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"So, do folks who add compensators and front sway bars to their Speedsters also have to swap out the torsion bars, too?"

It depends. Usually, for street driven cars with most of the drivers who show up on here, the answer is no - you just add the camber compensator, set it up for the amount of pre-load you feel good with (which directly affects the rear ride height) and drive it.

I've noticed that most of the people on here adding camber compensators don't do much with pre-load; they just install it as-is and go with that. We used to have adjusters below the tranny and others at the wheel ends to adjust each side separately up and down to set the cornering pre-load we wanted so we could "dial it in". Seldom saw that attention to detail on a street (non-track) car.

If, on the other hand, you want to track race it a little and need that extra cornering ability to be competitive, then you start looking at the combination of torsion bar and camber compensator and shock dampening rates to get the right amount of resistance to the rear suspension travel to match your driving (or the track, or both). What you're trying to do is manage the amount that the body rises off the wheel when cornering, because as it rises, the wheel begins to tuck under, loses grip as it rides up on the sidewall and/or breaks the tire bead (in extreme cases). Most street driving can be managed by "over stiffening" the rear spring rates by simply adding the camber compensator as an additional spring. The ride will be stiffer overall, but the amount of cornering roll will decrease (the car will corner flatter). Also, most people on here aren't that aggressive driving on the street and don't need to go all out with suspension mods. Simple stuff will suffice. BTW: Porsche had a number of torsion bar thicknesses offered (mostly for racers) to allow tuning of rear suspension feel.

So.....long winded answer summed up: 3/8" - 3/4" (15mm - 19mm) Anti-Sway bar up front, decent camber compensator in back (installed stock) and that should do it. If you want more cornering "oomph", just add a pair of Bilstein shocks. Be forewarned - your ride will be stiffer than no bar/compensator.

There was a good article written a while back by an Australian VW Sedan racer which outlined how to make your swing arm suspension really handle. If I can find it, I'll post a link.

*****(Edit)****

I couldn't find the link I wanted, but the Shop Talk Forum is always a good place to OD on information. Try here:

http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewforum.php?f=51&sid=a9372c406934fdf2ade39293ba66a988
No, No, No......Egg sammiches are from the Carlisle High School Marching Band food booth at the Carlisle show. Best we can do for beverages in the AM is orange juice, coffee (good stuff, there, I'm told), tea or hot chocolate.

If you're adventurous, you can do scrapple at the Pennsylvania Dutch food booth, right next door (which has terrific shoo-fly pies, believe me!)

Ahhhhh, Grasshopper.....Much to learn.
I'm no stranger to scrapple, having grown up in the town of its birth, not too far east of Carlisle.

In the late '70s, I wandered into a Porsche dealer there and was tempted by an immaculate 356C coupe that someone had preserved in showroom condition, right down to the bright yellow decals on the engine. Not restored, just well kept.

But they wanted an outrageous sum for it - $6000.

Sometimes, it's best not to dwell on the past too much.

That's a new one on me. That town I grew up in was 90 miles away - the one where they keep the liberty bell - and I didn't get to Pennsylvania Dutch country too often.

But what do you expect from folks who drive one horsepower cars?

The Amish may have a few lessons for us, though. While their religion allows them to ride in cars, they're forbidden from owning them. Of all worldly possessions, the car is considered the most corrupting. I think they use GERD and Vinnie as examples of where this corruption may lead.

And the Google tells me that new buggies are no longer made from the original wood, but are replicas of those older designs, made of - what else - fiberglas.


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S/M, I will be getting my new speedster from VS next week.(see profile) I am 25 minutes east up by Folsom Lake/ American River in Granite bay. Feel free to come check mine out also. I too am a mini (s) owner, but some times I can be seen scooting around Granite Bay village on a restored 1975 CT90 trail bike- in warmer weather, but I fear that soon the mini and the 90 will be getting very jealous of their new garage mate! Steve
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