I only had a short ride home in the horrid weather, but I immediately noticed that the bike was hard touted right. So I have been informed to set the suspension up for me. I believe I need to set the sag for front and rear before even considering to play with rebound etc. My question is, how do I go about doing this? Is there anyone in the Bristol area that may be able to help and even teach me a thing or two?
Worth having it done properly. £34.99 at JHS. Motorcycle suspension service Bristol. Authorised Öhlins Service Centre.
JHS don't put you on the bike, they do it going by the weight you tell them. I had my GSXR track bike setup by them recently. The trouble is that I went in expecting to pay £35 for a suspension setup and came out spending over £400 on having the forks re-built with new K-Tech compression adjusters :tearsofjoy:
Surely the above is not great if I am not on the bike. Can they really tell how much the suspension sags with my ass supposedly on it?
Well they know how to set a bike up and I guess experience gives them all the information they need to make adjustments. I did go there with the impression that I would be on the bike, but alas I was told I wouldn't be needed. They're not the only ones who use static sag measurements rather than rider sag, when I had my suspension setup trackside by Parkitts racing, they did the same thing. If you want to go somewhere where you know they'll put you on the bike, it might be worth a trip over to MH Racing in Wiltshire. Their setup cost is a little more expensive, but I'm pretty sure they put you on the bike - you could always call them to confirm. Motorcycle Suspension Specialists | MH Racing LTD
How much do you weigh and are you on the standard or R model? I have the same issue. I am 65kg and 5'7" (172cm) with 29" inside leg. But was expecting it and deliberately bought the standard model because I was worried that the eletronic suspension would be too difficult to change. First ride was back from the dealer ... it was taller than on my test ride and very hard. I've done 200miles over the weekend and I have backed the preload off to minimum, dropped the seat height by just about the max and 2 stops back on compression and rebound damping. Its now much better. In fact I'm surprised how good it is as I was expecting to have to put a lighter spring in it. Not played with the front yet. I generally prefer to sort rear first and then front.
They don't need you to sit on it for a basic setup. The thing is if you are lighter or heavier than average then you'd need to consider different springs and other stuff that costs a lot more if you really want to make it work for you. It also makes a big difference how hard you ride it which will probably change considerably as you get used to the bike. It looks like the 1299 has progressed a lot from the 1199s in terms of how easy it is out of the box but I suspect the bike still takes a bit of work to really start to feel at home pushing it harder.
They will set the bike up so it has the correct static sag (no ride on ). If your weight is withing the range of the spring then all is good. if not then you will need a new spring to match your weight. The rest is about getting the damping rates correct so it compresses and rebounds equally front and rear. None of this needs you on the bike.
I measured 5mm. That what I measured it as, as best as I could on my own. Total sag set at 20 mm rear. Front static sag I measured as 25mm. I added a bit of preload to get total sag to 30mm.
Just had the suspension set by JHS, and what a transformation! The suspension was initially set way too hard, and the guys were surprised how bad it was. They have put the suspension into fixed mode rather than dynamic and now it glides around corners.
Hello - did they just adjust the standard suspension or did they replace anything like the springs? Interested to know what weight you are if its not to rude to ask ?
Cool thanks - good they set it up with standard kit. Still looking for a rider like me around my wight - 65kgs to find out what changes to make
be far to stiff I had 1199 had to take it to mct ,, resprung and revalved I was 12 stone at time and it was solid.
