[ant...]

Personally I think the stock 08 CBR1000RR is slow to turn in, wheelies a bit too much and can sometimes run wide on off camber high speed corners. So ive altered the geometry by dropping the forks 10mm in the tripple clamp, bu apparently this is wrong. Lee's Cycles have developed a new rear shock link for $200 that will correct all these issues properly, personally i cant wait to try one, here's the story:



08 Link

I was having every one of the issues Ken described below at Laguna. I will make is no secret....this bike is a bitch to setup. We knew about the linkage that Corona ran (along with triple clamps)...but we didnt know what it would do if we bought it.

My bike was a freaking beast to ride at Laguna. The bike was freaking wheeling all over the place. The last turn onto the straight was were I was losing at least 2 seconds to the other guys that didnt hang a wheelie down the front straight. Also the bike if setup for the exit..didnt freaking turn in. Needless to say...I am not happy with the way the bike is riding right now and with Ken's explanation below. I think we have found one of the many answers.


Lee’s Cycle 08-09 Honda CBR1000 Rear Link review



Having ridden my 08 CBR1000 on the track for over 12,000 miles, I have a pretty good idea of what the CBR does well and what can be improved. In the rear suspension department, I felt that the rear could either be adjusted for grip or turning, but not quite both. I’ve used the stock shock, an Ohlins TTX and just lately, a factory kit Showa shock and all 3 ended up with the same characteristics I described earlier, just at different levels.

Enter the Lees’s Cycle rear suspension link. Lees’s Cycle in San Diego is quickly becoming one of the leaders in CBR performance and development, so when Jeremy Toye (owner of Lees Cycle) offered to send me a new link to try, I jumped at the chance. The link has been designed with his input as well as other Pro riders and is a 15 minute bolt on affair. It uses factory Honda bearings and comes ready to bolt on.

I installed the link with the only adjustment being resetting my resting ride height to the same height as the stock link. Installing the link raises the rear of the bike approximately 15mm at the rear axle and to get a fair comparison, resetting the ride height to the same level is the way to compare apples to apples.

I rode the bike at Thunderhill with no other suspension changes and right off the bat noticed a difference when opening the throttle to initiate my drives. I could add WAY more throttle earlier and the bike accelerated staying right on line. Not only could I accelerate earlier and harder, I also noticed much less of a tendency for the bike to wheelie. This came to be really a huge deal accelerating over the top of Turn 9 where the track drops away and the bike really wants to pull the front end off the ground. Being able to get really greedy with the throttle saw the bike accelerate with the front end on the ground and I ultimately picked up 400 rpms at my shut-off point for turn 10!

Later in the day, I messed around with a few suspension changes to see how it would react and I ended up taking a little spring out of the shock as well as adding a little bit of compression. What that did was to give me even more grip, better tire wear and still kept the bike in the sweet spot I liked.

So is this a must have? For $200 I think for sure. The bike was easier to ride, held its line better at a bigger throttle setting and it looks like you will be able to run a softer shock setting to get better tire life. I know I am not giving mine back….



Contact Lee’s Cycle at 858.541.2080 or www.leescycle.com


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Ken Hill
KH Coaching