Hope it's of some use...
Thunderace suspension setup
Thunderace suspension setup
Not sure if this is somewhere on this forum already (couldn't find it with a search) but this is a PB article from about 98/99 (I think).
Hope it's of some use...
Hope it's of some use...
Not sure what's happened to the attachment... below is the text (can't seem to get the pics in this post)
Yamaha YZF1000R Thunderace Setup
From: Performance Bike Magazine Article
Thunderace not handling as well as you think it should? All the boys on the latest bikeshaving to wait for you at every roundabout? If you spend all your time in the Little Chef nappy-changing area when you're out on a breakfast run listen-up Thunderace kids. Help is at hand... Thunderaces are heavy old chaps by today's slimline standards, but they can still just about cut it with the best of the new kids on your block if you set them up properly.
The bike we are using has a pretty representative 14,500 miles on it and is in good nick. We gave the bike a general look over before naffing off to Donington Park for a track day Mission: to get in the way the experts while finding the required settings to make the Thunderace a sweeter handler. We put all the suspension adjustment back to the stock positions and took it out for some tentative laps. And tentative they were -just bouncing the front end while the bike was stationery made you feel sick. It may as well not have any suspension damping at all.
It didn't take us long to find the standard setup's limits. The bike was wallowing badly through Schwantz Curve Gust after the Old Hairpin) and dragging its hero blobs almost everywhere. It lacked feel at both ends and turned-in like a Harley Fat Boy. Mid-corner it was a handful too: All it took was a breath on the throttle and the rear would squat, unweighting the front tyre andletting the bike plough to the outside of corners. It's a shame really, because the engine is a joy and
the frame as strong as an ox. Back in the pits, we noticed the tyres were looking reallybattle-scarred, even though they'd only done ten laps. They where ripping away in chunks, a clearsign the tyre was being over�worked by badly set-up suspension.
We started the treatment by adding two steps of spring preload to the rear shock, and upped the compression four clicks while the rebound was upped three clicks. The tie- wrap we always attach to the forks to indicate the travel used had buried itself in the yoke, so we knew all the travel was being used. The forks got similar treatment to the shock. We turned the spring preload adjusters in another ring, the compression was upped five clicks and the rebound damping got six clicks added. The hero blobs came off and we went out for another session. The bike now, at least, looked like it wasn't a fish out of water We managed to pass a few people and got the tyres up to a respectable temperature without ripping the hell out of them. The YZF wasn't decking out quite as much now, but we noticed the aluminium end-can had touched down in a couple of places.
There were complaints the bike took a lot of time to settle after you turned it into a corner and someone mumbled: " Man, this thing doesn't let me know what it's doing. I'm not sure if the front is tucking or sticking as the bike turns. It sort of floats." Translated, this means it lacks feedback. So, we added more compression damping front and back to hopefully stop the floating feeling. We added a step on the rear spring and hoped that it would be enough as the there was only one position left to use.
Back on track, the bike was reborn. It was hooking up and going good enough that a couple of the R1 track-type geezers had to come up to check what we were doing. They were quite upset that we'd managed to run around the outside of them at Maclean's and then hold them off down the straight all the way to the braking point (Oh Pete, you're such a hero -ed).
And brake the Thunderace does. It was the first bike to get the Sumitomo calipers that have graced Yamaha's sportsbike range ever since. They are among the best out there and, although we noted some fade, they still had the power to get the big Yam stopped lap in, lap out.
On the road, the track settings where a bit harsh on the arse but the bike turned so much better that we found ourselves putting up with it. The Thunderace might not be the choice of steed for, say, a Superstock race, but with careful tweaking you'll never be last to the Little Thief. Oh yeah, and it'll do all that two-up sports touring stuff too if you really want it to
1� First step is to get it on with some rear ������� ���
preload. We ended up one step off max �leaving 5mm of static sag
2 Rear rebound damping is dialled to within
three clicks of max -three up from where we started fiddling with it
3 Four clicks added at the easy-to-get-at rear compression adjuster. The final setting was within two clicks of maximum
4 The front end was super-soft to start with, burying the stanchions into the sliders. 30mm
of static sag, had things moving in the...

5. right direction. This was achieved by winding the preload adjusters in until just two of the indicator rings were showing
6 [endif]Up ping compression damping slows the rate
of the fork dive. Peter, the one who interferes with toothy rodents, settled on four...
7� ...clicks off max. When it came to rebound damping, PB's very own caribou- shagger
was happy at seven clicks from max
8� Get a spod to lift the bike's arse and measure between �a fixed point at the spindle and one on the tailpiece
9� Now let the bike settle and re- measure. The measured difference is your 'static sag'.
In this case it is merely 5mm
10� If you do any major tampering with rear ride height,
make sure you check the chain is still tensioned correctly afterwards

