.The problem with using "recommended" settings is the settings will be good for what that rider wanted, and mostly, what he weighed. Unless you weigh within 10lbs of him, it wont be right for you.

Also, if you brought your bike to me, you'll get what I liked, not what you like sort-of thing.

As you increase preload on a spring, you need more rebound damping to control the return stroke.

I would imagine your weight to be lighter than the test riders weight, and for that reason, try setting 1. This setting appears to be for a lighter rider

 

Okay, will do. I'll try it out tomorrow. Will also need to look for the tool that will turn the rear shock.

 

Word of advice, when doing the perload for the rear with the c-spanner, wear glove with knuckle/finger protectors, trust me. . .

 

i messed with suspension a lot too, took me a while to land on something i could use on the road and spirited riding in the mountains/track.

Originally the rear preload was set at only just under 3 threads showing, this caused me to scrape many parts of the bike because it would squat in corners, i increased the preload to 13 threads showing and it no longer scraped apart from the pegs. This was too hard in terms of comfort so i backed it down to just under 10 threads showing and found its pretty much right for me, have the rebound damping at 2 1/2 turns out from hard.

Front was a similar story, if i went to high on preload low speed steering was really snappy and quick but at higher speeds bike felt heavy. and visa versa, so i settle on 2.25 turns out from full soft on the preload for the front, 2 1/2 from full hard on rebound and 4 1/2 on compression, this for me is the best compromised between comfort and feel for my riding. Anything more towards hard on the rebound and the front end gets jarring over bumps and holes. With this setting the bike feels heavier at low speed turns but more planted and stable, and at higher speeds it feels just as stable but lightens up a little in terms of side to side weight.

Not sure if this helps but this is what i found out over the course of 2 weeks of fiddling and riding.

Btw im around 90kg, maybe a bit over.

 

We are at least 70kg apart. Lol does height matter? Can you also give me advice on what to set my bike in reference to your settings?

 

Neebs, thats a tough position to try and tune from. Things like:

"Originally the rear preload was set at only just under 3 threads showing, this caused me to scrape many parts of the bike because it would squat in corners, i increased the preload to 13 threads showing and it no longer scraped apart from the pegs."

Im not being critical, what are you supposed to do, ?

You might want to look into a t rex rear link. TRex 1013 Z1000, Ninja 1000 Lowering Links Ful

This would allow you to raise the back end to achieve extra height, but still allow you to set preload as per your weight.

Thats way more ideal than having to accomplish both with oen adjustment.

 

Well it is tough and thats why it took me 2 weeks to find a good setup for me, the rear feels good now and with the setup the bike is angled more forward than level which i like because it feels better in the twistiest. I measured the rear sag at 4 threads and at 10 threads, the difference was 34mm and 27mm. So these springs are made for someone around 70kg, i think they are a .80kg spring, to be at the ideal level for my weight i would need to fit either a .95 or 1kg spring on the rear, but thats costly and a pain to do since i found a good setup on the stock one.

 

Wow thanks for this, yes i've done my reading but this simplifies things. I think i'll start with sportrider's settings and then take it from there. I hope someone here who weighs the same as me can give me their settings so i can try it. We don't have shops specializing on suspension here, or any shops for big bikes at all, not even dynos.

 

Guys, I need your help again, can you guys make it simpler for me and post a pic here which part is front preload, front damping, and etc.? I'm gonna mess with the suspension tomorrow. Thanks i've been reading on it but it will be simpler to have a pic guide while doing it.

 

I saw a post with labels, so I'll be doing the suspensions while the green plastics are of and being wrapped with carbon fiber wrap. 4ftx3ft carbon fiber wrap only costs like $6 and labor probably $10 at most so if i don't like it, i'll just take it off. Haha

 

Sorry ant post pics since im at work but im pretty sure the suspension should be the same.

Also take note of where your settings were so you can always go back to those if you dont like something and have forgotten where you set it.

Alright so the front suspension- be careful to not over tighten these needles, once you feel it come to a stop, dont go any further, you can ruin the seals of the valves and then you get a whole new world of problems.

Preload is on the left fork only, it looks like a large star dial, you turn that clockwise to stiffen the preload and raise the front of the bike, you turn it counter clockwise to soften and lower. I think there are 20 full rotations to it from full to either.

Rebound on the front is the left little needle on the right fork, thats the one that you turn clockwise to harden the feel of the front end, also the more you turn it clockwise the harsher the ride will be, it also dictates how quickly the front shocks come back out after they have absorbed a bump. If you soften this too much (counter clockwise) the bike will be nice and comfy but suffer in stability in corners, and with me it just felt unsafe having it so soft. Compression is the right needle, this one is simple, clockwise to harden it which will result in the suspension going over non jarring bumps to feel harder, counter clockwise will make it feel smoother and softer. This setting i kept at 4 1/2 turns counter clockwise from fully hard, felt the best for me.

Rear suspension-

Here to adjust rebound damping there should be a needle that can be adjusted with a flat head screw driver, its located on the right side of the shock, that you turn clockwise to harden the feel of the rear and counter clockwise to soften it, this one is tough to get right because that one needle does rebound and compression, so you gotta find a good balance there.

