Would like input on adjusting suspension settings on forks and rear shock absorbers on my Multistrada 1200 DVT Pikes Peak 2016. I am a 125 kg man, weighed in the morning without a wallet. Basic setting is possibly intended for a person of 75 kg? I am fully aware that adjusting shock absorbers is a separate area of expertise, but is there anyone here with experience who can give me a setup for how it can be adjusted according to my weight, front and rear? Thanks in advance for your good input.
You can't adjust the standard suspension for your weight. You need to go to a suspension shop and get them to rebuild the suspension to carry you. Gonna be some cost involved but it will be worth the money. The other option is loose some poundage and that's free.
The manual gives a set up for riding with a passenger, which shouldn't be too far from you weight, I've been your weight in the past and that worked for me.
Not really, whilst you are able to hold the bike up when it's stationary and you can get somewhere near the correct rider sag you mess up static sag. Firstly I would establish where you are, measure static sag and rider sag. If you can get somewhere near 10mm static and 30-35mm rider you're probably in the ball park. If you have 10 and 50+ your springs are too soft. Then see how much travel you actually get. Ty-wraps on the fork leg and the damper shaft work well. Are you actually bottoming out or get very close to bottoming out during normal use? I only ride road and set all my bike up pretty much the same. 5-10 mm static sag front and back. 30mm rider sag front and back and I use around 75% of the available travel on normal use. I personally find progressive springs not very forgiving so all mine have linear springs. Damping is then set to where I feel it's best. Start at 50% and then it's pretty much trial and error. One thing I found is that most damper adjusters don't work over the whole adjustment range. Mine go on a Dyno and both Sachs and Showa adjusters only work from full stiff to about half the available clicks. So if I have 20 clicks total, all the adjustment is between 0 and 10. 10 to 20 clicks has little or no effect. Öhlins are a little but better and have a broader range but they still don't work across the whole range. Unless you have TTX, can't comment on those as I haven't had one in my hands. They still have a bleed adjuster like all the others so the issue is probably the same.
Thanks for all the good input. Have chosen to set up the suspension according to the specification in the instruction book, for Sport. Adjusted everything to 0 both front and back. Then I saw how wrong everything had been set up by the previous owner. Now, it's like a brand new bike to ride. Took a good lap on winding roads today, with good and somewhat worse road surfaces. Was actually very pleased with the result. Have found the sharpest knife in the drawer, and had a trip to the store and bought vegetables. Now I'll have salad for dinner, then we'll have to consider new springs for next season.
@folbjo Below, is the suspension set-up I currently have on a 1260 Pikes Peak with manual Ohlins which at 18,000 Kms, is slightly more than half-way to a fork and shock service. FYI: I'm 177 lbs / 80 Kg in full leather gear (160 lbs / 72.5 Kg without). No pillion, All twisty back roads. Riding on Angel GT. I'm very pleased with this set-up so far although it's not perfect as the front static percentage is higher than textbook. However, the Rider SAG percentages and the fore-aft balance are already near spot-on which is more important and I also prefer a slight forward pitch. Without hard braking, I'm using 3/4 of the fork travel measured to the bottom-out mark above the fork casting and that's while riding on smooth roads without pushing it. If riding more aggressively or on rougher roads, the zip-tie drops another half inch. In an emergency stop, my zip-tie drops to just above the bottom-out mark. It's also important that I remember that some of these settings should be reviewed every 3000 miles or so as the oil's viscosity deteriorates. Consequently, I consider suspension set-up as a journey, not a destination. I will also be tweaking the compression and rebound settings to see what's best given a particular riding scenario. Keeping a record of these settings is an essential step in this journey. First step is documenting where you are now. Stock Ducati springs are for a 80~85kg fully kitted rider. However, if you're significantly outside this range, the stock springs may not get you there thus you would require a spring swap and perhaps even a re-damping. 1) Start with fork and shock preload. Using a 17mm socket, turn both fork preload completely counterclockwise and note how many turns. That will set the preload to zero. Then re-set it back clockwise to where it was. Both forks should be the same. Write down the number of turns. Next, for the rear preload, note how many turns and reset. Write it down. 2) Fork compression: With a long 3mm hex key for the left fork leg, turn it clockwise to close it completely and count the clicks until it stops. Don't force it. Write it down and return it to where it was. 3) Fork rebound: With a hex key for the right fork leg, turn it clockwise to close it completely and count the clicks until it stops. Again don't force it. Write it down and return it to where it was. 4) Turn the the compression knob below the seat to close it. Note the number of clicks. Write it down then return it to where it was. 5) Turn the the rear rebound knob to close it. Note the number of clicks. Write it down then return it to where it was. Now you're ready to start tweaking. You can always go back to these settings if need be. Do this and next, you'll need to set the static SAG and more importantly, the Rider SAG based on your weight. Static SAG on most road bikes should be around 10% of total travel but having a bit more in front is not that critical. Your Rider SAG target is more important and should be about 30% of travel both fore and aft. If you can't get close to 30% here by adjusting preload, you will require changing springs. You'll need a helper for this one. Wear full gear while you're on the bike and your assistant does the measurements. Plenty of YouTubes on this. Of the 6 adjustments, Rider SAG is the one you can more or less set-and-forget unless of course you alter the carrying load on the bike such as having a pillion and/or luggage. Front and rear compression & rebound is a journey which you can tweak based on the riding condition of a particular day. Fork and shock travel should be near 75% of maximum. Use a zip tie on your fork as a measuring instrument. Same for the rear shock. Look for a dust ring. Now get out there and ride. See how much suspension travel you're consuming and adjust accordingly. As previously stated, Your goal should be using about 3/4 of the fork travel measured to the bottom-out mark above the fork casting and that's while riding on smooth roads without pushing it. When riding more aggressively or on rougher roads, the zip-tie can drop another half inch. In an emergency stop, the zip-tie should drops to just above the bottom-out mark without bottoming-out. Hope this helps for starters. Cheers.
Yes. That is correct. Note that Static SAG and Rider SAG % may be difficult to get textbook results on a long travel suspension such as a Multistrada. Consequently, the focus should be on Rider SAG.
