This big girl needs a damper!
I was out yesterday 12 to 6pm and had a blast!!
However over hills and other rough surfaces she got very loose on the front end! and no I'm not death gripping the bars but I am on the throttle!

I read a few posts that mentioned they didn't feel the need for a damper so my question is what the hell was I doing wrong (if that may be the case) ?? Cause I'm not taking her back out until I install my damper that's sitting in my parts box!

Otherwise cornering on this beast was fantastic felt planted are very stable until the road got uneven.. But even then I still felt I had control I just wasn't inspecting it... She doesn't react as fast as my 10R did but that's expected and not an issue at all! Cause for once my back,shoulders and wrist didn't hurt and that was a long ride for my first ride in a few months...

The marc1 windscreen was a little disappointment as it let massive amounts of air directly in face at high speeds which leaves you with a sore neck the following day... So I may have to change it out for the corsa like I had on my 10 but I'll see what happens after a few more rides...

Well that's about it for now and I'll be installing my damper this week sometime!

Oh she know has 430 miles.! Left the house with 230!

* Last updated by: 06blackpearl on 3/23/2014 @ 9:31 AM *

have you tried any suspension adjustments,how are the tires,is there any play in the steering head bearings?

My neck of the woods is filled with shit roads, but after setting up the suspension for me and my riding style virtually any and all wobble went away. Usually wobble is a sign of something wrong within the suspension setup. A dampner will only mask the real problem. It is wise to sort out your problem first and then install the dampner for more finnese in the machines handling. That's what they are intended for, finnese, not masking poor setup. This machine should and will run stable has shit at any speed and most road conditions, just gotta find that sweet spot for you.

My wobbles went away after stiffening and tightening up the front end and adding more preload to the rear to put more weight transfer to the front to keep it tight to the road. Smooth as glass after that. Find some one that knows what they are doing when it comes to suspension setup or contact Cblast and he will be more than happy to walk you through the setup. He did great with helping me and others on this forum.

Suspension/sag was set already on my first ride this is second time I ride it..

It's on when under throttle and on uneven surface..

Smooth surface acceleration is rock solid!

Tires are good pressure was at 40 front&rear.

I will check the play in steering stem, didn't think of that..

It was not violent but it was there a few times I noticed it but as mentioned only when the road was uneven it may even been on one wheel as I couldn't really tell as the front end is so light (effortless to steer)

* Last updated by: 06blackpearl on 3/24/2014 @ 8:20 PM *

What tires are you running. I had the same feel with mine. Felt like it was twitchy on the front over uneven road surfaces...It came with the metzler M5's...Also you may need to adjust the air pressure. I started air pressues at what I normally run on my bikes.. 30-34 front 32-36 rear...Front end felt twitchy on unever road surfaces. I ended up running the front at 40 psi rear 42 psi.Helped clear up the problem and bike was alot smoother....I also changed to the pilot Road 3's as soon as the Metlzers wore out. Much better feel.

Also check the 2 bolts on the stering neck with the acorn nuts that hold on the display pannel. Me and others have had an issue where they have came loose. I would sugest that you replace the acorn nuts with a self locking nuts or at a minimun locktie those bolts..

Stock tires.. They will be changed once I hit 1k miles.. I have q3's waiting..3

Will go over the bolts ! And my pressure was at 40 on both something I haven't played with yet on this bike..
My 10 ran 32 front 34 rear if I recall correctly..
I defiantly have to find the problem as a lot of roads are bad since we had such a rough winter ... Potholes and craters everywhere ......

Sounds like you are on the right track with tires and a little set-up adjustment. From the wobbles you describe I would be willing to bet ya need a smudge more rear preload, and a click or two tighter in the rebound damping dept. Hard to tell from here. When the chassis shifts weight rearward from acceleration, the front end gets light. This can be offset with a little more preload and rebound to help the tires maintain contact with the road. This is a subtle adjustment and should be done and just record all changes you make so you can go back if a change makes it worse. Small wiggle under accel = soft rear end, needs minor adjustment. Those stock tires are horrible too. I wouldn't even make any suspension adjustments until ya put the new ones on and see how close ya are. Just my 2c!

I wish the windscreen hadn't dissapointed ya, when I switch it back and forth with the stocker, it's a definite improvement, and I like its feel a lot. The Corsa is more the protective bubble. Rode the crap out of the Marc 1 yesterday. Felt good. I like that flow, no buffeting during transitions. No buffeting anywhere I could find. I let the wind flow and I hold myself in that semi kinda athletic tuck and she feels good. If you would like to try a Corsa before purchasing one, I will ship you mine for free and you can run her and see if you like it? How's that sir?

The big monsters are rock solid with out a damper but since I live in pot hole city in the North East I have always had a steering damper on the two zx14's I have owned. IMO its cheap insurance for any unseen road hazard. I use a GPR V4. Really easy to crank up with a gloved hand on the fly.

Though I was gonna loose mine yesterday! Had a nasty tank slapper that scared the shit out of me! Weight on pegs, lean forward, loosey goosey on the grips cures it spontaneously. A hovering front tire and a rough road surface is always a bad combo. I'm starting to second guess myself about not running a dampner. It's quickly moved itself up the list of things to do.

Thanks for the tips guys!!
Cblast I may take you up on that but I honestly need a few more rides as that day there was 20+ mph winds .!

Cornelius .. It's a must for me I already had one but wanted to wait until I got a feel for the bike...