Anyone played with stock suspension settings yet?

[FigJam-OhNine]

I haven't touched my stock suspension setup yet, and I'm curious if others have and what your experience was before/after. Could you dial it in for your weight alright? My initial impression of the stock setup is that it isn't awful, but I'm sure it can be tuned to be better (especially for my 215lb frame).
 
I know nothing will beat an aftermarket setup, but it's good to discover what the bike is truly capable of out of the box.
 

[ULEWZ]

I have not touched mine yet. May just set the sag and see how that goes. With only a rebound adjustment, I am not sure what we can accomplish by messing with it. Mine is great except for the hard hits at speed. That would be tuned out using compression I think.
 
Here are my final settings (see later post), 180 pounds without gear, sport settings:
Front forks:
Preload, 24/64 inch from top of fork cap to bottom of adjuster (one complete turn cw from stock).
Rebound, 6 clicks out (ccw) from full in.
Rear shock:
Rebound, 1.25 turns out (ccw) from full in.
Preload, position 5 from full soft.

[FigJam-OhNine]

I have not touched mine yet. May just set the sag and see how that goes. With only a rebound adjustment, I am not sure what we can accomplish by messing with it. Mine is great except for the hard hits at speed. That would be tuned out using compression I think.

Well there is another adjustment I could make that may help. I'm just not a big fan of dieting... 

[papac2000]

Being that I weigh in at 157lbs out of the shower, the default preload settings meant the front had NO sag when I sat on the bike and the rear barely moved. I dropped the preload in the front 2mm and backed off the rebound a couple clicks to correspond. On the rear I dropped from the 5th notch to the 3rd and a 1/4 turn les rebound. Sag is slightly increased...will have to wait to ride it before reviewing/evaluating.

[woozer]

180# here, no luggage. On the advice of a Yamaha expert friend (he's on his fourth R1), here's what I did.
 
Front: Two full turns in (harder) on preload, 1 click on rebound.
Rear: One step harder on preload, 1/4 turn on rebound.
 
I immediately notice a very positive improvement. At first I thought I might have gone too far because it felt a little pattery over broken surfaces, but I realized it was just me getting used to it. It's still way softer than the maximum hard settings for anything. Big improvement, though I may still play with it a little more.

[ULEWZ]

180# here, no luggage. On the advice of a Yamaha expert friend (he's on his fourth R1), here's what I did. 
Front: Two full turns in (harder) on preload, 1 click on rebound.
Rear: One step harder on preload, 1/4 turn on rebound.
 
I immediately notice a very positive improvement. At first I thought I might have gone too far because it felt a little pattery over broken surfaces, but I realized it was just me getting used to it. It's still way softer than the maximum hard settings for anything. Big improvement, though I may still play with it a little more.

I weigh the same as you and have not yet messed with the suspension settings. I find it totally rails in the twisties as is, but is harsh on some sections of fwy. Please let us know if rough roads get better or worse with your settings. I really need to set the preload one of these days.  

[gabefzr6]

180# here, no luggage. On the advice of a Yamaha expert friend (he's on his fourth R1), here's what I did. 
Front: Two full turns in (harder) on preload, 1 click on rebound.
Rear: One step harder on preload, 1/4 turn on rebound.
 
I immediately notice a very positive improvement. At first I thought I might have gone too far because it felt a little pattery over broken surfaces, but I realized it was just me getting used to it. It's still way softer than the maximum hard settings for anything. Big improvement, though I may still play with it a little more.

These settings would be more useful if given from a known starting point.  It is unlikely that all the bikes are delivered with the exact same settings.  You never know if the tech adjusted yours or not.  For the front preload I would count turns out from full in.  For front rebound, clicks out from full in. For rear preload setting 1 (softest) through 7 (hardest). For rear rebound turns out from full in.  I weigh 190 lb. and here is where my settings currently are.  I prioritized sag then set rebound. 
Front preload:   1 & 1/8 turns out from full in
Front rebound:  4 clicks out
Rear preload:    Setting 5
Rear rebound:   1 & 1/4 turns out
 
I am still playing around with all the settings but this is where they currently are at 1540 miles on the bike.  I hope this is clear enough. 

[ULEWZ]

Ok, how many lines showing is 1-1/8 turns out from full in?
 
Here are the settings from the manual:
Shock Preload:
Minimum (soft) 1
Standard 4
Maximum (hard) 7
Rebound damping:
3 turns ccw from full in, Minimum (soft)
1-1/2 turns ccw from full in, Standard
Full in, ccw, Maximum (hard)
 
Fork Preload (measured from top of cap to top of larger lower nut):
Minimum (soft) 0.75 in. (19.0 mm)
Standard 0.63 in. (16.0 mm)
Maximum (hard) 0.16 in. (4.0 mm).
Rebound damping:
Minimum (soft), 11 clicks ccw from full in
Standard, 7 clicks ccw from full in
Maximum (hard) 1 click ccw from full in.
 
