| Author | Message | ||
     Whiskeytango |
I have an 04 XB12S and it is almost time to chance my fork oil for the first time. I weigh about 230 pounds with gear and I was wondering if there will be a major benefit in the ride quality to get new springs that are more suited to my weight. I currently use the aggressive riding settings I found here on the badweb with the rear shock pre-load on the next to last setting. I like how it handles, but it feels pretty harsh on some surfaces. I can't spend $1000 on a new rear shock so I was wondering where I can get a higher rate spring for the stock rear shock? Where is the best place to get all these springs anyways? none of the sponsors have anything that will work with on the 04s front forks and nobody mentions the rear spring at all. Race-tech doesn’t even have any XB models listed. Finally, if I replace all of these components, how do I ever get my baseline settings back? I read an article once about setting up a bike's "sag" but I didn't really understand it! Can anyone break it down real simple like? WT | ||
| Daves |
Call me and I can give you some info that may help 1-866-757-1651 ask for Dave in the sales dept | ||
| Sik_s |
Is there a link to where these aggressive board settings are listed. I never found them so I set up per the manual. (Message edited by sik_s on February 03, 2006) | ||
| Diablobrian |
Here you go Sik_s...  | ||
| Scoobytwo |
Hey Whiskeytango I thought that I'd give you a heads up. There is a pro spring kit on ebay right now. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Warren, Make sure to give Daves a call. He was very helpful in getting my bike to handle better. At 203lb., ( I weigh 235), you definitely need to modify your suspension. In my opinion your weight is beyond the range of the stock springs, especially for aggressive riding. By the way, this is true of virtually every production motorcycle. Basically you need to do 4 things, especially since you seem to be an aggressive rider. 1. Upgrade your springs. Your weight is beyond the range of the stock springs. 2. Revalve your shocks. 3. Properly set your sag. 4. Make sure that you change both tires at the same time: even though the front may not look worn, the profile will have changed for the worse. Setting the sag is not very difficult, but it is best done with three people. Two guys lift the front end off the ground, and then measure the distance between the the bottom and top fork sliders. Then the bike is put down on the ground, and the rider in his gear sits on the bike. The distance between the sliders is measured again. The difference is the sag. Then the rear end is lifted off the ground, and the distance from a fixed object, say the tail light, and a fixed object on the swing arm, say the axle, is measured vertically. Then the bike is put on the ground, and the distance measured again: the difference is the rear sag. The correct amount of sag depends on the particular spring set up. On my bike with stiffer springs, it is 35mm in front, 32mm in the rear. I do not know if this applies to the stock springs. After re-valving, the compression and rebound screws will also have different settings: normally starting at one turn out, and being fine tuned from there, depending on how the suspension was modified. | ||
| Slaughter |
Setting sag is too often overlooked and almost ANY bike will be pretty close to right at 35mm (front) and 30 (rear) - regardless of suspension brand or type of bike (talking sport/racebikes) If you CAN'T set the sag, you're DEFINITELY beyond the range of the springs. I've used Traxxion Dynamics for suspension goodies but if you just get the proper springs, change the oil (you'll have to have the Showa shock re-built by somebody who can re-gas it), set your preload and then start sneaking up on proper damping, you'll be about right. It'll be a little difficult setting up suspension without access to a track or section of road where you can hit the turns at the same speed maybe a dozen times between adjustments. Oh and when you're close on suspension, don't make more than 1/8 turn damping adjustments at a time - and then ONLY work one end at a time (forks or shock) - if you make 2 changes at one time, you'll confuse yourself when trying to sort out the changes in the way it feels/responds. I think Max at Traxxion has a guide posted for fork springs. He has set up DOZENS of F-USA Buells and can get you the right springs Of course Dave Stueve can probably get you a better deal - even buying Traxxion hardware through Dave may work better for you than buying direct. | ||
