Suspension Settings - another one to try?

[fallenarch]

I agree!

However, the bike gets a case of the shivers when the rear tire gets airborne and touches down before the front. What causes that?

I was told that when a street bike leaves the ground there is a last "push" on the rear of the bike that tends to make the bike want to "spin" slightly when there is no road friction on either wheel. Dirt bikes can leap off the edge of a jump because there is less traction and they are lighter so riders instinctively correct a mis-aligned push off the edge of the jump.That's why the bikes all seem to cross up slightly and wobble when they land as the wheels come back down. These guys run massive friction on the stabilizers.

 

[fallenarch]

I think its obvious that tuning suspension is about getting the right compromse between the spring, compression, and rebound. If you start with setting the sag, then it's about tuning to your environment and riding style. So it would seem a little strange for a magazine to imply that there is a magic setting that is magic to all. When I was setting mine I went out to a good local road with my tools and rode around all day, stopping to add a click, removea click. I wrote it down. After setting the sag, I cranked up compression until it was way off - marked the setting. Then I cranked up the rebound until it balanced again. Then I started clickingback compression, adjusting rebound, etc. It took 2 days and I still could not get the front and rear acting together. Finally just took it to Redline and the SOB got it perfect in 20 minutes without even starting the engine.

Nothing like knowing what you're doing now is there?

 

[Jza]

FFS... why did i bother? LMAO...

 

[cheferman65]

No, I haven't. No need to as I have my suspension set up for me and my riding style. You are curious so you try it and let us know how it works out for you. It's a rather simple solution.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[drbig]

I have a gen1 with a gen2 shock. For street riding I use -8 in both compression and rebound and works for me, anything softer is too soft for my 100 kitted kilograms.
My question refers to the way sag is measured in the OP. Is it 10mm from the top surface of the lower locknut to the end of the threaded part?

 

[Tufbusa]

PS Tufbusa... why not contact SportsRider.com and tell them that they are clearly just "home tuners" and to take down the 400 odd bike setups they've posted... obviously these guys (who you dont know but i doubt that matters to you - home tuners the lot of em ) know nothing compared to you and your suspension book...

Whole point of this thread was that the latest settings they posted in a June 2012 edition had changed the settings they posted from back in 2009... and i was interested in feedback from others. Shame you decided to come across as a "bit of a knob"... and get all preachy/judgemental... but thats the ying and yang of this forum i guess

J

The best place for you to go for your personal best suspension set up is a magazine because you clearly have no clue on how to tune it one your own.

And just so you know, Andrew Trevitt is the suspension man at "Sport Rider Magazine" who put together all those suspension suggestions. The same man who wrote "Sportbike Suspension Tuning" which I suggested you begin your suspension education with.

So spare me the lecture, PLEASE! lease:

 

[ruder]

I tried the Sportsrider settings when I bought my bike in 2010. It did not work for me. I must admit the busa's settings were the toughest to get correct, of all the bikes I have ridden. It took a while, and I had to get help with it, and I generally setup all my bikes myself.

 

[SKnight]

You should listen to Tuff. Unless you very closely match the magazine rider's body dimensions with regard to height and weight with consideration to body proportion then it's not going to be right for you. I can say this for the magazine settings, they do work great...........for the rider that tested them. Tires, riding ability, riding style (Milandri, Stoner and Rossi all have vastly different suspension settings despite their top shelf riding ability.) and personal preference all play a role.

However if you're going to tune yourself here's a link to a great way to setup your suspension at home. Set everything to the middle of the range. Damping screws all the way out, count the clicks all the way in then turn half the clicks out. Do the same with the fork springs to make sure they match side to side. The rear spring can be left alone initially since it's a single spring. Follow the directions in the link and go from there. It's how I setup my old '06 model and frankly I loved it but remember I mentioned tires play a role? I used to swap between Michelin PP 2CT and Continental Road Attacks. They needed a slight preload difference, I would turn the preload half a round less for the Michelins so they could be happier.

Ohlins suspension setup guide.

That said you'll be happier going to see a pro but if not then go with something like this. But I'll give Tuff props here, he's right. It's rare that one mans setup will work for someone else.