The preload is easy, you will see two huge nut looking things with rectangular teeth, the bottom one is just a lock nut, that one you need to undo if you want to adjust the rears preload, id suggest getting a screw drivers and a rubber mallet and just tapping it until it comes loose then just undo it by hand. The top one is the one that you will be turning clockwise to raise the preload which will raise t he rear of the bike and also harden he rear suspension, counter clockwise to soften and lower. take note of how many threads are showing before you start this, adjust then sit of the bike and bounce around to get a feel.

hope this helps, kind of hard to explain through text, easiest would be in person but yeh, different countries and all that.

 

This helps a lot! Thank you very much for taking the time to write this. But 1 question, i thought you have to adjust the screw on both front forks and then the bolt below it is another adjustment?

 

There is only one screw for each function on the front, there is not a preload screw for each front shock, there is not a compression for each front shock there is not a rebound for each front shock. There is only one screw that controls each function for the front suspension (both shocks). If that is what you are asking.

 

all the adjustments are done up top of the forks on the front, so top of the left fork will be preload, top of the right fork is rebound and compression.

 

This is where I got the idea that compression damping is at the bottom, and "The front preload adjuster is the large nut on top of the fork tube. The front rebound adjuster is the small one."

Suspension Setup Guide | Sport Rider

 

Thats a completely different bike and suspension setup, that adjuster on the bottom of the fork is compression im pretty sure, same thing ours has on top but its on bottom. Dont worry about that suspension guide, different bike, different suspension, but the basic principles should be the same.

 

My bike has the same suspension setup as the one on sportrider, 1 dial each side of the fork, 1 hexagonal thing each side, and 2 dials at the wheel. I'll take a picture tomorrow.

 

so does that suspension come standard on the 2012? I was sure that the 3rd and 4th gen had the showa separate function forks on the front. Or is that just the 4th gen?

 

I bought the bike like this. Owner said it was stock, last time some people on the forum also mentioned my tank was different because it was black, but it just so happened this is a Philippine release color. By the way, my bike is not all black, got the green parts wrapped with carbon fiber sticker. I'm going out for a ride with some friends, i'll post pics when i get back.

 

Well if that's your suspension then it might be a bit harder to tweak the suspension because each fork does everything, so both front forks will have preload, rebound and compression. You have to make sure the settings on both are the same otherwise you could have some handling problems. But the process should be the same, you just have to do it a second time.

 

Just went for a long-ish ride, ride included some twisties, some congested towns, bad gravel roads, cracked cement roads, asphalt roads. The pirelli angel GT's are great, it's very grippy, i think pressure is a bit too high at 36f and 42r but it was all good.

Suspension seems to be a little soft at the back, it's showing 18mm thread if i measure starting from the thread, but if i include the non threaded part it's a little more than that. Front seems a bit stiff but will try to adjust that. I'll take pics now.

 

Here's a pic. Both sides have the same dials on top, and hexagonal thingy. And below on both sides it has the same dials also.

 

I like the carbon fiber look. paid 300 pesos for the wrap and 500 for labor, gave another 200 as tip. So like $20 for the whole job plus materials.

 

Okay so I finally got the time to do my suspension. I wish i knew preload is 10 turns at stock, i wouldn't have touched that, and now the right side nut is scratched and the paint is off, I even wrapped my open wrench with a sticker so it's not metal to metal. Front rebound was about 1 and 1/6turns, and the comp damping was 1.75. Rear preload was at full stiff.

So now I'm on:
10 turns of preload
2 turns rebound
1.75 comp

rear preload 1.75. Will test it out tomorrow morning on our ride.

 

2 turns from hard on rebound is alright but 1.75 from hard on comp? How many full turns on comp do you have? should be around 6-8, your front end will still feel hard as all hell when hitting bumps, you will prob end up softening the comp to around 4. When you say rear preload was full stiff, do you mean the spring was wound up all the way? Dont forget the rear needle only does rebound and compression, your spring on the rear is what you need to adjust for preload.

 

Sorry for the rear i meant preload. I haven't touched preload yet so right now it's around 18mm of thread showing if i don't measure the unthreaded part.

For the front the only thing that was adjusted from stock was the small dial on top which is said to be the rebound, which was set at 1 and 1/6 turns from full hard, now it it 2 turns, full soft is 4 turns. The large nut which is supposed to be preload was already at 10 so i set it back to 10. The bottom dial near the brakes was on 1.75 turns from full stiff and according to the guide i followed, i should set it to 1.75 so i did.

 

too stiff? turn your compression on the front a little softer maybe preload softer. The rear on mine rides much softer when it is riding deeper in its travel so mine is better with a softer preload in the rear, I can't really mess with the rear on mine much though as I ride with a passenger often. Those will get more comfort, I don't know much about for racing and cornering set ups don't really get into that.

