We May Be Hibernating, but We're Using Less Oil!

Full disclosure: lugnut is an AMSOIL dealer and SynthLubes™ is his website.

bigpuss and I may have been in hibernation for the past couple of years, but we’re still alive! Between our own familial, educational and professional commitments, we’ve had little time to enjoy the hobby of motorcycling and motorcycle racing.

But we both hope to be back to it in some capacity soon. I have a ton of how-tos I'd like to finish writing. So keep an eye on this space.

In the mean time, you can help support us and something we feel passionately about: reducing the amount of engine oil you use. Don’t be misled by fast lube companies and their suppliers. Switch to AMSOIL. It’s better for your engine. It’s easier on your pocketbook. It’s better for the environment.

Shameless Cross Promotion: New Big Pussycat™ Shirt

Big Pussycat™ has a new shirt design. <ShamelessPlug>We highly recommend you check it out.</ShamelessPlug>

Get 'em while they're hot:

Review: GP Suspension

Quality:	+	+	+	+	+	(5 out of 5)
Functionality:	+	+	+	+	+	(5 out of 5)
Appearance:	+	+	+	+	-	(4 out of 5)
Value:	+	+	+	+	+	(5 out of 5)
Overall:	+	+	+	+	+	(5 out of 5)
Pros:	Cutting edge technology Race tested Quality workmanship Good service High value (compared to what else is out there)
Cons:	Limited locations (you can go to Oregon or check their race schedule) No bling? (I took one point off in "Appearance" because I know some of you need that visual reassurance of your superiority—shame on you)

Introduction

The first thing we change when we get new bikes is the suspension. Pure and simple, no other modification gives better return on the dollar than having someone fit your bike's suspension and geometry to your body and riding style. Most motorcycles are shipped with a standard suspension setup that works sufficiently for a wide range of possible riders. But, when you start pushing your machine past leisurely riding, the difference between stock and properly-tuned is night and day.

We struck out to find the best suspension we could. Not the most expensive, or most popular, or most prestigious, or the one that would look the best in the parking lot. No, we were looking for the one that would work.

Initial Findings

We found many vendors who offer a variety of motorcycle suspension parts and services, but we quickly learned that merely buying new parts was a good way to spend money with little or negative return. Aftermarket suspension components aren't cheap, and if they're mismatched or not tuned properly, they may actually do more harm than good.¹ To that end, we wanted a custom setup—similar to what is provided to racers—and we wanted it at a reasonable price.

Naturally, we decided to ask around the AMA pits. Understandably, most factory teams and some other well-funded teams have their own devoted in-house suspension people. But, for those that didn't, a few names consistently came up. One of those names was GP Suspension.

In Their Own Words

If you take a moment to peruse the GP Suspension website, you'll probably find yourself in the products section. Now, I'm not going to claim I know much of anything about suspension and why one product works better than another, but I will say that I liked what I didn't see. I didn't see a laundry list of part numbers accompanied by "buy it now" buttons. After all, we were looking for later braking, quicker turn-in, more corner speed, better traction, etc.—and I've never seen a "shopping cart" that can deliver any of those things.

Now, this does have a perceived downside. Everyone I know, myself included, enjoys the convenience of clicking their mouse and having their needs fulfilled—but as we would find out later, no such thing exists when it comes to motorcycle suspension. You should be wary of anyone who promises you immediate suspension gratification through a website or store-shelf.

Third Party Validation

Don't believe us (we don't). Ask some real motorcycle riders/journalists. Before we committed our suspension bits to GP Suspension, we checked the literature. We found a 2005 article by Sport Rider Magazine's "roving senior editor Trevitt" as he tested "the latest aftermarket suspension technology from GP Suspension." The write-up can be found here.

Our Experience

We were immediately impressed by GP Suspension's approach—they didn't try and up-sell us on superfluous expensive products. They wanted to make our suspension work. For example, and this may actually hurt them as far as getting their word out, they spend most of their money on R&D versus marketing. They work directly with Öhlins and Penske to ensure that they are on the cutting edge of suspension technology. They seem reluctant to promote any component based on anything other than performance. For those who only want gold and chrome, you need not apply. If you want the best of the best, get in line—GP Suspension's reputation for shaving seconds off lap times has made them a busy bunch.

Their services range from simple adjustments of current/stock suspensions to respringing and reworking your suspension with their proprietary valving kits and needles to full race-ready proprietary Supersport Race Cartridges. They are also an authorized dealer and service center for both Penske and Öhlins.

