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Recommended Suspension Settings | 220lb rider


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beside the weakness of front suspension, there are other two factors worsening the bike stability.

1. Dunlop D220 causing front end and handlebars wobble at 65-80 km/h.

2. Excessive radial play in guiding of inner tube of the front fork. Found on new bike, both R+L forks.

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Now that I've replaced my front springs and fork oil, I"m noticing that the rear sag, which by the way is absolutely a pain in the @ss to adjust with the tool and space provided, must be dialed DOWN to nearly the bottom to give me near the 40mm of sag I want. It seems the stiffer front takes some pressure off the rear, and to balance them, the rear must be set loose. But I hear of people swapping out the springs on their rear for stiffer springs, and I'm a bit puzzled as I'm not a small man and seem to not have that problem. 

Also, I found a better DIY way to compress my springs with tools I had around the garage, with ideas from the interwebs. Wouldn't have thought of this myself but you can use a ratchet clamp and it works beautifully. Two straps on either arm of the clamp, and just tighten it up. I did already have the Traxxion tools device that lets you engage the plastic spacer. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All, need some help here as I think the more I google, the more confused. Got my front setting to these level based on my 65kg (143lbs) weight. One point of time was running approx. 160kmh(99mph) and hit undulating road, front wheel lifted up a couple of times in that split seconds and back on ground again, can feel steering wobble when the wheel were up the air. 
 

Should I adjust lower or release more the front suspension. The rebound and the other settings i set to standard as per manual. 
 

thanks in advance. 

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@WKE002, let’s split your example into two pieces.

After you hit a bump and your front wheel is in the air, you will feel steering wobble regardless of front suspension settings, because the forks are fully extended when all the weight is off the wheel. There’s no setting that will change this, but relaxing your arms so you don’t have a death grip on the bars will help and some people fit a steering damper which may also help. I’m presuming that you don’t do this often, so relaxed arms is my best advice.

The reason your front wheel lifts when travelling over a series of bumps, when travelling fast, is that your forks have not been able to cope with the frequency of the impacts. They’ve happened too quickly for the forks to react in time. The most important factor is the compression damping. If this is set too high, the fork cannot shorten quickly enough in response to the bump, acts as if it is quite rigid and the front wheel gets lifted off the road surface. To help, you need less compression damping. Try reducing the damping by a few clicks and ride the same road again, at the same speed. You can always adjust it back again if you don’t like the change.

The downfall of less compression damping, and damping in general, is that the forks can feel more bouncy, so it’s a trade off.

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Red 2015 Tracer, UK spec (well, it was until I started messing with it...)

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9 hours ago, WKE002 said:

Got my front setting to these level based on my 65kg (143lbs) weight.

Should I adjust lower or release more the front suspension. The rebound and the other settings i set to standard as per manual.

The recommendations in the manual are just that - recommendations.  There are no specific settings except what works for you.  Everything about your suspension can be adjusted to meet your needs; compression damping, rebound damping, spring preload, different spring rates, fork oil viscosity and fork height in the triple clamps.

The first thing I would do is watch some youtube videos on setting sag to determine if you have the correct spring rate front and back and then start adjusting the clickers for ride compliance. 

For me, its not a one time "set it and forget it", I always have a screwdriver in my tank bag and make adjustments on the go if needed for different conditions.  For highway travel, you can 'soften' things up a click or two and for more spirited riding you can change the settings a little 'firmer' if you like.

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***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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Thanks All, did both front and back sag to get close to 40mm.

65kg with a 2.3kg laundry soap packet and helmet (damm hot now at 38c) so not wearing gear. 
 

Front clockwise to 2 rings left.
Rear got it to softest of 1 click. 
 

find it weird, front left 2 rings and rear can’t even move to half of factory settings which is 7 click. 
 

Think might have got it wrong but have remeasured 3 times for each front and rear settings. will go for ride and remeasured again, as wanna get the sag correct before start playing with rebound n compression. 
 

does a light weight or similar to my weight get the same results, bike brand new with 4,000km mileage. 

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On 11/1/2020 at 11:26 AM, Stanislav said:

beside the weakness of front suspension, there are other two factors worsening the bike stability.

1. Dunlop D220 causing front end and handlebars wobble at 65-80 km/h.

2. Excessive radial play in guiding of inner tube of the front fork. Found on new bike, both R+L forks.

Interesting the  radial play.  I have long suspected something amiss in the suspension contributing to the wobble or weave on a lot of bikes.  Last couple of weeks I've been out riding it more and somewhat aggressively.  I'm happy with the suspension - stock settings but one or two clicks firmer.  Front tire is Pilot Power 5 and rear Road 5 and very happy with them.  I'm not the most aggressive rider but the bike leans and turns well enough.  I'm still amazed at how lively the bike is, very responsive and I find that I have to pay attention as a little deviation in steering and Im drifting off - not as in wandering but rather fast steering.  Bike feels very light.  

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