B/S Alert: Exotic Sportbikes

We're starting a new type of commentary with this post: the buyer/seller (B/S) Alert. Specifically, we will use these to convey unacceptable interactions with various business entities in the industry.

Recently, an Öhlins SD-121 happened to come into my possession. The only catch was that it was missing the standard bracket (and bolts and ball joint). Finding replacement parts has been difficult at best.

The "missing piece" from my "big Ö":

Imagine the swell of hope I experienced when I found Exotic Sportbikes whose front page reads, "Exotic Sportbike carries all lines of motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel. We can get you anything you need for your sport bike, even if it's not on our site! [emphasis added]" Furthering my assumption that I found the solution to my problem, I read through their Öhlins steeing damper page which notes, "[Exotic Sportbikes] only sells official Ohlins Steering Dampers with Genuine Ohlins Mounting Kits, not the cheap imitations that some of our unscrupulous competitors sell."

I didn't even realize there were "gray market" Öhlins steering dampers, much less that they were cheap and that one had to be unscrupulous to deal in them. Exotic Sportbikes' page went on to explain the differences, such as, "If your [gray market] Ohlins Steering Damper ever needs repairs the parts can be extremely difficult, if not impossible to get." They even had an entirely separate page explaining "how gray market Ohlins Steering Dampers can be dangerous".

I immediately sent an e-mail describing my situation (with the above picture attached so there wouldn't be any confusion):

To: Sales@ExoticSportbike.com
From: [snipped]
Subject:
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2006 23:31:31
    -0700

I was looking at your Ohlins
page:

http://...

I have a SD-121 but I am missing
the bracket:

[picture]

I believe the bracket itself is
Ohlins part number 02252-01, but
I am also missing the ball joint,
screws, etc. Is there any chance
I can order one of these full
assemblies through you guys? If
so, how much does one cost?
Thanks!

...

I received a terse response:

From: "Sales@ExoticSportbike"
    <Sales@ExoticSportbike.com>
To: [snipped]
Subject: Re:
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 14:42:51
    -0400

Sorry we do not have it.

I wrote back and pointed out the irony of publishing claims that they could get any part and that one shouldn't buy "gray market" Öhlins steering dampers lest one not be able to get replacement parts when they couldn't actually get replacement parts for my "official" Öhlins steering damper despite them being and "official" reseller. To which I received a short inquiry:

From: Sales@ExoticSportbike.com
Subject: Re: Re:
Date: August 29, 2006 12:08:08
    PDT
To: [snipped]

Did you order the damper from
us? What name was the order
under and I will look it up.

Ride Safe,
Mike

While I always appreciate a reminder to be safe on two wheels, I wasn't sure how the question posed was relevant. If they couldn't get parts, they couldn't get parts.

I don't have much patience for corporations who attempt to scare consumers into paying inflated prices on artificially-limited goods. Especially for those who—when the deception is no longer profitable—are quick to abandon customers who (literally) bought into the fear. While I suspect the copy on their Öhlins pages comes from Parts Unlimited or Öhlins itself, they still proliferate the message and benefit from it.

Part Review: Renthal Road Race Grips

Quality:	+	+	+	-	-	(3 out of 5)
Functionality:	+	+	-	-	-	(2 out of 5)
Appearance:	+	+	-	-	-	(2 out of 5)
Value:	+	+	+	-	-	(3 out of 5)
Overall:	+	+	-	-	-	(2 out of 5)
Pros:	grippy if you buy these, you get exactly what Jamie Hacking gets
Cons:	might as well be painted on based on how much vibration they communicate use limited to one crash only

Introduction

The stock grips on most sportbikes are notoriously hard and slippery. The manufacturer of your particular model may be dealing with vibration issues in the 8,000 - 10,000 RPM range for a third straight year, but unfortunately, you don't get a free upgrade when (if!) they finally address the problem. Stock grips don't do much to insulate you from the idiosyncratic oscillations of all those moving parts underneath you. Aftermarket grips are often an inexpensive way to incrementally improve ergonomics and put some distance between your hands and your drive train.

I decided to replace the stock grips on my 2005 R6 with a pair of Renthal medium-compound Road Race grips. My decision was based partly on my noticing that (soft-compound) Renthals were used on the Graves Motorsports bikes (and I figured Graves and Jamie Hacking knew what they were doing). I opted for the medium compound in the hopes that they would hold up a little better (I wasn't interested in replacing them after every track day).

Impression

The grips were a little thinner than the stock ones on my R6. The diamond grip looked...well...grippy. There's nothing that really stood out about Renthal's Road Race grips, and I liked that. I didn't care if they were cute or if they had three-color, multi-compound inlays; I just wanted them to work.

Yup, it's a grip:

Installation

The hardest part of installing aftermarket grips is getting the stock ones off. They are usually glued on by a professional gluer who more often than not really knows what he or she is doing. I find the best results for stock grip removal usually come from an iterative use of a small flat-head screwdriver, and air compressor (optional, but very helpful), some silicone spray and a lot of elbow grease.

First, I slip the screwdriver underneath stock grip and try to pry the rubber away from the bar (or throttle). I'll sweep around and around until I get about 0.5" in all the way around. Then I will use compressed air to try to separate the grip further. Between attempts with the air, I'll shove the straw from my silicone spray as far in as I can and apply a liberal amount of the spray. Then I wrench the grip back and forth with my hands to see how much of the glue I can break loose. I keep repeating this until I can pull the grip off. The silicone is a necessity (for me anyway), since it eliminates me fighting with the natural friction between the rubber and the bar and makes it easier to apply my efforts solely to the glue. bigpuss says that in a pinch, you can use WD-40 instead of silicone spray, but I find that silicone spray is easier to clean off if you ever intend to use the grips again (you do not want them to be lubed with anything that won't evaporate quickly when they go on).

I should mention that whenever I put grips on, I don't use grip glue. I find that if I clean the inner portion of the grip and use some isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) as temporary lubricant to get them into position, safety wire and the grips' natural friction is plenty to keep them from moving around. Your mileage may vary however.

The packaging is a little more exciting:

Use

Right away I was impressed by the control. These grips were definitely a lot grippier than stock and I didn't have to squeeze nearly as much to be able to twist the throttle.

Almost immediately thereafter, however, I noticed an odd buzzing sensation in my fingers and hands. After about an hour on the rode, my hands were numb (which was unusual for me). The '05 R6 tended to exhibit some "interesting" vibrations inside of certain RPM ranges. Unfortunately, these seemed to be where I spent most of my time on the road. This may have been exaggerated by the fact that I had replaced my stock bar end weights with aftermarket Delron ones (which weight far less).

On the track I hardly noticed the vibration at all, but I was only out for (at most) 20 minutes at a time. I wouldn't be able to guarantee I would be as happy after 45 minutes.

I had an...uh...opportunity to see how they held up in a crash when I low-sided at Willow Springs and I have to say these are pretty delicate in the face of adversity in the form of tarmac and gravel. The crash-side grip was torn away from the throttle which was doubly impressive considering the end of the bar was protected by my bar ends. All I can say is that when you crash, everything seems to come in contact with dirt and rocks in one way or another.

Conclusion

I can't say I'd get these again. While they certainly improved my grip, they put me a little too close to my engine vibrations for my tastes. That might be improved by moving to the softer compound, but I'm fearful that those will hold up even less well. For now, I'll keep looking for something better.

Christopher Matthews On The US MotoGP

Christopher Matthews has written a surprisingly scathing review of the US MotoGP. We found it to be pretty informative and think you will too.