 

Okay so now try going a turn or two on the rebound and comp from full soft and see how that feels. From what you said your dials have less turns to them compared to the gen 4 which means either you have less range of adjustment or its the same but you adjust them less since you have less full turns, if that makes sense. For example, my bikes front preload has 20 full turns, my rebound has 5 1/2 full turns and comp has 8. But as i said, try softening the front end, maybe adjust it from its softest setting, or put it on its softest setting and ride it to get a feel of what its like and go from there. If you keep the front too hard and jarring, it could start to really hurt your wrists on longer rides since your wrists and hands end up working as suspension too.

I turned the dial on comp and rebound +1 turn to soft and now it rides a bit better. Before if i do a sudden brake to full stop it kinda throws the momentum forward, i actually fell once because of this, but not it's better it dives the fork a bit and it also rides better. Hopefully i'll be able to wake up for our 5am ride 4hours from now to try it out. I'm only basing this on rides around town...

 

Okay so now try going a turn or two on the rebound and comp from full soft and see how that feels. From what you said your dials have less turns to them compared to the gen 4 which means either you have less range of adjustment or its the same but you adjust them less since you have less full turns, if that makes sense. For example, my bikes front preload has 20 full turns, my rebound has 5 1/2 full turns and comp has 8. But as i said, try softening the front end, maybe adjust it from its softest setting, or put it on its softest setting and ride it to get a feel of what its like and go from there. If you keep the front too hard and jarring, it could start to really hurt your wrists on longer rides since your wrists and hands end up working as suspension too.

 

Just when on a long ride yesterday, the longest i've ever ridden. Did a 20km ride at 6am to have breakfast in the next city, then back. Then went on a 140km ride with a stop in between for lunch, then back. So I did 320km in 1 day, mostly consisting of twisties and short straights plus towns and stuff, it's pretty tiring to ride here in the Philippines since you have to keep your eyes peeled and your brain needs to be very aware all the time. There are dogs suddenly crossing, people suddenly crossing, motorcycles taking sudden U-turns on highways, potholes out of nowhere, and etc. My butt hurts a lot, probably since i got new tires and don't hang off as much as before, i just lean it over unless i really need to hang off. My hands felt dead from the vibrations and left hand hurts from the clutch. Knees hurt from vibrations and later on in the ride on the way home i did some exaggerated hanging off to move my butt.

Suspension is a lot better than before but i still need to adjust it but i'm not yet so sure what to adjust. Hahaha still learning about all these things. Seems like the front is better but during bumpy roads it feels weird.

 

I emailed Dave Moss for suspension tips and got this for my weight.

Fork position same as stock
- preload all the way clockwise and back in 1 turn
- rebound all the way clockwise and back 1.5 to 1.75 turns
- compression all the way clockwise and back 1.75 to 2 turns

Shock preload to the lowest setting
- rebound all the way clockwise and back 1.5 to 1.75 turns

This is very similar to the 1st settings i did that was in sportbike.net suggestion except for the preload.

I tried this at 1st:
10 turns of preload
2 turns rebound from full stiff
1.75 comp from full stiff

rear preload 1.75 from full stiff
Around 20mm thread showing preload

Now I'm at:
10 turns of preload
3 turns rebound from full stiff
2.75 comp from full stiff

rear preload 1.75 from full stiff
Around 20mm thread showing

1 turn from full in front is how many turns from 10 turns? Since i'm at 10 right now. And does rear preload lowest setting mean no threads showing and my rear would go down? Wouldn't that make it harder to turn in?

 

yep your rear would go down. these rear shocks definitely ride better lower in the bore. It feels way better when I ride 2 up. But since I ride 2 up I can't lose the preload or I'll bottom out when I ride with the woman. If I was by myself all the time I would back it down quite a bit. Though I look for comfort not carving, I don't know about the race stuff =)

 

I never ride 2 up and i'm like 140-150lbs. Letting the shock go all the way down would help me flat foot it better too. Though i could flat foot it now but more is better. For front preload, what is the max? If i am at 10 turns.

By the way, for front preload, is it the same for both left and right? Clockwise is harder and counter is softer? Or is it opposite for each side?

 

Anyone else's rear preload adjuster hard af??? Even with a hammer and a screwdriver, it barely budges. With a spanner it takes all my strength. It's already on an alligator jack to lift the bike. But it's still hard af.

 

I haven't messed with my rear, but I have heard they are really tough. Make sure you are loosening the jam nut first though and not trying to turn the jam nut and adjuster at the same time. As you loosen it, it should get easier the further it gets backed off. As for the front, I don't have the same set up you do but preload should be counter clockwise for less preload and clockwise for more. I would back it all the way off, just keep count of how many turns it is in case you want to go back. I have also heard no preload on the front is good for my bike. Again you have a diff set up than mine but give it a try. I am going to back my front off more this spring, I backed it off about 2 turns from stock and it got better, less jarring

 

Yeah the nut is already all the way back, since i was planning to try all the way down for the rear. But it's hard af to turn. I only got halfway. For fron, Dave suggested 1 turn from full clockwise. Right now i haven't ridden it yet but seems a bit stiff all around. Will try it on our ride tomorrow. I just hope i can get the rear to go down all the way. Makes flat footing easier too.