| Whiskeytango |
Awesome! Thanks for all the advice! Dave turned me on to the compression dampening adjustment, so I will play with those settings until I do my rebuild. In the meantime, I will see if I can set the sag within the correct range (or at least see how far off I am!) for practice and start saving up for parts again! Jon-Do you mind if I ask you how much your suspension mods cost? Who did the work for you? Thanks again, WT | ||
| Darkducati |
I have to disagree that the factory springs are outside their range for a 235lb rider. I weigh about 230 with gear on. I tried the factory suggested settings and found them to be complete garbage. Yes, they are pretty forgiving since they are stiff as crap, but the bike was very unsettled at speed. So, I asked for help. And got it from board member mountainrider. What he told me he was running sounded crazy! But I figured it couldn't be any worse so I tried it, and man does it work. Now you have to be smooth but you are rewarded with a very confident feeling chassis that loves to lean and soaks up mid corner bumps like a Caddy. I had cleaned my chicken strips away completely on my back tire within two days of having the new settings. They were about a half inch before. You may not like them but just try it before you go and change your springs. Here are the settings. Fr. preload-6 lines Compression-1 turn out Rebound-2 turns Rr. preload-6th setting Compression-1 turn out Rebound-2 turns It sounds crazy, but try it. | ||
| Darkducati |
Sorry, just saw that slaughter said if you CAN"T set the springs you're outside their range. My bad. | ||
| Whiskeytango |
Darkducati, While I'm playing around, I'll give your settings a try as well! Thanks again, WT | ||
| M1combat |
I weigh ~200 and I run 2.4-2.8 lines of preload on the front (depending on how warm the pavement is as it will change the traction bias a little) and on ramp six (Almost the stiffest) on the rear. I don't remember what my dampers are set at. At two lines, the front was sliding around the turns on the throttle. Now I can slide the front, rear or both at will with Metz M1's. Or I guess I should say "slip" as opposed to slide  . In any case... With six lines of preload on the front with a 200+ pound rider, I would imagine that you aren't braking hard enough to notice the issues that causes. | ||
| Darkducati |
No I haven't noticed any issues with braking. It does dive a bit more than before, but the stability mid corner is well worth it. Also remember that it has a high compression and rebound settings. It rips through bumpy corners with ease, but as stated above you have to be very smooth with your inputs for it to work well. It hangs with my WERA racer buddy on his R1 in the mountains so it can't be to bad. LOL I wouldn't run it like this on a race track but it's great on the street. We are after all, street fighters. | ||
| Slaughter |
Try putting a tie-wrap around one fork leg, it gives you a visual indication of how much travel you're getting under braking. That's only 1/3 of the information you need to fine-tune compression damping but it's one more data point. | ||
| Whiskeytango |
Are the Hyperpro spring kits available in different rising rates or do they work differently all together? WT | ||
| Daves |
The Pro spring kit from Buell won't fit his 04 It is for 05 and newer. | ||
| Cygnus_x1 |
Is that chart for the 12S? Cause I see only one adjustment on the rear end, (other than the ring that holds the spring) there is another screw like on my Uly, but its been peened in place and doesnt want to move. Thanks | ||
| Cygnus_x1 |
TTT | ||
| Tim |
I believe that chart is for a 9R. On the rear shock, the ring on the shock is for "preload". The screw on the shock body is for rebound damping. The adjustment for compression damping is under the seat on the remote resevoir. | ||
| Diablobrian |
it should be for all xb s&r models. | ||
| Tim |
Not sure where that chart came from. This is in the May/June 05 Fuell: Specifically for the XB9R/12R. Baseline suspension setting recomendations for smooth race track use, by Shawn Higbee. Rider weight 150-170, front: preload 6 1/2 lines,compression 3/4, rebound 1 1/8. Rear: Preload notch 4, compression 1/4, rebound 7/8. Rider weight 190-210, front: preload 5 1/2 lines,compression 1/2, rebound 1. Rear: Preload 6, compression 1/8, rebound 3/4. All compression and rebound settings are # of turns out from maximum. |
