September 28-30, Sears Point California, Infineon Raceway

Hi Guys,

We installed the new Elka 3-Way shock midway through Friday practice. The Elka replaced a stock Yamaha R6 shock rebuilt by GP suspension. The bike was fitted with Dunlop 209 GPA medium compound (750/3136) tires. Dave Moss (from CRS Tuning, an Elka Trackside Support Dealer) did the initial settings. Installation was uneventful though the eye-to-eye length was about 2mm longer than the stock shock with a 5 millimeter shim.  The Yamaha has an additional set of holes for repositioning the dog-bone linkage so it appears you can change the mounting to use a bit more shock length with the longer Elka unit. The extra 2mm shock height did not have an adverse affect.

Right from the start, the new shock was an immediate improvement, particularly noticeable exiting turn six (the Carousel). The track falls off considerably here so stability under power is particularly critical in this section.  From the entrance of  the Carousel where the back of the bike completely unloads, into the midsection,  through the exit and onto the drag strip, the suspension performed really well.  Sliding the bike exiting turn two wasn’t a problem as the back end hooked up smoothly.

The rest of the afternoon was spent turning laps and altering the low-speed compression setting from plus one to minus four clicks.  The motorcycle performed well on all those settings but seemed best with the initial compression settings.

I had similar results on race day and kept the setup identical except for replacing the tires with a softer compound. (950 front, 3166 rear).  I was a bit quicker on the track and actually improved my best time by two seconds during the 600 Production race.

Overall, my first impressions are quite positive. The shock provided a smooth ride under some of the most demanding track conditions we experience.

Dave Munoz, AFM#119