suspension setup

Kudos to us Vixens

February 14, 2013 By Carol Carpenter

Vixens, as riders we tend to start out at a disadvantage, but being female riders I think shows we have “balls” and we definitely do get major credit for that. I believe it takes a certain type of woman to ride, she has to be confident, outgoing and let’s face it the majority of us have quite the personality to boot. Come on, think about it…getting off your bike with helmet in hand, you can start conversations with anyone and they have a huge amount of respect for you, women because they see how strong and independent you are (yes they want to be you) and men because they think it’s sexy (yeah, they can’t help that, it’s the way they are wired). I only state we are at a disadvantage mostly due to the machines we ride, they were developed without us in mind and I mean this in every way. It limits what kind of bikes some of choose to ride because as beginners it is intimidating to climb onto a machine which may weigh up to 300+ pounds more than us, the seat height is too high and we are unable to touch the ground or feel secure in touching it even 3/4 of the way, the handlebars are too far away, the suspension is too stiff for our body weight, etc. The truth is that many of us don’t want a bike we can’t flat foot at a stop and that ends up limiting what types of bikes we choose to ride as our starter bikes. Don’t get me wrong, starting out with a bike you are completely comfortable with to learn the in’s and out’s of motorcycling is incredibly important, but I find that the fear ends up dictating our choices and before we know it we have outgrown the bike we started with and aren’t fully enjoying the ride.

I will make myself an example in this, I bought a Ducati Monster 696 ABS as a starter bike. I wish I would’ve just bought the 796 (the seat height was also a determining factor, it was slightly higher) instead, but because I was being told that the 696 was more power than I would need, I chose my current bike. In the line of Ducati’s it was the one where I could get the most leverage for my feet to touch, but no one mentioned to me that it could be lowered by shaving the seat down, adjusting the suspension, etc. The truth is that dealerships are meant to sell you a bike, they aren’t there to help you enjoy it or get the most out of it, they are there to turn a profit. It is solely up to us to help educate each other and give each other advice that otherwise could not be learned through them. The first week out while on my tiptoes at a stop, I dropped the bike, it was so embarrassing and it really pissed me off. I went back to the dealership and discussed my issue, but the fact that they were guys, they had little (useful) advice to offer or maybe coming from a guy I just tuned them out. At the time, there was a gal named Rachel, that worked once a week at the dealership and she was way shorter than me and also rode. I asked her the same questions I had asked the guys and she was a plethora of information, the first was to have my seat shaved to gain leverage, lowering the bike using lowering links (which I still have a hard time getting behind unless you are only using the bike for pleasure riding and not leaning your bike in any way), suspension (which is still my go to) and just plain old seat time. I shaved the seat and got my suspension done and guess what? I could’ve gotten that 796 I wanted had someone just been a resource for me and told me what I needed to do to get my bike to fit me. Leverage is a huge factor for a beginner, but as you progress and get more seat time, experience and confidence, fully touching the ground doesn’t become a factor (while it is nice) and you can manage with one foot touching. Don’t be afraid to ask other women riders for advice, especially ones who fit your body type, they understand your struggles and will jump right on board to help you get more out of your ride. Sad to say, but we are the minority when it comes to riding so manufacturers concentrate of the major population of riders which happen to be men, so it is that much more imperative that we band together and show the industry that we do matter. I would love to see the day when a woman can walk into a dealership and be greeted by a knowledgable saleswoman, dealerships that offer free setup for women riders, offer workshops on how to maintain your bike, offer discounts to various businesses that can help us customize our bikes to fit, etc…Yeah it’s a pipe dream, but it isn’t impossible. Until that day arrives though, it is up to all of us to help educate and give each other advice on how to absolutely love our rides.

Tell other women riders about us and have them register on the website and like us on Facebook, we are here to help and make this the best online resource there is. If we can improve in any way let us know. We want to provide you with interesting information for riding and for women’s issues as the two go hand in hand. If there is an event you want posted, an issue you want discussed, etc. let us know via email and we will do it. MotoVixens is a community of women riders that are passionate about riding and their health, as riders we must maintain a certain energy level to focus and ride and it is all about being healthy and fit. Here’s to looking at all us fabulous Vixens! Now go out and Ride C.H.I.C!

2 Things You Shouldn’t Skimp On…

November 20, 2012 By Carol Carpenter

This week is a short week so this will be my only blog for the week as we enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with our family and friends. I wish you all a very happy and safe Thanksgiving and hope that the weather is nice enough to get out and ride.

At the Women’s Maintenance Workshop on November 14, 2012 I asked a question: What are the two most important things on your bike, the things you should absolutely not skimp on? Well, for one, tires. That is the one thing that is gripping you to the road, without good tires it doesn’t matter how well you ride, eventually your luck is gonna run out. You need good tires! Traction and keeping both of those tires on the road are paramount, so check the pressure and wear of your tires regularly. Check with your dealership or the manufacturers suggested mileage on the tires and if you even are questioning it, get them looked at for an opinion.

