whether it be accelerating, cornering or braking, results in a lot more work for those suspenders hanging from your trusty steed. Basic physics explains why the stock suspension struggles. Every time your suspension compresses or rebounds, it causes oil within the shock or fork leg to travel through a set of shim stacks and an aperture. The amount that the aperture is open or closed determines the speed at which the oil flows through, which in turn determines how fast or slow the suspension compresses or rebounds;