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A friend and I were riding a twisty road today. He is a pretty good rider, and rides an 04' Suzuki Marauder 800 cruiser. I ride an RC51. We were about out of the twisty part heading back, when I went into a 20mph rated 90 deg. corner. I saw gravel on the corner, so I slowed down, but I guess it wasn't enough. There was either dirt or sand on the corner also, and my rear stepped out but caught traction again before I even knew it.
When we got back, Joey looked at my bike and noticed that my plate was bent. The whole plate is bent back some starting just below the bracket I made, and there is an oval area in the middle of the bottom edge that is pushed back where the tire obvously caught it. The bike has a Dussalt undertail with the plate mounted in the 'normal' position, just a bit behind the plate light.
The plate has been fine up until now, so do you guys think that the near lowside described above caused it? Joey told me that it looked like the bike squatted quite a bit, and he says it also squats some when I get on the throttle. I can feel it, but didn't think it was that bad. It feels fairly stable in the corners, other than I do think I can feel the rear squatting because when you start to drive out of a corner it almost feels like the rear is going to give sometimes but it doesn't. The bike was bought used and I set the suspension settings back to stock because from what I've read, it was designed for a rider close to my weight, which is about 170-173. However, with all my gear I probably weigh closer to 190 (suit alone weighs 10lbs), so that may be the problem. So, any opinions? Should I leave it as is, or adjust the suspension, and if I should adjust it, what should I add and how much, at least as a starting point?
BTW- I just took a measurement and it is right at 2.5 inches from the top of the tire to the bottom edge of the plate.
When we got back, Joey looked at my bike and noticed that my plate was bent. The whole plate is bent back some starting just below the bracket I made, and there is an oval area in the middle of the bottom edge that is pushed back where the tire obvously caught it. The bike has a Dussalt undertail with the plate mounted in the 'normal' position, just a bit behind the plate light.
The plate has been fine up until now, so do you guys think that the near lowside described above caused it? Joey told me that it looked like the bike squatted quite a bit, and he says it also squats some when I get on the throttle. I can feel it, but didn't think it was that bad. It feels fairly stable in the corners, other than I do think I can feel the rear squatting because when you start to drive out of a corner it almost feels like the rear is going to give sometimes but it doesn't. The bike was bought used and I set the suspension settings back to stock because from what I've read, it was designed for a rider close to my weight, which is about 170-173. However, with all my gear I probably weigh closer to 190 (suit alone weighs 10lbs), so that may be the problem. So, any opinions? Should I leave it as is, or adjust the suspension, and if I should adjust it, what should I add and how much, at least as a starting point?
BTW- I just took a measurement and it is right at 2.5 inches from the top of the tire to the bottom edge of the plate.