Build questions for my '12 R3R Street Fighter

[Martin W.]

R3Tex
Lone Star Rally, eh? I'm there for sure; Galveston is just a hop, skip, and a jump away, after all. Y'all going to be there all weekend? Great looking paint job on your bike, by the way. I was actually just out in Waller attending a friends wedding; nice scenery, and some of those country roads are great.

I like the headers on that CES system; gets the pipes nip/tucked close to the engine and frame. Looking at my bike yesterday it seems to me like there could be an issue fitting the Raask sets with the ABS box and the stock pipes, but I've sent an e-mail to Raask to ask for some measurements. Never messed around with ABS brakes before either, so that'll be a learning experience.

As for power, the stock Rocket is still plenty enough for me. I just want to make the riding position a more comfortable (for now).


Steel
Yeah, sure does look like it; that ABS box might cause some problems for sure. I'm not entirely sure the sets are far enough back for my liking, though.


Rockethead
Thanks man, appreciate the pictures. I'm 5' 11" with a 28" inseam, and though I'd probably be leaning further forward what with having a straighter bar those sets look to be a little too far forward for my liking still. To give you an idea of the riding position I'm looking for:

The only way I see this happening is by having a bracket made for an adjustable rear set, something like this:

Of course, as you can see that means messing around with the exhaust somehow.


motolink
Not sure what you're talking about there, mate.


xhdskip
Cheers, checking it out now.

Thanks for the feedback so far, guys. Appreciate it.


EDIT:
Perusing the forum galleries, I found this particular bike:
http://www.r3owners.net/media/437.7147/

Anyone know more about the mods on this? It looks absolutely sick, especially the saddle and low-slung rear fender.

 

[Steel]

See you in Galveston. Yes we will be there all weekend.

 

[Claviger]

I can relate to your issues. I absolutely hate sitting straight up or reclining onto my tailbone, its uncomfortable and just feels awkward. There is a really simple solution, and you don't need rear-sets to do it.

Not sure how tall you are, that will matter, but if you throw these bars on it forces you forward just enough that you aren't sitting on your tailbone, 2-3 inches forward of stock and 2 ish inches lower than stock. At full arm extension, I am "just" ahead of that position where my whole weight is on the tailbone. I rarely ride like that and usually lean forward in a sort of half committed sport-bike position. The real reason I finally did the switch was the angle the stock bars puts your hands at when you are leaning off the side of the bike in a sharp turn, I found it puts the inside hand at a strange angle to make adjustments. These gave me a slightly forward position from stock and flatten out the angle of your hands enough to feel "correct" to a sport bike rider. They do not hit the tank and don't pinch the hands at full lock against it.

At $50.00 it's also really hard to beat!

Exhaust - Do whatever you like the look of. Finding a shorty setup for a roadster is not going to be easy.

Rearsets - You could make an adapter plate to move the stock controls further back and slightly up. Would take a drill and way to cut steel neatly, just cut the mounting plate, drill a couple of holes in whats left attached to the bar. Use a plate lined up to match the new mounting holes on the bar and the control and move them where you want. Powder coat to finish it off.


http://www.dimecitycycles.com/1-inch-gloss-black-dcc-original-classic-handlebars.html

 

[Martin W.]

Steel, R3Tex
Awesome; I'll PM you my number. I'm not that familiar with downtown Galveston, but I'll aim to be there Saturday at the very least. Thanks for the heads-up, I would have absolutely missed it.


Claviger
For reference, I'm 5' 11" with a 28" inseam. The guy who bought the bike new was a head taller than I am and had significantly longer arms, which is why he also had risers on the handlebars. I've taken those off, and am planning on ordering a straighter, narrower bar for myself.

Great suggestion, thank you for the tip on those bars, man. $50 bucks is really quite inexpensive; most of the drag bars I've looked at are at the $80+ mark, though I keep an eye on ebay as well.

That's a really neat suggestion, I didn't actually consider using the stock rear sets with an adapter plate. I'll definitely look into that. Speaking of, anyone know any good machine shops in/near the Houston area?

 

[R3Tex]

anyone know any good machine shops in/near the Houston area?

You are in the heart of the oil industry...there's a machine shop on every corner. I know some but they are on the Northwest side...I bet if you check around you will find one close to you

 

[TOMCAT]

Martin maybe have a look on the German R3 Owners website. Germans seem to favour the riding position you are trying to set-up. Lots of the modifications on their bikes seem to be owner or machine shop made one-offs.

 

[cr0ft]

If you're going for clip-ons the Apex adjustable ones might warrant a look. https://www.apexmfg.com/products/apex-clip-ons

 

[Martin W.]

R3Tex
Hehe, fair point. I don't have any experience with any of them, but I'll check with my Mopar friends as well. I'd prefer to work with someone who's got experience with parts for automotive use in general, and/or bikes in particular, and I figured I'd at least ask. I'll check with people at Lone Star too, never know, some of them might well be there.

First thing first; once I get the bar on I'll know how much I need to adjust my legs. While I love the look of the Rocket, that Bearclaw does mess me up even a year in because I'm so used to gripping the tank with my knees while riding.

TOMCAT
Good tip, thanks! Seems like there's a couple radical modifications that spring out of the German area; not unsurprising given the low cost of vehicles in general over there, at least compared to income levels, and few regulations on custom made parts, unlike in many other European countries. The Palatina RS version of the Rocket is from Germany, and there's a Swiss guy that does some pretty cool stuff with engines, ala Carpenter Racing.

cr0ft
If I still had my Triumph Daytona 675R, I would totally go for those Apex bars; my issue with the 675R was always that my left arm felt like it was pushing a little further forward than the right, so I was unevenly distributed on the bike. Of course, thieves took care of that problem by lifting the whole bike, but...

Anyway, for 20-100 bucks I can get a replacement bar (ebay vs manufacturer), while those are in the low 200s. Good suggestion for sportsbikes, though.

 

[Claviger]

At 5'11" those bars I posted are going to force you forward some, maybe not as much as you want, $50.00 isn't a lot to find out though.

About the claw... if you ever find a solution to make gripping with knees reasonably close to sportbike I would love to hear it. I find I have to really weight the inner foot to compensate on the rocket, and in turn, I end up usually with a lot of ass off the bike to balance on the peg easier. This is all fine and dandy, but when the peg does touch down, it can be quite alarming when you have a lot of weight on the peg! It also forces a weird tensing of the outside arm to hold onto the bike, this inevitably leads to a little wiggle in the front end. All adding up to... less confidence really throwing it into turns than the bike should provide.

ON A PLUS NOTE, I spoke with Race Tech today, I am going to take my fork tubes off and send them to them at some point fairly soon. They will then get the right sizing on the Gold Emulator, springs etc for the R3 Roadster, so the front end doesn't dive like a 1 winged airplane when braking and crash over bumps like Army 5-ton truck. All told, parts and labor should be at or under the 400.00 mark, for uber front end setup custom sprung for the rider.

 

[meanchuck]

You should check out the thread about my rocket, it might give you some ideas. http://www.r3owners.net/threads/my-new-riding-position.5590/