I have spent a lot of time setting up my suspension on my 2013 1000rr and have now plateaued, It is not bad but I think could be better. It could be better on the bumpy roads I still have standard springs and obviously they are fitted for all circumstances 2 up etc. I have a single seat so I will not take passengers/hookers etc on the back. I was thinking of changing front and rear It seems on paper if you ride solo your springs are a mile out ? My question is, my weight is 84kg fully kitted, will reducing spring rate give me a better ride over the bumpy sections of my ride, I am only using about 60% travel on my forks after a ride. I am sure people will have experimented with different springs, Will I just spend my money on soft springs and then be unhappy it is like a pogo, I would like to get some 9.5 springs and report back, anyone got any for sale
I'm not too far off your weight and got the following: KTECH Internals KTECH FORK SPRING 9.5nm KTECH FORK FLUID #5 best thing I ever did, used all the available travel w/o bottoming out awesome!
I am very surprised not many people have had their bikes resprung or wanted to reply, Thanks slick for the reply, It seems strange as when you take a logical approach they need changing for one up riding, I shall have to get some sorted
Yeah, a standard blade, I believe is sprung for approx. 100kg and pillion - could be wrong. but for for me it was waaay too hard especially on high speed compression, also couldn't get to the recommended sag without a tonne of adjustment. On UKs sub standard roads I was skipping all over the place. Mine was set up for road (rather than track or fast road) and used all the travel, most noticeable improvement was the controlled dive into braking and smoothness through corners. My current blade is completely standard, by all means its still good but nowhere near the 'on rails' handling the Ktech gave me. Once the forks need servicing I will go the same route.
Minor service to the rear swing arm, new bearings and re greasing plus a brand new OEM shock (pre 2012)
The best way to look at this is via datalogger or a gopro mounted to see fork travel. Just looking at zip tie doesn't really give you a full picture as it can go to 60% on a single small bump. Reducing spring rates does make suspension to travel more yes. Maybe as step one try to unwind preload to 1-2 turns to see how this changes your ride. Normally people softer spring to use more fork travel to make the bike turn easier, not to go through bumpy section of the ride. Do you hold your body with legs when going over bumpy road ?
This is the type of thing I need to know, When I first started adjusting I was under the delusion reducing damping made it better over the bumps, you wish, A data logger sounds good but until then , preload is 12 out from 16 so could go a few more, Then its trying to decide is it the front or the back I need to adjust,
Just been on Race tech calculator 76kg and it comes up as .96 front std is 1.03 and 11.18 rear std is 12. I will have to recheck my sag etc, I don't want to buy the wrong springs
