| Author | Message | ||
     Sneth |
2006 xb12scg when i go through the twisties, the suspension just seesaws back and forth from front to back. I don't feel out of control, but this is definitely not set right. I have to set to the spec for my weight from the manual. Am i bouncing through the turns, or is the suspension transferring weight wrong? How should i adjust? | ||
| Dentfixer |
I have the same bike but have never had this problem. I do feel the manual settings are a bit on the soft side. I set mine up to the next heavier setting and it seems to work ok. I have also tried the settings at near maximum and it isnt too bad at those settings either. So I guess I'd suggest with going to a higher/heavier setting and work your way down. But Im no suspension guru either. | ||
| Sneth |
makes sense. I'm probably getting too much seesaw from soft settings. | ||
| Blake |
Increase rebound damping. Good advice on suspension tuning to address a number of issues can be found in your owner's manual. | ||
| Sloppy |
Yep, rebound damping WAY too soft. Make sure your pre-load is set correctly -- no other adjustments should be made until that is correct. My methodology is to run compression damping as hard as I can until it's no longer comfortable (too much road impacts). Then I set rebound damping as soft as I can without any "see - sawing". Suspension settings are dependent upon how you ride and where you ride and your tires, so you need to find the particular settings that you like. | ||
| Petebueller |
Too much rear shock preload can give a catapult effect which may be like your see-saw. I set my front preload a bit stiffer than the manual, and the rear a bit softer. I find it more comfortable and I like the cornering better. I set the compression and rebound after. | ||
| Blake |
Preload is not really stiff or soft; it only sets the ratio of rebound to compression travel. | ||
| Petebueller |
Hi Blake The Sean Onipedes guide refers to preload as hard or soft. He also speaks of stiffer springs in the context of not being able to sufficiently reduce sag with the preload setting. I am not a suspension specialist, but I find the ride on my Firebolt suits me better if I allow for more travel in the rear suspension than the manual, and less travel in the front. The factory settings may be more tuned to a racetrack, and a road needs a bit more give under the seat. I also run progressive springs and that may also make a difference. I find with the bike set like this I have less of a tendency of what I perceived to be the rear suspension rebounding and putting more weight on the front suspension, causing the front suspension to compress and then rebound putting weight back onto the rear. The compression and rebound damping settings will work on these, but found it useful to start with the preload. | ||
| Blake |
Springs can certainly be too stiff or soft. Preload? Not so much. It's a very common misconception though. Tell Sean; he may thank you.  Your preload adjustments are greatly affecting the geometry of the bike. It makes sense that they would have the effect you describe, but how is your steering? Slower and heavier? Total shock/fork travel doesn't change with preload adjustment; only the ratio of compression to rebound travel changes. Are saying "more travel" intending to mean more compression travel or more rebound travel? If you are not running stock springs, then the stock suspension setup guide won't likely apply. Have you ever measured the suspension sag? | ||
| Petebueller |
I haven't measured the sag. The dealer has, and they have set it up both before and after they fitted the springs. The first time I got them to set it up because the owners manual says that the bike is delivered set to the weight of the rider. Just keeping them honest. The second time after installing the springs, they kept the preload that I had set, so the more tension on the front and less on the rear than is spec'd in the owners manual. When they did the setup with the progressive springs, the front rebound damping was out almost a turn more and I think the compression was about a 1/4 more. I've played around a bit but I don't seem to get better than what they did. They set the front preload to more tension than the manual the first time, and I think it works. I set the rear preload to lower tension because I found on some roads the back was kicking up and I was getting a rocking weight distribution effect between front and rear. Rebound damping would also have helped, but reduced preload also gave me a more comfortable ride. (I think). I like the progressive springs. I could write an essay on them, but I'll spare you all the gorey details. My setup isn't perfect on a reverse camber, right-hand sweeper with potholes but I think the rider is mainly at fault. (read left-hander for Nth America and Europe). Anyway I guess seesaw could describe a few things. This alternating weight distribution, but also an effect I had with my bike as delivered that I would call wallow where the bike seems to flex in a corner and it was not possible to tuck the bike tight into a turn. When I check the settings the bike was set for a jockey. Way too light. The settings in the manual cured this, but I took it back to the dealer anyway because I'm a pain. | ||
| Longdog_cymru |
Hi Sneth, You may like to take a look at these websites http://www.moto-racing.co.uk/Guides/motorcycleSusp ensionSetup.htm http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0402_susp/index .html http://www.motorcycle.co.uk/articles/suspension/ba sic_suspension_setup.html | ||
| Diablobrian |
It sounds like they did not set sag so much as set it according to spec. when sag is measured they have to measure how the bike sit with only the weight of the bike and how far it rebounds after compression as well as how far the suspension compresses with you on it. it takes at least 2 guys (3 is better) so that the bike can be supported while sitting in it's normal state, not to mention unloading the suspension. | ||
| Jonzin |
I set the suspension on my cg according to the service manual for my weight (255 lbs). The bike definitely feels better in the corners but oscillates up and down while traveling on the freeway at speed. I was thinking about decreasing the rear preload and increasing the front dampening.... does that sound correct? | ||
| Petebueller |
Hi Jonzin I am no expert, but I think that from now you should change only one thing at a time and check the effect. My wacky theory is that it helps if you reduce the rear preload. This is possibly the simplest setting to try. If that doesn't help you could try increasing the rear rebound dampening. After that I'll shut up. Peter |
