| Author | Message | ||
     Mzoomora |
Can anybody give me any help with suspension settings? Im about 180lbs, and ride only on the street. I feel like the suspension is too soft. Also, what tire pressure you you guys run on the street? I feel like I am missing something, like the handling should be confident feeling. | ||
| Bartone |
I think i ran 36f/38r? you may need to describe what "too soft" is. Does the bike dive as you brake? or feels like a pogo stick as you are going over bumps? I had a shop help me out on setting the pre-load settings with my weight on the bike, then i fine tuned the rebound and compression to my liking. For those, I had set the values to the middle setting, then played around with it from there with 1/2 turns either way. | ||
| Ratbuell |
First, have you set it for your weight based on the charts in the owners manual? | ||
| Clutchreaper |
32 front/35 rear. Front preload is set softer than the lowest setting in the manual by about 1-2 turns. Rear is set on 4. I think the dampening is set to manual specs. I feel I could use more front rebound dampening though. My weight with gear is almost 180. The turn in is great once you get it all squared away. | ||
| Ratbuell |
32/35? wow...wish I was your tire guy. How fast do you go through tires?? I go 210 in gear, 09 CR, run my suspension about 2 weight ranges LIGHTER than the book says I should. 38/40 for optimum treadwear and handling. I only go as low as 32 a) by mistake, or b) on the track where I need heat in the tire. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
Stuff to change: --Tires. The stock Diablos felt unwilling to steer. I switched to Pilot Power 2CTs and more recently Pilot Pures--both have pointier profiles than the Diablos so the bike is more willing to turn. --Fork height. Lower the fork tubes so that their tops are flush with the top of the triple. This adds rake and makes the bike require less effort to initiate a turn and less effort to maintain lean angle in a turn. People will argue that the opposite is what should happen, but my experience runs contrary. --Fork oil. I found that with the stock fork oil, even with the rebound damping set to full stiff, I wasn't happy with it. I switched to 10wt fork oil. (Stock is either 2.5wt or 5wt--I'm not sure. Too thin, regardless.) --Fork spring preload. Back it off as far as it will go. The stock spacers are too long and put WAY too much preload on the springs. The next time I have the fork tubes apart, I'm going to cut a half inch off of the spacers. --Fork rebound damping. Go full stiff and then back it off a couple of turns. (This assumes 10wt oil. Stock oil, just go 1/4 out from full stiff.) Ride and then adjust to taste. If the front end feels like it's too "pogo-ey", add a half turn of rebound damping. Test and keep adding rebound damping until the front end feels comfortably damped. --Fork compression damping. You should need less compression damping than rebound damping, in respect to turns out from full stiff. I'd start out with compression damping set to 3 turns out from full stiff (again, assuming 10wt oil) and after you've gotten the rebound damping, set the compression damping to be one turn softer than rebound damping. Test ride the bike. If the front end feels harsh when you hit bumps, back off a half turn of rebound damping and try again. --Shock spring preload. Mine is set at whatever it was set at when I bought it (new). I measured rear sag and went one notch stiffer than stock, but the bike started developing a weave at 100+mph. Dropping back to the original setting fixed the weave, although I had 30mm of sag instead of 25mm. Not that it really matters, IMO. --Shock rebound and compression damping. I haven't had my shock revalved or resprung. I'd go two turns out from full stiff on rebound and three turns out on compression. Adjust rebound damping until the back end of the bike feels controlled and not pogo-ey. Then set compression damping one turn farther out than rebound damping. If the shock doesn't feel harsh, you can dial in more compression damping in half-turn increments, but as with the front, you should need less compression damping than rebound damping. CAVEATS: I weigh about 220lbs in full gear. This isn't hugely different than you, but it's enough that my settings might be a bit too firm for you. Also, I like a lot of rebound damping. A LOT. Probably more than most people. So if my suspension setting recommendations don't feel right to you, change them by all means. When I sit on my bike and bounce the suspension, it feels stiff--almost unbelievably stiff. But when riding, the bike feels controlled and comfortably damped. Not cushy, but definitely not a washboard ride either. If you'd like specifics about the number of turns I have dialed into my adjusters, let me know and I'll document them. I adjust them on the road and go by feel, so I don't specifically remember where they're set. Good luck; hope this helps! | ||
| Clutchreaper |
I ride rather aggressively. I find that pressure to be perfect for a hard run. | ||
| Mzoomora |
Thanks everybody. I went with the manual settings, and it dives hard under braking and feels loose in turns. I will see what some of this does for me. I have tried adjusting slowly, but couldnt really get it right. I appreciate the input | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
If you take nothing else from my post, add rebounding damping. Probably a lot. To both the fork and the shock. |
