| Author | Message | ||
     Riderx09 |
hey guys- im gettin the ole 9R ready for the road now that spring seems to finally coming around....my question is i wanted to set up my suspension to my weight wheres the best place to get infomation on this- im around 170 and i ride mostly back roads semi aggresive riding style....thanks | ||
| Two_buells |
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| Slaughter |
Yep - that's it. Shawn Higbee worked up those settings but keep in mind they're good for starters - you may still have to further tune the damping depending on your style. | ||
| Cowtown |
Are those numbers good for all XBs? Like a XB12S. | ||
| Slaughter |
Those numbers are gonna be pretty close because there's just not much weight difference between the bikes. In the past few years, the general opinion seems to be to go with slightly more sag and slightly more damping than a decade ago. Keep in mind (unlike the Buell way of setting up the bike), most measurements of preload/sag are based on measuring directly - pull the suspension up to the top, measure as "Zero" - then fully suited up, sit on the bike... wiggle a bit and measure how far it has "sagged" - front end should be something like 35mm - the rear something like 30mm - the damping settings for a start right off the table work pretty well but you're gonna want to pay attention to mid-corner and exit behavior to do final tweaks on compression and rebound damping. By the way, I have collected a few articles which are really great for suspension tuning after initial setup that I can email if you want them. My email is (disguised to prevent spam) qedqed ...at... verizon... ..dot .........net Higbee's settings in the table above will cover 90% of what you'll ask of the bike until you really start hammering it in the twisties - or change springs, valving or shock. Another thing you can use to gage preload and compression damping on the forks is to put a zip-tie around one fork leg. It tells you how much you're compressing it under braking. Depending on handling qualities you are looking for, you may need to adjust preload or damping accordingly. Most riding shouldn't compress the forks to the bottom - you'll probably want to see 3/4 inch of fork between the ziptie and the bottom. (Message edited by slaughter on March 23, 2005) | ||
| Cowtown |
Steve, I thought they would be the same. If those articles are handy I would like to read them, no rush. Thanks, Paul | ||
| Ingemar |
Steve, it's not the weight difference of the bikes that beg for different settings, but the parts used to assemble the suspension differ from bike to bike. Springs have different rates and the valving mechanisms simply differ from bike to bike. To all, Nobody should take a setting for gospel. Your bikes' suspension may differ from mine so there will always be a need to experiment. | ||
| Slaughter |
Ingemar is totally correct. I had assumed same suspension components for the 9 and 12! We actually went on a ride with Higbee here a few months back and he was surprised to hear that people used that table since he got it to Reg Kitrelle for inclusion in Battle 2Win. Now with the larger forks, those settings may be in question as well on the new bikes (forks are 2mm bigger) Paul, I just sent you a PM - I'll need your email address to send you those articles. Can you read MS Word? Basically if you're dealing with almost any bike with modern suspension (last decade) - full damping adjustment - you can set sag on both ends and open damping on both compression and rebound 1/3 - and the bike will be rideable. Then starts the tuning/adjusting. Anything read in charts is only a starting guess. | ||
| Tank_bueller |
Some settings are different between the R and S models......if I remember, the front preload is the biggest(read it on this site....somewhere) | ||
| M1combat |
You don't think it's because of the weight balance difference between the two bikes? | ||
| Ingemar |
Yes, I believe the difference between the R and the S is weight balance. I'm not sure about the 9 and the 12 though, but that is not what I'm talking about (sorry Steve, I'm not trying to pick on you, just want to get my message across properly  ). To further clarify what I meant, I was talking about the tolerance levels during production of the parts used in the suspension. I am talking about these variables, they beg for different settings. So 2 bikes produced in the same hour may need slightly different settings for similar results. I realize most of us won't need that or even notice that on the street. But it's a difference nontheless. If you're like me you don't settle for "about right". It's right or wrong. Another thing we are forgetting is wear. Suspension wears out. I'm not sure how fast that goes but I can imagine if you log 10,000 miles a year you would need to check your settings once a year and possibly adjust. I'm sorry if this is not what you guys wanna hear, but I don't believe there is an easy fix for setting up your suspension properly. If someone wants to tune it, he must be prepared to study a great deal about suspension and experiment for days if not weeks. If you're not willing to make that sacrifice then by all means, grab a sheet from someone else and set it and forget it. But I promise you, it will not be set properly unless you are very lucky. | ||
| Slaughter |
Ingemar - I didn't take your comments as negative - far from it, they helped clarify things. Those settings in the manual and in Higbees tables are ONLY starting points. Final adjustments can only be made by riding the bike over the same courses, with the same inputs (throttle, braking, turning) so that proper adjustments can be made. |