11 [endif]Yo u'll be wasting your time if you try to get your bike handing �all proper like with the Wrong pressures in them there black things
12 [endif]T he end result of Moose Boy's endeavors. �Nice even effects, but could be a bit cleaner -just like his DVDs
Yamaha YZF1000R Thunderace Setup
From: Performance Bike Magazine Article
Thunderace not handling as well as you think it should? All the boys on the latest bikeshaving to wait for you at every roundabout? If you spend all your time in the Little Chef nappy-changing area when you're out on a breakfast run listen-up Thunderace kids. Help is at hand... Thunderaces are heavy old chaps by today's slimline standards, but they can still just about cut it with the best of the new kids on your block if you set them up properly.
The bike we are using has a pretty representative 14,500 miles on it and is in good nick. We gave the bike a general look over before naffing off to Donington Park for a track day Mission: to get in the way the experts while finding the required settings to make the Thunderace a sweeter handler. We put all the suspension adjustment back to the stock positions and took it out for some tentative laps. And tentative they were -just bouncing the front end while the bike was stationery made you feel sick. It may as well not have any suspension damping at all.
It didn't take us long to find the standard setup's limits. The bike was wallowing badly through Schwantz Curve Gust after the Old Hairpin) and dragging its hero blobs almost everywhere. It lacked feel at both ends and turned-in like a Harley Fat Boy. Mid-corner it was a handful too: All it took was a breath on the throttle and the rear would squat, unweighting the front tyre andletting the bike plough to the outside of corners. It's a shame really, because the engine is a joy and
the frame as strong as an ox. Back in the pits, we noticed the tyres were looking reallybattle-scarred, even though they'd only done ten laps. They where ripping away in chunks, a clearsign the tyre was being over�worked by badly set-up suspension.
We started the treatment by adding two steps of spring preload to the rear shock, and upped the compression four clicks while the rebound was upped three clicks. The tie- wrap we always attach to the forks to indicate the travel used had buried itself in the yoke, so we knew all the travel was being used. The forks got similar treatment to the shock. We turned the spring preload adjusters in another ring, the compression was upped five clicks and the rebound damping got six clicks added. The hero blobs came off and we went out for another session. The bike now, at least, looked like it wasn't a fish out of water We managed to pass a few people and got the tyres up to a respectable temperature without ripping the hell out of them. The YZF wasn't decking out quite as much now, but we noticed the aluminium end-can had touched down in a couple of places.
There were complaints the bike took a lot of time to settle after you turned it into a corner and someone mumbled: " Man, this thing doesn't let me know what it's doing. I'm not sure if the front is tucking or sticking as the bike turns. It sort of floats." Translated, this means it lacks feedback. So, we added more compression damping front and back to hopefully stop the floating feeling. We added a step on the rear spring and hoped that it would be enough as the there was only one position left to use.
Back on track, the bike was reborn. It was hooking up and going good enough that a couple of the R1 track-type geezers had to come up to check what we were doing. They were quite upset that we'd managed to run around the outside of them at Maclean's and then hold them off down the straight all the way to the braking point (Oh Pete, you're such a hero -ed).
And brake the Thunderace does. It was the first bike to get the Sumitomo calipers that have graced Yamaha's sportsbike range ever since. They are among the best out there and, although we noted some fade, they still had the power to get the big Yam stopped lap in, lap out.
On the road, the track settings where a bit harsh on the arse but the bike turned so much better that we found ourselves putting up with it. The Thunderace might not be the choice of steed for, say, a Superstock race, but with careful tweaking you'll never be last to the Little Thief. Oh yeah, and it'll do all that two-up sports touring stuff too if you really want it to
1� First step is to get it on with some rear ������� ���
preload. We ended up one step off max �leaving 5mm of static sag
2 Rear rebound damping is dialled to within
three clicks of max -three up from where we started fiddling with it
3 Four clicks added at the easy-to-get-at rear compression adjuster. The final setting was within two clicks of maximum
4 The front end was super-soft to start with, burying the stanchions into the sliders. 30mm
of static sag, had things moving in the...

5. right direction. This was achieved by winding the preload adjusters in until just two of the indicator rings were showing
6 [endif]Up ping compression damping slows the rate
of the fork dive. Peter, the one who interferes with toothy rodents, settled on four...
7� ...clicks off max. When it came to rebound damping, PB's very own caribou- shagger
was happy at seven clicks from max
8� Get a spod to lift the bike's arse and measure between �a fixed point at the spindle and one on the tailpiece
9� Now let the bike settle and re- measure. The measured difference is your 'static sag'.
In this case it is merely 5mm
10� If you do any major tampering with rear ride height,
make sure you check the chain is still tensioned correctly afterwards

11 [endif]Yo u'll be wasting your time if you try to get your bike handing �all proper like with the Wrong pressures in them there black things
12 [endif]T he end result of Moose Boy's endeavors. �Nice even effects, but could be a bit cleaner -just like his DVDs
PB Suspension setup info
Thanks, Stig.... I couldn't find it in the Tech data....
not sure where you mean.
not sure where you mean.