Catalyst Reaction Suspension DVD Review

[bel-biv]

In an attempt to gain a better understanding of the black art of suspension tuning, I purchased the Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning (CRS) DVD set (2) from www.onthethrottle.com as a Christmas gift to myself.
They have proved to be incredibly insightful and informative. I know that I am not alone in wanting to learn more about suspension set-up and tuning, so I figured that a review might prove useful to some of you as well.

There are 2 separate DVDs.

"Twiddling Knobs"
Yes, Stiffler, it has a funny name, now shut it! This DVD does a good job of conveying the most basic of principles. Primarily geared for street riders, Dave Moss of CRS utilizes individual suspension components to point out where adjusters are located and what they do. As a sponsored racer of Triumph's 675, he also conducts a bike-by-bike suspension overview of Triumph's current line of motorcycles.
Among the more informative sections of this DVD, Dave takes to the track and with the benefit of on-board cameras focused on front and rear wheel travel, shows how the suspension reacts to extreme changes in adjustment. How does the front act with no rebound damping? How does it act with max rebound? etc... You see the front bounce like a pogo and are able to correlate that to his description of that behavior from the rider's perspective.
Other good segments cover sag set-up and great on-track footage of Thunderhill Raceway in Cali. That track looks like fun! There is also an interview with Doug Chandler in which he discusses his race experience in both the Grand Prix and AMA series as well as his current efforts and future goals.
Overall, this DVD while informative, covers only the most basic of suspension concepts. This is a fork, here is the compression adjuster - that sort of thing. If you are a total newb, then this is a good place to start. Otherwise, save your $20.

"Introduction to Sportbike Suspensions"
This kids, is one to buy and watch over and over again. So far I've seen it at least 5 times and still pick up tid-bits of information every time I watch it.
"Intro" is a 2-disc set. Disc 1 starts off with Dave conducting a suspension seminar to techs at a dealership in Utah. He goes through the bike from front to rear, making changes as he goes, to show how making changes to one setting can affect others. His discussion starts with sag, goes through preload, rebound and compression adjustments, and then wades into the role gearing, tires, chassis geometry, and rider's style play in suspension tuning.
The second segment of disc 1 is a series of snippets the OTT crew glean from Dave as he roams the garage while at a trackday at Miller Motorsports Park. He will take a look at a bike and drop knowledge. Good stuff.
The final segment is on Reading Tires. Rebound tear, Compression/Spring tear, Geometry tear, Hot/Cold tear – all that. Michelin riders will benefit from his points that those buns are sensitive to even 1/2lb of air pressure. This segment is incredibly informative – there is no other way to put it.
Disc 2 is composed of 4 separate case studies in which Dave works with a bike and rider while at the track. This is great because it shows real-world practice of what he was talking about in the seminar on disc 1. Changes are made, progress tracked, and obstacles are dealt with. Of particular interest is seeing how to deal with valving limitations by adjusting preload.
Like I said before, this is the DVD to buy if you have a good understanding of the fundamentals. A word of caution however, as we are not even done with January, I am having an increasingly hard time with waiting for winter to be over. This DVD had me shuttling back and forth from the garage pushing on the bike (never mind the fact that the fork oil is thick as molasses...) and looking at tires. Hurry up May and the start of my race season!


Enjoy they!

[Super Dave]

 

[Ridgeway]

I picked these up awhile back too.  The part about reading tires is pretty interesting.  One word of caution is that I found the MC / Interviewer in the 2nd video to be really REALLY obnoxious.

IMO, the "Suspension for Mortals" DVD from Max at Traxxion does a lot better job of explaining the mechanics of how suspension works, and the inner workings of the various components.  The Catalyst DVD's offer things like tire reading and on-track feedback that Max doesn't get into so much.

[bel-biv]

good to know

i knew race tech had dvd out and am planning on acquiring it at some point
thanks for the heads up on content differences