Scura suspension?

[pete roper]

OK, so I'm seriously interested in theis 'ere Scura. Apart from the exploding clutch I seem to remember that the other bug-bear that Scuras suffered from was rather *odd* choices of spring rates bith front and rear.

 

I did have one bloke with a Scura as a customer briefly who dumped his in the first week or so of ownership because it was handling so weirdly, (Or so he said.) I think that this bike is now owned by one of the board members here? Mr. Forrest maybe?? I can remember taking it for a ride and I couldn't really get it to misbehave too badly. From memory it seemed horribly over-sprung but with any new machine the suspension is going to be stiffer than when it has broken in a bit and I wasn't able to do any messing around with it as this was pre-agency days and I didn't want to risk invalidating his warranty.

 

So, question is, am I imagining things or was there some issue with spring rates on Scuras and/or other Ohlins equipped bikes? If so what was it and if it was, as I suspect, the springs what have others done about it?

 

If I'm going to buy a machine sight unseen and get the clutch replaced before galavanting around the USA on it I'd like to ensure that all of the *obvious* things that need fixing are fixed on it BEFORE I find I've got an unrideable pig by which time I'm going to be in the middle of Bumf*ck New Mexico!

 

As I've said before my experience with V11's is far from great. They are a fairly rare beast in Oz even compared to other Guzzis so I don't tend to see them that often so any help is appreciated.

 

Pete

[Baldini]

Pete,

 

For people of normal weight (you & me) the Scura is hopelessly UNDERsprung. I couldn't get decent sag w/o maxing out preload. First thing to do is new springs front & back. Easy enough to do. That makes it rideable.

 

If you want better, next thing is have shock revalved w less high speed compression damping - if you can be arsed. I still haven't done mine & enjoy riding it - well, would do if it wasn't in the shed in bits waiting on me putting in the RAM clutch. 19k miles - flywheel still in one piece but showing signs of same damage as has occurred on others.

 

Otherwise: Scura is far & away best looking of V11's, nice, roomy ride, Ohlins are nicely built if wrongly spec'd & clutch is lovely to use until it explodes. Let me know next time you're UK.

 

Take it easy,

 

Keith

[waspp]

I have found my Rosso Corsa to be very harsh with the standard factory settings. Not wanting to get totally lost with all those "clicks" I found some info on Guzzi tech about setting up a Scura suspension. It gave me a better starting point and I found when done the ride quality improved greatly and still very solid in the corners. The spring preload in the rear ended up close to the factory settings while the front spring preload was significantly less.

 

Hal

[docc]

. . . I'm going to be in the middle of Bumf*ck New Mexico!

 

As I've said before my experience with V11's is far from great. They are a fairly rare beast in Oz even compared to other Guzzis so I don't tend to see them that often so any help is appreciated.

 

Pete

 

And all this time I thought 'Bumf*ck' was in Egypt.

 

Wouldn't the Scuras all also have the blistering driveline paint?

[pete roper]

 

Wouldn't the Scuras all also have the blistering driveline paint?

 

Yeah, it's the engine paint that goes manky. To be honest that worries me not a jot

 

Pete

[macguzzi]

Been pissing about with my Scura suspension for two years I weigh 12 stones and have found the best settings are the softest it also helps to drop the forks through the yokes sharpens up the steering, tyre choice is critical I am now running BT 014,s nice and sticky compared with the BT020. In general a shit handling bike now handling as it should. Standard set up is way to stiff.

[Guest ratchethack]

This seems to be one of those places where one of Antonio's finest observations seems to fit:

 

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMM?????????

 

Undersprung? Oversprung?

 

Now I have no experience with the Scura wotsoever, but you guys are confusing me.

 

How about matching spring rates to load so sags can be properly set?? This typically involves determining wot spring rates are to start with (as accurately as may be possible) and if necessary, swapping out rates to get the sags in a target range with preload.

 

I see rider weights mentioned but no mention of spring rates by number (Nm, lbs./in, kg/mm, etc.) Isn't this a bit like trying to weigh something without a relative measure or scale?? How long is a string?

 

Or is everyone just kinda shootin' in the dark here?

 

After the rates and preloads are set to come up with target sags, the basics are typically covered, and at that point the damping adjustment begins, starting at the low end and dialing them up incrementally.