Images shamelessly stolen from GP Suspension:

I was tempted to go for the Supersport Race Cartridges, but after a reality check, I realized I wasn't good enough to really appreciate them (yet). Plus, that realization saved me some much needed cash and Mr. Trevitt had been nice enough to cover the racing cartridges in his review. I had GP Suspension rework my stock Showa forks with their valving kits, compression needles and new "hefty" springs for my less-than-sexy-in-leathers self. For the rear, I got a Penske shock reworked to GP Suspension standards with (another) "hefty" spring. The only ascetic difference I saw on my forks was the sticker. Everything fit right back on the bike easily. The Penske shock did add a bit of visible status enhancement though, and I must admit that I felt kind of good about that (shame on me).

Forks and shock:

When I made the order, they asked for crucial information such as height, weight, bike model, etc. Using that data, they try and preset the components they send back to you. But the bike won't truly be set up until you get them installed and have the preload, compression, damping, etc. adjusted properly. Even before I had the final tweaking done, I noticed a huge difference over my stock setup. However, once I started pushing the bike, the "wavy line" on the edge of my rear tire and accompanying feeling of unease when leaned over indicated that more needed to be done. (That specific problem was solved with a few clicks of compression.)

Once I met up with GP Suspension at a local event and had them make the final adjustments, things were good to go. I've never been happier with my bike's handling. (For the most part, any reputable suspension tuner should be able to get you "closer to good" in making some of these final adjustments.)

Conclusion

Wow! I never knew I could ride this well. In a large part to my suspension, I have mustered the courage to try racing this year. Thus far we've had a very good experience with GP Suspension. In our research we found a few other outfits and tuners on our coast that had very positive reputations and, although we have not used their products, you can contact us for our list. Wether or not you go with GP Suspension, I recommend every rider to spend their customization money on suspension first—and with stock exhausts becoming more ascetically tolerable on some bikes, this may be easier to justify. I know it's tempting to replace your exhaust first, but remember to look for the GP Suspension stickers on that bike with stock exhaust passing you in the corner.

1. Mail-order and internet retailers tend to be the cheapest source of parts. We found that motorcycle suspension is an exception. Although we were able to save a few dollars by buying a new shock online, we blew through those savings (and then some) getting it resprung because it didn't come with the right spring. Additionally, Ebay is a risky proposition. If the part is even usable (by the way, the term "mint" should mean this but it has an entirely different and deceptive meaning on Ebay), you're likely to need to invest hours just in cleaning effort. Furthermore, not only are you likely to need new springs, but the parts are often mistreated and need to be completely gutted to be brought back to spec. Learn from our mistakes and do yourself a favor: spend the extra $50 and buy your parts from your tuner. You will reap the rewards 100 fold.

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.

Vendor Review: 58cycle

Selection:	+	+	+	-	-	(3 out of 5)
Expert Knowledge:	+	+	+	+	-	(4 out of 5)
Ease Of Use:	+	+	+	+	-	(4 out of 5)
Service:	+	+	+	-	-	(3 out of 5)
Pricing:	+	+	+	+	-	(4 out of 5)
Overall:	+	+	+	+	-	(4 out of 5)
Pros:	excellent prices knowledgeable staff free shipping wish list feature available with account
Cons:	some product listings lack pictures/information limited brand selection

Discovery

Finding 58cycle was a complete accident. I was looking for a rather exotic Termignoni exhaust for my 2005 YZF-R6 one day when I stumbled upon an Ebay listing. After getting over my initial sticker shock for the Termignoni, and my disappointment that I wouldn't be owning one anytime soon, I started digging around that seller's other listings and after a short while, came to learn of that seller's external website.

Those who know me know how much I love to profess my disdain for Ebay. My sense is that it is a community of frauds and liers and morons who spend countless hours and dollars making the shareholders of Ebay and UPS very rich. All of this is perpetuated by disproportionately positive water cooler anecdotes about great deals to be found without any mention of the work required to find them or the vast number of feedback hostage situations quietly resolved with, "AAA++++ GREAT EBAYER!!!!". That being said, it is a great research tool for estimating the market value or availability of certain commodities (like bike parts). Oh yeah, and it's great for fencing stolen goods. But if a seller has an item for sale on Ebay and his own separate site, I will almost always prefer the latter.

The Termignoni might have been off the table, but I noticed that 58cycle was not only one of the few US-based Termignoni resellers to make that exhaust available, but it also had some pretty darn good prices on other, more accessible parts. So I bookmarked the site to perhaps return on a rainy day (or at least one on which I had more disposable income).

Well that day soon arrived and I had my first opportunity to make a purchase. However, if it weren't for 58cycle's Ebay listings, I probably never would have found them. They aren't among the usual suspects when doing a Froogle or Yahoo! Shopping search, and I don't believe I've ever seen them advertise anywhere.

