Suspension Questions - please chime in

[fanowater]

I have gone the Traxxion front, Penske rear route. Don't have the front in yet, but the Penske rear shock (8983 model) is excellent. A huge improvement.
To me, the rear was the worst part of the suspension. Front has too much compression damping, but I can live with it (for awhile).
I would upgrade the rear suspension immediately and do the front when you can afford it.
 
Also, installing the rear is pretty easy if you have a decent selection of tools.
 
Cheers

[toast]

I finally got around to setting sag and it made a huge difference. It holds a line even better and turns in quicker. I'm at 85-90% on the rebound on the front and I may go higher.
 
We have a lot of great roads by my home but they are all fairly bumpy. I can already feel the limitations of the suspension, the high speed compression seriously needs work... Its pretty brutal. I was coming around a right-hand corner (a bit faster then I should have) and the rough compression made the bike jump. The rear got air (probably a half inch or less) and stepped out to the left followed by the front but stuck the landing without headshake. Definitely a pucker moment ... My old motard could hit a speedbump mid corner and be fine despite having an overall inferior suspension.

[lunchbox]

I'm a big guy (~260 pounds) and I find the stock suspension to be pretty good on smooth surfaces. As has been mentioned, its shortcomings appear quickly on rough pavement. The first thing I did when I got the bike home is set the sag and then hit the hills to get the rebound damping in the ballpark. I'm honestly impressed that the suspension performs as well as it does, given the bargain basement nature of it all. I would love to upgrade my suspension, but I don't feel it is an absolute necessity as it is on so many other bikes I've owned.

[toast]

^ Hey dude!
 
I spent some time this weekend dialing in the suspension, I did a kind of quick and dirty job the first time. The rear surprisingly needed a lot less preload then I thought. Even with my fat ass (240 with gear) I got 30% sag with the shock set to 4 (standard). I backed off the front preload a bit to get 31% (2.5 lines showing, 8mm or so).
 
Using the hold the bike from the front/rear and pump the suspension technique I'm now at one turn from full rebound on the rear and two clicks higher then standard on the front. It could use one more click on the front maybe depending on conditions.
 
Dialing it back some actually made a big difference, it's still harsh on sharp bumps but it's much better. I was ready to put down the money for a new shock and cartridges but after spending an hour fine tuning I can wait.
 
Tldr; From the showroom it was set to full soft, not even standard all the way around. I went too aggressive first but after making small adjustments dialing back it's pretty damn good.

[fanowater]

If you loosen the chain to more normal slack (1 inch or so), your rear shock will work even better.
Cheers

[ULEWZ]

fYI the FJ & FZ forks are the same basic length.

Actually, they are the exact same length. The fork tubes and most other parts are the same part number, the only difference is the valving. They are fully exchangeable if you don't mind the soft valving settings. I based this off the 2015 FZ-09 parts list vs the 2015 FJ-09 parts list. Not positive about prior year FZ-09 parts.