I am trying to set my suspension up before a trip and am setting static sag. I have Front : Unladen 195mm Laden 124mm = Sag = 71mm Rear : Unladen 575mm Laden 483mm = Sag = 92mm So my question 1 for the thread is what are the base sag settings I should be aiming for? and question 2 , to reduce dive under braking is that increase the preload on the front which will then alter the static sag or do i increase the compression damping one click at a time? Many thanks Chris
Not sure on a multi, as its very different to a sports bike. If setting sag, my general rule of thumb for the road is 40mm front and 25mm rear rider sag. If it is diving too much and the sag is right (and preload not max in or out) I add some compression, but tend to go big steps to see if it changes it a lot, if it does come back to start then add a click at a time. But I know feck all about feck all
Have a look at this MCN page - it may help. How to set suspension sag - Motorbike Suspension Reviews | MCN Since we have longer travel suspension than the sports bikes being considered in the article I would go for perhaps 10mm more sag at each end. But I am no expert.
Here's a more detailed description of the process: - Motorcycle Suspension Set-up UP BIKE TO YOUR WEIGHT
Thank you all, I went for 60mm at the back and front. Just taken it for a wet road thrashing and its great , massive reduction in dive under braking and felt great but much more (not unsurprisingly) harsh ride. I now realise I loved the feeling of a too soft rear, when it used to squat down as i accelerate out of a corner. I found this article Motorcycle Suspension Setup mentioned above by bradders and Denh to be a great resource , the mcn one simples but less content. Thanks all that helped a great bit of wet weather fun, I may just soften it abit for touring
Here's my experience on my 2011 PP with Ohlins: The front and rear maximum suspension travel is 170mm so I tried to set loaded bike sag to about 1/3 of that: 57mm With the standard springs in the front it was possible to achieve this with just my weight and also fully loaded with luggage and my wife aboard. The rear was a different story there was just not enough preload range with any other weight on the bike. I ended up buying a stiffer rear spring and moving the preload collar down on the shock. I also bought stiffer front springs, which meant that I could dial out a lot of preload and still have the target rider sag, but have way less front dive. You can only dial in or out so much preload for a given spring weight then you have to think about getting the right springs for your weight. Turning the compression up does help with front dive, but again there is only so much adjustment available and you are compromising suspension performance when not braking.
My advice would be to take it to a specialist. Took my 13 abs to reactive suspension 2 weeks ago to be set up. Huge difference, especially at the front. Greatly reduced dive but didn't create a harsh ride. Much plusher when pressing on
i will take to specialist , but probably when i replace the shocks, I'm really just playing before a trip , i was happy with the setup before or should i say i was used to it so like comfy shoes it felt good. I do think , just doing the basics of static sag , i have improved things and understand it a lot better but I've improved for performance not comfort. I think its well worth setting the sag and then adjust from there. An expert will always do a better job I agree and its well worth the money.
Definitely worth the money. Was only £45 for the ride in, ride out service. Took about an hour. It's when hard on the brakes that you notice the biggest difference. Braking into bends actually possible now without upsetting the bike. This is my second multi and having done this could kick myself for not having done it before. Even with the standard suspension!
sorry don't understand , i haven't touched rebound or compression , just increased preload to reduce static sag from 90mm to around 55mm on rear and 70 to around 55mm on front. Haven't i in effect reduced the amount of travel available and hardened up the suspension. I can only speak bum on seat , but it reminded me of getting out of land rover into hyundai , a much harder ride so when you go over a bump , its more of a bump if that makes sense. Its not bad just a different type of ride which too me is harsher. How does compressing the spring andf reducing the amount of travel not make the ride more harsh or am i missing something basic, i am new to this
The preload is what you feel when you get on, the comp-reb is what you feel when you ride it, except if it fully unloads and tops out. Or something like that. Obviously if you have springs too light or heavy the comp-reb adj may not be able to cope with the range needed so you could never dial out all dive for example, stick heavier springs in and you need less preload and it will naturally compress less without anything else
The only reason to adjust preload on a road bike is to make sure the suspension doesn't top out or bottom out. Adding preload doesn't make the spring any harder. You need to change the spring to do that. In this month's RIDE mag they reckon adventure bikes should have between 45-60mm front sag and 25-30 mm rear sag. This is sag caused only by the weight of the bike on its springs, not with the rider on the bike. Your front sag sounds about right but the rear sounds way off, so have a go at rechecking it. Its possible the rear is bottoming out causing the suspension to go solid momentarily.
I have the standard 13 model as well. Front end dive was mostly eliminated by 2 clicks extra on rebound and 2 clicks damping. Didn't touch the preload. It is the damping that slows the dive when on the brakes, adjusting pre load just adds or removes load (used to set sag, called preload) to the springs? This might stiffen things up, but the damping adjustment is important. Probably money well spent getting it set up by a specialist. I just never seem to have time.
My SAG was rider sag (or loaded sag). This is one of the difficulties I found , there seemed no definitive you should aim for x rider sag. Many people quote sports bike sag, the thing i followed in the end was 1/3 of the suspension travel should be rider sag so 170/3 (travel of suspension front and rear) / 3 = 56mm so this was the aim. my problem exactly. I thought I was doing a simple , easy change that should be done. Seems its far from simple to get it right ! . As its almost dry, time to go out for a blast and test it on the roads I know. Thanks to all , enjoying learning!
Sorry that ride mag is way off. 35mm rear sag WITHOUT rider?! So likely more than 45 with. Ok if you like to ride a Black widow chopper...
Reset to factory standards, then make some changes and wrote it down and try it. Costs nothing but a bit of time riding your bike...whats wrong with that A pro just gets you there far quicker
You wont find settings for 'with rider' sag, cymers, because each rider is a different weight. Rear sag should have read 20-30mm. It isn't a sportsbike after all.
Was this multi type bike specific? Must admit I wonder (as above) how different it is from a 'regular' bike without the long travel forks etc. Every measurement should be done as rider sag, static sag is useless alone as a 12st rider and 18st one will be grossly different yet the spring fitted is the same from the factory. Static is a starting point then add rider and adjust until right. Every guide I have read says the same