Presentation

I initially researched two applications for our Gilles rearsets purchase: my 2005 YZF-R6 and bigpuss's 2001 CBR-600F4i. 58cycle did not offer the absolute lowest price we could find, but they were within a few dollars. They also offered free shipping on orders more than US$100.

We had never seen Gilles rearsets in person before making this purchase. 58cycle's product listing for the R6 had two small photos depicting only the left-side rearset in the Titanium and Black finishes respectively. The product listing for the F4i had one larger photo of the Titanium finish. While they looked tempting in these displays, we wanted something a bit more detailed before committing to such a large purchase. Thankfully, both Google and Yahoo! image searches provided plenty of sufficient visuals. However, it would have been nice to have access to such detail at the point of purchase.

There was some initial confusion resulting from 58cycle's product pages. First, finding the products took some time, as 58cycle's search feature, although more forgiving than most we've found (since it does substring matching by default), was a bit hit-or-miss. For example, a search on their site with the terms "yzf gilles" didn't turn up any results, but "r6 gilles" had about 14 hits, including other Gilles products and other bikes like the Suzuki GSX-R600. Trying to narrow the results using "r6 gilles rearsets" got nothing, but "r6 gilles rear set" yielded three results, one for each different R6 body type.

Second, we were able to find one listing appropriate to our R6 entitled "2003-2005 Yamaha R6 Fully Adjustable Gilles Racing Rear Sets", but when researching our F4i, we found two applicable listings: "2001-2002 Honda CBR 600 F4i Fully Adjustable Gilles Racing Rear Sets" and "2001-2005 Honda CBR 600 F4i Fully Adjustable Gilles Racing Rear Sets - Not Reverse Shift". The only differences between the two F4i product pages (including the photos and the price) were the titles and a note on the latter indicating, "These Gilles Rear Sets are not Reverse Shift Capable." Was the first capable of both? Was there something different about it that it could only be installed on a 2001-2002? We weren't sure.

Additional research into other sources enlightened us that the R6 rearsets were capable of both regular and GP shift patterns depending on their installation, but the F4i rearsets were fixed (i.e., one had to commit to a single shift pattern at the time of purchase). Also, either of the F4i rearsets would fit all years and one was not limited to 2001-2002 for the GP shift pattern.

One feature of 58cycle's website that sets it apart from most others is its wish list. Its use requires that you either have or create an account, but it was extremely convenient both in our research of rearsets as well as the ability to conveniently save other goodies we might have happened across.

Service

In the process of researching rearsets, I figured I'd e-mail 58cycle's customer service <info@58cycle.com> to ask for clarification on the features and years for the two Honda listings. For fun, I also threw in a question to see if Termignoni made a slip-on version of their Bel Grada full system. Days passed and I received no reply. I resent the e-mail and again suffered no response. I kept a watchful eye on my spam folder in case responses were sent, but sucked into the abyss before I had a chance to read them. Still nothing.

Eventually I called them up (their phone number is listed on their site). I spoke with a woman who's name I can no longer recall. I asked about the Termignoni, the rearsets and some other gadgets I had been eyeing. I quickly felt like I might have caught her just after she spilled coffee on her keyboard or something since her patience for my seemingly endless barrage of questions was appearing to wear thin. Although she wasn't the friendliest person on the planet, she was extremely knowledgeable about the products 58cycle carried. She (not-so-carefully) explained that she was not aware that Termignoni made a slip-on version of the Bel Grada system, but even if they did, it was not likely to be imported into the United States. She quickly verified our independent research regarding the Honda rearsets and picked off my other challenges like Ken Jennings. She never once tried to end the call early or encourage me to find answers elsewhere.

Acquisition

Checking out was easy. What was really nice was the ability to get a shipping cost estimate without having to provide a credit card number. For some reason, it always makes me uneasy when sites ask for my payment information before they tell me what the total will be, so it was nice to see 58cycle does The Right Thing™. Another courtesy 58cycle provides is the ability to check out without having to create a customer account. We decided to create one anyway, since it was necessary to use the wish list feature.

Our total cost for the transaction was US$448.95. After the order was placed, the rearsets arrived in about a week and in perfect condition.

Conclusion

I don't know much about the people behind 58cycle. My impression is that it is a small mom-and-pop shop that is technologically advanced for its size and is run by dedicated, hard-working folks. Their prices can be beat, but not by much, and the free shipping for orders of a certain size can really seal the deal for bargain hunters. Overall, I would say my experience was pleasant, the overall value was excellent, and I intend to return (if only to get a few more things in my wish list).