 

I've heard many a rider with hopelessly undersprung forks say *with conviction* that the springs are too stiff! Wot this usually means is that he's riding around with wimpy sacked out springs on less than an inch of fork travel on the air spring, which is indeed a HARSH ride!!

 

Seems to me way too many riders go about this backwards by messing with damping without getting spring rates and sags right to begin with. IMHO this is a non-starter. It's like trying to find out how fast you can ride your Guzzi without putting the wheels on first. . .

 

BAA, TJM, & YMMV

[Guest Nogbad]

Well don't rule this out Hacker, if you remember when I measured my fork sag my euro spec V11 turned out to have much stiffer springs than you guys over the pond are equipped with. Given the lamentable stock control at Mandello it isn't inconceivable you could have soft springs, hard springs or even mixed springs depending on the day of the week, the time of the day and the strength of the wine in the Luigi concerned.

[Guest ratchethack]

I'm not ruling out any different spring rates anywhere from Mandello, Nog. The Luigi's may well have shipped different spring rates according to the phase of the moon. But regardless of wot rates you're starting with, if you don't at least do an analysis of sags up front, you're dealin' with a pig in a poke. There's no basis for a starting point, and not much of a clue which way to go -- or even if any improvement may be had over wot y'er startin' with. . .

[docc]

 

 

Or is everyone just kinda shootin' in the dark here?

 

 

 

Scura pun?

[Baldini]

I weigh 210lb in gear. A rider of my wt will not be able to get suspension to work on stock springs. For us the Scura is UNDERSPRUNG. Pete is at least as heavy as me, so he will need springs at least as heavy as mine. As I recall, stock fork springs are 8.5N/mm. I put in 10N/mm. Shock is 85N/mm, I put on 100N/mm. I think now should have gone slightly heavier on the shock. I think Greg used a 105?

 

Messing round w damping w/o respringing is p***ing in the wind.

 

Pete may wish to quote his wt to a decent Ohlins shop who will rec springs for him. Course he may opt to max preload & bounce merrily around the countryside - he is a free man & I believe, currently on a different continent to the Scura, so quite how he is going to measure his sag figures is anybody's guess.

 

There is a thread somewhere already dealt w all this stuff.

 

KB

[Guest ratchethack]

Thank you, Keith!!

 

Measuring Pete's sags remotely should be simply a matter of finding a similar weight rider -- or one, er, shall we say, less gravitationally endowed, wearing an Ambo flywheel or 2 on his head.

 

Now does anyone have a clue wot rate springs are actually in the Scura of Pete's desire?

 

Lest there's no difference 'twixt the twain, I reckon it oughta be easy enough to scrape up a collection to get wot Pete needs and get 'em installed.

 

I seem to be on the wrong end of the aforementioned journey, or I'd offer to install the springs myself well in advance. But if we can find a volunteer somewhere near the right geography to do the honors, I'd at least be in for a contribution to cover parts and shipping.

 

And while we're at it, can't we find a taker for that silly 5.5" rear wheel and get that swapped out at the same time?? The man's got a Metz Z6 on his Griso that he seems to like just fine. We oughta be able to scrape up a proper 160/60 somewhere that could be fitted up.

 

Give the man somethin' sensible f'er his ride to the middle of Bumf*ck New Mexico, f'er cryin' out loud!

[waspp]

Scuras must be sprung different than the corsa models, my Rosso spring preload on the forks is set at 6 turns from full soft ..works just fine the stock setting was very harsh. I am about 180lbs without gear.

[Guest ratchethack]

RC's came with externally adjustable fork preload?

 

FWIW -- I don't mean to be presumptuous here, but it may be helpful to understand that there's no way to overcome an incorrect match of spring rate to load with preload adjustment of any kind.

[FuelCooler]

 

And while we're at it, can't we find a taker for that silly 5.5" rear wheel and get that swapped out at the same time??

 

I will absolutely swap my spare silver 4.5" w/ 160/60 Pilot Sport for that 5.5". I will even pay ground shipping each way as long as it is in the USA's lower 48. Let me know when you want to do it, as my wheel is collecting dust!

 

Cheers,

Steve