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Handling/Suspension Question


Enzo

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Well, as my riding skills improve after many years laying fallow...I see that I am still the speed demon I used to be as a mere child. Also (as an aside) my recent new and improved exhaust mod - with the hole in the middle of the crossover - is producing a fast-reving and impressive top end killer. A new Dyno will be coming in.

 

Anyhoo, I'm noticing quite a bit of hopping off the ground on bumpy straits and corners. I don't lose control and the bike stays straight though. On a smooth road, it corners like a dream and tracks perfectly at high speed. So, what do I need? More rebound? Less rebound? More compression? Less? It is all still a mystery to me, but would appreciate your comments to get me pointed in the right direction.

 

Gracie. :mg:

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Guest Brian Robson

I agree with Al, to try backing off the compression at first. In fact it is really the only adjustment you need to make whilst riding (hence the easily accessible adjuster).

Sag is set first, then the rebound so that the suspension comes back up smoothly, and then the compression on the road. Use the same stretch of bumpy road and adjust 2 clicks at a time and try to note the settings.

Too much compression and the suspension skips, but too little and it will give a similar feel, BUT there will be more squatting felt as you open the throttle.

Try the standard, which is 20 clicks out from fully in, and try reducing 2 clicks at a time.

I weigh 180 and have the compression set at 18 clicks out, and this with repeated tries on the same piece of bumpy road. Some of the new shocks (WP, Maxton, Penske) have both high and low speed compression damping, and I think the Sachs is more high speed, as the setting gives a better feel the faster I go. So if faster is safer, so be it....and thats what I will tell the Mountie :helmet::helmet::helmet:

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I agree with Al, to try backing off the compression at first. In fact it is really the only adjustment you need to make whilst riding (hence the easily accessible adjuster).

Sag is set first, then the rebound so that the suspension comes back up smoothly, and then the compression on the road. Use the same stretch of bumpy road and adjust 2 clicks at a time and try to note the settings.

Too much compression and the suspension skips, but too little and it will give a similar feel, BUT there will be more squatting felt as you open the throttle.

Try the standard, which is 20 clicks out from fully in, and try reducing 2 clicks at a time.

I weigh 180 and have the compression set at 18 clicks out, and this with repeated tries on the same piece of bumpy road. Some of the new shocks (WP, Maxton, Penske) have both high and low speed compression damping, and I think the Sachs is more high speed, as the setting gives a better feel the faster I go. So if faster is safer, so be it....and thats what I will tell the Mountie :helmet::helmet::helmet:

Or just buy an Ohlins shock!

 

Mike

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OK, thanks everyone. I'll report back with my findings. I take it 20 clicks is for the forks. Is it 20 clicks out on the back too? I can't remember, but it didn't seem to have that many clicks available. I thought I had everything set about in the middle. We'll see.

 

Look ma, font mods.....

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Guest Brian Robson

Enzo, not the forks. You said the bike was jarring and I presumed you meant the back. I was talking about the rear shock. 20 clicks out on the compression damper on the back of the bike(it has 32 clicks of adjustment). Don't fiddle with the front at the same time. Sorry for the confusion.

As for just buying Ohlins forks.......soon as I win the lottery.

I think that the standard suspension is very good. I had a 955 Speed Triple and that had excellent shocks, with great handling and I find that the LeMans is comparable especially given its weight and shaft drive.

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Enzo/Speed Demon,

Set static sag first, f & r. Then start on soft settings & adjust damping up to suit. If you search there was a load of stuff here on setting up suspension bout a year ago. No point in just fiddling with the knobs if you want it sorted.

KB :sun:

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Yea, I set up sag a while ago and used to remember what it was. I can't remember my sag numbers, but they are good. 30 mm max or something on back. Again, I'm light weight (160 lbs.) so I find the stock set up fine for me. In fact, I watch other bikes take turns, stop and accelerate, and most of them look too soft to me. Even though I have a shaft drive, you wouldn't know it.

 

So, on the rear mono shock, the compression is the 'outboard' unit and the rebound is the knob attached to the spring itself - right???

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To get hard suspesnion confused with good handling. Softer suspesnion will allow the bike to ride the variations in road surface rather than skip over it with everything wound up so hard the suspesnion has no time to react. Asumming you have done you static sags and to anyone else reading this it is vital you do this before messing with anything else. If you can't remeber where your damping is at the best way is set everything to the middle go for a ride and work out which way you want to go write down what you do.

 

So say the rebound on whatever has 40 clicks for full range (figure's removed from thin air and do not necassarily reflect any fact on a actual product). So you start at 20 clicks go for a ride and decide that it needs more rebound you then go ten clicks positive and repeat the process havlying that amount of clicks until it is adjusted to your satifaction. The idea of writing stuff down is if the last adjustment didn't work you can go back and look at going back the other way if nesscary.

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