Note:
ccw is counterclockwise.
 

[papac2000]

The manual refers to front preload adjustments in millimeters. The measurementrange is 4mm showing including the hex adjuster portion( full hard) to 19mm (full soft). I used a vernier caliper.

[redfjniner]

First thing is to read the manual and check the settings on your new bike. As Gabefzr6 says, not all mechanics will set them the same. You have to have a starting point and MFR recommended is a good one. It is good practice to just check the setting a few times to feel comfortable with playing with them. At the begining, just move it one notch or 1 mm from the MFR's suggested location. Note that if you weigh more than 170-175 you may need to just adjust it to the next knotch or 1 mm. If you weigh 220 you will have to adjust more. This adjustment should be done by the dealer when you pick up the bike. They know how to do it right and to get you out the door with the bike adjusted for your weight. It only takes a few minutes.
 
Measure the sag. Adjust front and rear to be equal. If that isn't right, the bike will not perform correctly, for sure. The other adjustments are mosly personnal prefence. Some people know beforehand what they want and will assume even before riding the bike what they are going to do. Silly people.
 
Lastly, ask yourself, do you know if it isn't working right?
 
When I had my suspension custom madea and adjusted for me at GP Suspension, by Dave himself, he would grab the handlebars and push on them compressing the forks. He then would make some adjustments, and repeat. Most of the time he got it right on the first adjustment. Same with the rear. I only brought it back to make it softer. Personal prefernce. Afterwards, I checked the settings. They were right in the center of the sprectum. Go figure.
 
Read the review by Don Canet of Cycle World. He road tested the bike, assuming it had factory settings and thought it "click for in his words". I'm hanging my hat with what he says as he knows what he is talking about. Go figure.  Make sure you read his replys as he adds to his feeling about the suspension.

[bobdog]

The owner's manual actually shows you how to do both front and rear.  Parameters: I weigh 255 and usually ride solo.  I set rear damping for one turn from zero, pushed up spring preload one click from center on rear.  This eliminated squat on acceleration. I then set front fork spring preloads to 10mm protusion, with 6mm being the firmest, to cut brake and decel dive.  Key here is to make both forks the same.  I used a steel ruler with a ruler and wrench.  Went three clicks from full damping on right fork with a straight blade screwdriver.  The bike is now great on SMOOTH twisties.  It becomes a bucking bronco in heavily potholed twisties.  Too firm. Lightening the damping in the front and rear may ease this a bit. This will require another ride or two to sort it completely.  Can't wait to push it over a carousel turn to see how it sticks...  This bike is fun.  I'm in my middle fifties and after a ride, I'm sporting a teenager's huge grin.  Best thing is you can change damping in about two minutes for your road conditions.

[wessie]

After a spirited ride on some familiar secondary roads in the England/Wales border region, I think the stock settings are okay, for me at least at around 200lb.

[ULEWZ]

Checked my sag today and got interesting results.
Supposedly, we look for 30% of total travel for race sag (unloaded in the air vs rider on bike with feet up).
Front travel is 5.4 inches. X 0.30=1.62 in.
Rear travel is 5.1 inches. X 0.30=1.53 in.
 
Here is what I measured;
Front 1.75 in. race sag
Rear 1.1875 in. race sag
 
Adjusted the front preload in 1 complete turn on both sides and now get:
Now at just under 6 lines showing, or 24/64 in from top to the bottom.
Front 1.64 in. which is fine.
 
Adjusted the rear all the way loose and still only got:
Rear 1.375 in. Stock was position 4, I loosened it to position 3.
 
Even though 1.375 is not 30%, I tightened it back up 2 spots (position 3) and it seems to compress at the same rate as the front now, so that is how I will leave it for now.
 
I am 180 lbs (had no gear on, but tried to get it close).
Will try out the settings next Thursday.
No rebound settings changed yet.
 

[vr46fan]

I am 230 with gear so the bike is well under sprung for me. I put two full turns of preload on the front and two turns of rebound on the front. I put the rear shock at position 7 and did three turns of rebound. Experimenting at this point until ohlins or Penske makes some components. Rode Hwy 2 this morning and the bike felt somewhat better. Are the fz09 forks the same ? If so, does race tech make a kit for our forks ?

[mattc]

http://www.sportrider.com/technicalities-suspension-and-springs
 
 
Pretty basic How-To on setting your race sag for those who have not done it before. I haven't set it on my bike yet but I'm willing to bet it's a little under sprung.