best suspension for rough roads?

[slammie]

Hi all,

just bought a 05 FJR with 13k miles. I am living in Bulgaria for a few years and the roads are really rough. They never really repave roads here; just continuously patch them and they do a poor job at that. I know very little about suspensions but I do know that I need to upgrade for these roads. Can anyone recommend an aftermarket front/rear suspension that is best for rough roads? I know wilbers, penske, and ohlins are recommended but I am not sure which one handles the rough stuff best. I am not road racing here- I just want to go for some rides without cracking my spine. I weight around 220lbs. Also, any suggestions on getting the stock suspenion setup to better handle these bumps while I decide on an aftermarket setup?

 

[eg23232]

Before you go spending all the money on new suspension bits, how about getting the current suspension properly dialed in for your weight, riding, and road? With only 13k miles on your bike, the suspension should be fine. Save your money for when it no longer works or if the stock springs don't support your load. You won't know until you set the proper static sag and then adjust your compression and damping. Granted, the rear shock is not as adjustable as aftermarket but unless you're taking your FJR on the track, or it's failed, it should do the job for a while longer.

I have 22k on my FJR and I ride the snot out of it and still have the stock rear shock. It's fine once I'd got it dialed in properly. I had a local suspension shop help me with mine. I did finally have the fork internals rebuilt only because they started to go bad and then had different rate springs installed to better match my 180lbs and aggressive riding style. Yes, it made a difference for sure but I wouldn't have spent the $ on it if it hadn't started to go bad.

Wilbers has a good guide called Motorcycle Suspension Technology (https://www.motorcycle-suspension.com/index_products/index.html) and there are several other suspension tuning guides out there, some more technical than others.

Once you get the sag set, you can get your compression and damping basically set using a tuning guide. Then it's a matter of small adjustments (one click at a time) of one setting at a time to get it to your satisfaction). From there, depending on load (two up, packed luggage), road, riding, you can make your adjustments from that baseline setting.

Personally I think most people set their suspension up way harder than it needs to be. Err on the side of soft if you have to. Seems counterintuitive, but a softer setting actually is letting your suspension react better to irregularities on the street. Too hard a setting causes chatter and harshness and keeps your suspension from doing what it's designed to do; keep your tires in contact with the road!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[slammie]

All good advice- I finally downloaded the manual. Looks like the preload is set way high - I will soften it up quite a bit. I found a great (I think) tuning guide:

https://www.gostar-racing.com/club/motorcyc...set-up.htm#What is “suspension” all about

I will follow this and see how it turns out.

Before you go spending all the money on new suspension bits, how about getting the current suspension properly dialed in for your weight, riding, and road? With only 13k miles on your bike, the suspension should be fine. Save your money for when it no longer works or if the stock springs don't support your load. You won't know until you set the proper static sag and then adjust your compression and damping. Granted, the rear shock is not as adjustable as aftermarket but unless you're taking your FJR on the track, or it's failed, it should do the job for a while longer.
I have 22k on my FJR and I ride the snot out of it and still have the stock rear shock. It's fine once I'd got it dialed in properly. I had a local suspension shop help me with mine. I did finally have the fork internals rebuilt only because they started to go bad and then had different rate springs installed to better match my 180lbs and aggressive riding style. Yes, it made a difference for sure but I wouldn't have spent the $ on it if it hadn't started to go bad.

Wilbers has a good guide called Motorcycle Suspension Technology (https://www.motorcycle-suspension.com/index_products/index.html) and there are several other suspension tuning guides out there, some more technical than others.

Once you get the sag set, you can get your compression and damping basically set using a tuning guide. Then it's a matter of small adjustments (one click at a time) of one setting at a time to get it to your satisfaction). From there, depending on load (two up, packed luggage), road, riding, you can make your adjustments from that baseline setting.

Personally I think most people set their suspension up way harder than it needs to be. Err on the side of soft if you have to. Seems counterintuitive, but a softer setting actually is letting your suspension react better to irregularities on the street. Too hard a setting causes chatter and harshness and keeps your suspension from doing what it's designed to do; keep your tires in contact with the road!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[madmike2]

It could be the best suspension for a rough road is under a "Multi Strada", a "V-strom" or a G.S. :dntknw:

Seriously, soften it up and try it, then report back.

 

[slammie]

That is the truth - I looked at an 08 GS that I would have loved, but it started dumping oil all over the asphalt when I rode it. Plus you have to pay cash for bikes around here so I wouldn't have been comfortable making that big of a transaction. I really wanted a varadero abs, but couldn't find one locally. Then the

FJR showed up right down the street for a great price so I couldn't say no.

For now I have softened it up- much better. I still might want to upgrade the shocks - 13k BG miles = about 40k US miles in terms of suspension wear. I can't wait to try it on some of the roads around here (actually this is Romania, few hours away):

It could be the best suspension for a rough road is under a "Multi Strada", a "V-strom" or a G.S. :dntknw:
Seriously, soften it up and try it, then report back.

 

[madmike2]

It sounds like you're due for an aftermarket shock and fork springs. The change will surprise you.