Thought that the old rat bike needed a bit of TLC after its hard life, so scored a very cheap DP racing swing arm cover from eBay which, after a bit of work, has come up very nicely indeed (I think it might actually be a cover for the mag arm as it has previously been cut to fit the chainguard?). Will look nice and spangly once I get the back end all reassembled again with the CF hugger. Also, and much more importantly, fitted a new shock in anticipation of getting the bike on the track sometime this year (hopefully). Its a Nitron R3 which I ordered direct from Nitorn just over three weeks ago. Good to know that British industry is still functioning in these surreal times. Be very interested to hear from anyone who has fitted one of these before as I am considering mounting the remote reservoir under the seat? It is currently mounted where Nitron recommend.
Nitron is nice gear though a shame they dropped the gold ring adjusters on the current model. I have one to put on my Monster too.
I quite like the new colour but, regardless, it does not really show up much as it’s buried high up on the 996.
Nice upgrade! I would leave it accessible until you have got the shock setup right for you on track at least. I guess one consideration for moving it under the seat might be the extra heat? Not an issue under normal use but on a hot track day you might find the shock performance degrading if it’s in the wrong spot.
It’s all about brand identity with shock manufacturers they want people to be able to see it’s their shock you are using. Great if you are Ohlins - not so good for everyone else. I’m sure more people would buy other brands if they came in colours that went better with their bikes.
Just the blue and black from Nitron. The big advantage with them is the shock is built to your weight and spec as stock. Build quality is excellent. I like the blue as it’s s bit different like you say. It was either a new one from Nitron or a used Öhlins which would then have to no doubt be resprung and serviced at more cost.
Back together again. Turned reservoir through 180 degrees as easier to adjust and less unnecessary cable slack. I’ve now also read the manual. The shock comes built with Nitron’s recommended preload, rebound, low and high speed compression for your weight and riding use. I checked the static sag and it’s pretty much bang on what they say it should be so that seems to check out. Just need to press gang a daughter for rider sag check. The canister position is growing on me and I also like the fact that the spring is fully exposed. CF now all back on. Bike ready for action which is frustrating as I’ve only ridden it once in freezing January. Might get it taxed and insured soon to start to test it out gently. Here she is now:
It's looking very nice but IMO (sorry, IMHO) you ought to change the front sprocket cover for a CF one.
No need to be humble. You are right. I will keep my eyes open for a bargain, after all, this one is meant to be more function over form (you’re still right though).
I have about half a dozen of those (c/f etc.) sprocket guards. When I get home I will dig them out so you can choose one, various JHP/DP/RSR. Dymag have also been working flat out all through the lockdown (see my post), but I can’t get the paintshop to finish off my van ffs! Get a nice mono subframe on there and mount the reservoir on there, half under the seat/half out, with the adjuster facing forward so you can access it on the fly!
Thanks Joe, appreciate that. I saw your post on Dymag, very impressive. I have a mono seat (supposedly carbon fibre) for the bike but don’t want to throw too much money at it so no new sub frame. I’m following (or trying too) Cooksters sage words: T - tyres S - suspension B - brakes Tyres next! Cheers
Yup. You know the story, but for the listeners.... I got a set of Gilles grippy pegs and mounting adapter for the bike. Unfortunately the hangers were about 1mm too wide for the OE brackets so they went back. I was pretty surprised as Gilles are good stuff. Now looking at LSL as don’t need rearsets, just the pegs.
I also have a brand new set of JHP air filters (from the man above) which are surplus to requirements. Minimal outlay to get a bit more air through. Oh, and a set of high velocity stacks, etc. etc. etc.
