Hi all, managed to get the suspension sag measured at the weekend. I don’t think they are too far out on standard preload settings. front static sag 25mm Front rider sag 35mm rear static sag 22mm Rear rider sag 30mm It is difficult to tell if these are within range as i have found web sites that say different measurements for road use. I might take a bit of preload off the rear when i can next ride it and see what it feels like. what do you think?
yes I would soften both front and rear by reducing preload for road use, but you should then also reduce rebound and compression to match. Then fit a cable tie round the stanction and see how much of the travel you use Then fine tune from there. The feeling you get on the road is a personal thing, some like hard suspicion, I prefer mine compliant but fine tune so I use the middle third of travel for most of my road riding
That’s what i was thinking. I’ll try softening the rear first as i think the bike feels a bit front end heavy and see how it feels.
I learnt a lot from Dave Moss many years ago and did suspension set ups for guy's at the track when I was an instructor I still do a few but mainly road bikes
I cant get my head around suspension tuning. I've watched videos, read websites, took my bike for a setup and quizzed the guy but my brain just has a spasm.
For the SP/SP2 my suggestion is to leave the ignition on when setting your static sag. Honda still refuse to say whether their implementation of the Ohlins ECS damping/comp returns to default or the previous setting when the ignition is off. Ohlins response to my question was its up to the OEM. At least with the R1M we know as the entire system locks up when the ignition is off. I am surprised Dave Moss never addressed this when he did his SP suspension video.
@RC45 that's a very good point and one I hadn't considered....doh I recall from my bmw test ride that whilst sat on the bike when I switched the ignition on there was a very noticable drop in seat height as the suspension 'woke up'
Had to go to “the shop” today so during the ride there and back i took 4 turns of preload off the rear shock and what a difference it made to the handling, much better. The bike felt much more balanced and not arse up nose down as the standard preload gives. The rear suspension worked a lot better. I haven’t measured any sag’s yet but will do to see what the difference is. I then experimented with A2, A3, M2 and M3 suspension settings. M2 and M3 were with standard settings. For bumpy B-roads A3 and M3. M3 was slightly better i thought. For smoother A/B roads A2 and M2, could live with either setting.Didn’t try any other suspension settings as A2 and M2 were stiff enough. Really enjoyed the ride and found it so handy to change mode/suspension setting whilst riding when the road surface changed.
I've not done too much experimenting with suspension yet. On the very few rides I've had I have concentrated on lever positions and mostly the quickshifter operation. I was getting lots of crappy changes (off topic I know, sorry) but dropping the gear lever right down I'm.getting a much better operation now. I must have dropped the lever down about 2 inches so what default position the Japanese think is normal is basically weird
I learned about this from watching Dave Moss too. Also around the closeness of the brake lever (like the GP riders) These are things easily adjusted to suit the rider, with no specialist knowledge or equipment. If you don't like it, it can be reverted back very easily. Chin
Dave moss videos are very useful. No clap trap, not selling you anything, just this is me and this is how I do it.
When adjusting the front preload you have to disconnect the wiring to each fork leg. Do you then turn the blue preload adjuster and let the wiring turn as well or keep the wiring still and just turn the preload adjuster? Think you would have to let wiring move with adjuster otherwise no point in disconnecting as you would just use a spanner on the adjuster nut. Just want to check.
The wire is fixed to the stepper motor doohickie in the fork leg, the angled dust cap can spin. So you unplug the connector and then turn the blue spring preload cap that turns the wire, then you realign the angled dustcap before you plug the connector in again. I have only popped the dust cap off to show the setup. No need to remove it while adjusting.
Has anyone tried playing around with the suspension settings within each of the modes? So I know I can be in A2 and set the suspension towards comfort or make it firmer. But does, for example, softening in A2 make it the same as A3 or are the damping characteristics different. A couple more questions! 1) if you change the setting, does it retain it the next time you start the bike? 2) if I change the setting in A2 towards comfort, would that apply to the same setting in manual mode? The reason I’m asking this, is that it would be handy to have standard A2 and the same setting (but with more comfort) with one of the manual modes, for when the roads get bumpy. I hope that makes sense!
