Having spent the day stripping the new toy and giving it a good deep clean and polish I thought I would have a go at the suspension. Measured static sag and loaded sag and got the following: Front: Static sag 35mm, Loaded 46mm Rear: Static sag 30mm, Loaded 47mm Now from what I've read I should be looking for something like the following for road use. I will not be tracking it. Front: Static sag 25mm, Loaded 40mm Rear: Static sag 20mm, Loaded 35mm I felt much softer and more cruisy than I was expecting when I picked it up, and this explains it I think. I started with rear preload. Bought the appropriate sized C spanner and tried to adjust. There is next to bugger all room for the spanner and adjustment was impossible. I cut the spanner down to a more appropriate size but still struggled. Can you do this job without taking off the rear subframe and tank?
I think it is possible - you just have to do it in itsy-bitsy increments and it takes ages if you need to do a big change.
A brass rod is better.........doesn't b*gger the slots too much that way..........but bradders'sss method just as good..... I work on 26-28mm static sag for the front and 10-15mm for the rear....... ....Haven't checked the loaded sag because my weight has been fluctuating a lot, but the rear is about 20-25mm. This gives me relatively hard suspension, which I prefer.........I find it better to not have much dive at the front because being a shorty and heavy in the upper body, my weight gets flung forward under braking, so dive makes it worse. Likewise, I would rather lift my bum for a bump rather than have that soggy compression feel as I pass over the bump.......besides, I can feel the road much better with harder suspension.
Thanks..........I thought I was about right.........The SS is a lot different to my ZZR.....the ZZR was so big it didn't even know I was on there.
Side story...last few weekends found myself licking on a bit for the first time on multi and really using the rear to steer, so to speak...and do find a soft saggy backside easier to drive out of a corner hard. Yet on track I have a bike set up really firm if I can.
Actually, I just have it set hard because I'm a lazy s*d and it saves me from having to exercise to keep the flab down......
Well Bradders, I stand very humbly corrected! Having cut down the C spanner again this morning to try to get it in the very small gap I then found it was so short it worked as well as a chocolate Tea Pot. So I got cross and got out the hammer and flat head. It's the only way to do it. Simples, and no damage. Thank you. I will not doubt you again.
A morning of buggering about with suspension and I now have something that is theoretically correct. The hammer has been put away and I have promised myself that I will not make a habit of using it on the Ducati. Afternoon going to be spent finding out what difference I have made in real life. The bike was set up as follows: Front: Static sag 35mm, Loaded 46mm Rear: Static sag 30mm, Loaded 47mm Front compression 18 clicks, rebound 13 clicks Rear compression 6 clicks, rebound zero clicks The bloke was a stone and a half heavier than me, so not sure how that worked. I now have this: Front: Static sag 25mm, Loaded 35mm Rear: Static sag 15mm, Loaded 35mm Front compression 10 clicks, rebound 12 clicks Rear compression 14 clicks, rebound 14 clicks In terms of geometry Rear ride height is at 285mm. Front is set on the 24.5 angle with three rings showing. Does that seem about right as a starting point? Be interested to hear what others find is best for road use. Now to play.........
Try it first. Rear sounds too soft a spring if it drops that far or not enough preload as I like 25 on the road, its a personal thing tho
How much does the OP weigh? (pardon me for asking).........'cos his sag settings aren't far off mine.......and mine is 'hard' at my weight of just under 12 stone...........
Bang on the same as you Arquebus. 12 stone. Been out for an hour round the lanes. On the very smooth stuff it felt great. On the bumps it was a bit on the harsh side and there was very little compression on the front forks under braking. I think the way I have it set up now would be good for the track, but for the road and real life I have come off the compression and rebound settings front and back by 2 clicks each. So now running: Front compression 12 clicks, rebound 14 clicks Rear compression 16 clicks, rebound 16 clicks If it doesn't piss with rain again tomorrow I will get out and see how that feels. Thank you all for your help.