The second thing is suspension. Why suspension? Well, as women we tend to be lighter and shorter than our counterparts so suspension is key to being able to feel confident on the bike. If a bike is set up from the factory for an average 175-200lb. guy who is 5’11”, I don’t know about you, but that bike is going to be hard for me to touch the ground, it will ride like a brick, and forget about confidence at a stop. I always joke that riding isn’t the hard part, when it comes to being height challenged, it is the stopping. Truth be told though, it is the stopping and the backing up, I find it incredibly hard to back into a parking space when I have no leverage. Suspension helps with all that, it helps to allow the bike to sag when you sit so you can touch the ground. When you are new to riding, not being able to touch the ground can be intimidating and will keep you from enjoying riding to the fullest. You have a bike, why not have it set up to fit you so you will want to ride it more? You wouldn’t consider wearing an outfit that didn’t fit properly right? You would get it altered to fit you and look good on you. Same applies for the fit of your bike except for it comes down to feeling confident on your ride. It is not very expensive, in fact quite reasonable, it depends on the type of bike and what it will require, but talking to a suspension specialist will give you an idea of what the total cost may be.

If you don’t do anything else to your bike to start with, these two things are huge! Of course, I could go into dynos, new exhausts, etc., but having good tires and a proper suspension setup will go a long way into you enjoying your ride. Everything and anything else you choose to do would be like icing on the cake and what girl doesn’t like icing? We are looking into a maintenance event that Nels puts on at his 2 Wheel Dynoworks shop in Woodinville, WA with Fluid Suspension Science for suspension sometime in January. If you are interested, shoot me an email with your name and kind of ride and let me know. We are trying to gauge how many women would be interested in this.

I will keep you posted as things come up and look forward to seeing you out on the road, Vixens ride!

Carol T. Carpenter

Maintenance Event – 11/14/2012

November 16, 2012 By Carol Carpenter

The Women’s Maintenance Event on Wednesday at Ducati Bellevue was a huge success! Thank you ladies for your feedback, we will definitely have to make this event something we offer either once or twice a year. The next maintenance event will be focused purely on maintenance, as requested by you ladies. It is apparent that this is a subject you all want to know more about. I think what we tried to tackle that evening was very ambitious for the time allotted and Nels didn’t get the opportunity to really tell you in detail what he really does. It was, however, an introduction to suspension and dynos which I hope you will continue to research and learn about. It isn’t just for racers, but it is the reason they can ride like they do, so when you think about it why shouldn’t it apply to everyday riders? If you look on on previous blog posts, there is a more comprehensive article/blog on suspension and dynos.

I hope that you all learned a lot and as overwhelming as it was, you took away some knowledge you will use for yourselves. It is my mission to provide you with content in workshops that will be interesting and helpful to you, so please let me know if there is something specific you would want covered and I will make sure it is addressed. There will be more events to come so I will keep you posted. In the meantime, ride safe and most of all just ride!

Carol T. Carpenter

Motorcycle Setup for Women

October 3, 2012 By Carol Carpenter

This is an interview I had with Brian Trudeau of Fluid Suspension Science (aka FS2) at his shop at home in Spanaway, WA. When Brian first started working on my bike (2012 Ducati Monster 696 ABS) the front forks were very soft and the rebound was way too high (causing the forks to spring back quickly). Brian changed the fork oil to slow down the rebound, he changed the 7.5 wt oil to a 20 wt oil in the rebound fork (compression and rebound are controlled by separate forks) and in the compression fork he changed the 7.5 wt oil to 10 wt oil to take out some of the “sloppy squishiness” from the forks. On the rear of the bike, Brian found that the sag was too little and needed to be relaxed, he explained that I didn’t weigh enough for proper amount of sag and it needed relaxing. I mentioned that my ride was rough and my back end tended to skip when I took corners (READ: NO TRACTION LADIES – very bad!). Brian took 4 turns of preload out of the shock and checked for correct rider sag. I took the bike out for a spin and I was stunned the difference it made. I had always said I didn’t trust my bike, but after I had this setup done, I could honestly say that I not only trusted my bike, I could enjoy cornering at higher speeds with confidence.

Women riders really need to look at setup for their bikes, the fact is that bikes are dialed in for the average 175-200 lb. male and if you are lighter than that, your ride is definitely too stiff for you. The honest truth is that you have no traction ladies…no traction is bad! If you find your back end hopping or you have no rebound, you have no traction. Please don’t think that setups are only for racers, they are for everyone, get one done and see the difference it will make in your ride and confidence in your bike and how it will perform.

Carol T. Carpenter