Bike is planted as hell now

[Cdogman]

I have been venturing out again and playing with my suspension setup. Now I am an Ex Goldwinger and until now playing with my suspension consisted of setting the little electronic preload button and not even knowing WTF it did (OK I knew but could not tell a difference from setting to setting)

I ride a road near my house called "Corner Canyon" or "Suncrest" that pops up over a small mtn and down the other side. Total distance is only about 6 miles one way. It is 2 lanes in either direction and the asphalt is really good on most spots and I know where the bumps are, and what to expect from them, sight lines are awesome, traffic is very very light. I have made this run aggressively probably well over 100 times. It has some sweet sweepers pegged at 40mph that you can run into at around 70-80 and exit in the triple digits and be well within a good safety margin. OF COURSE I only do this when I have the local police block off both ends of the road. The Police here are awesome and understand my need to practice

At first I was running with the stock suspension one up. I needed to know the bike a bit (and I did not know WTF to do to it anyway) The bike worked awesome (remember my other bike was a Goldwing, and it made a kazillion runs up this canyon too).

Then I decided to start a baseline and play with the suspension to see what happened. I set everything to the "Middle" except Front preload. I left that it 3 bars showing.

This caused the bike to "Pogo" when the suspension loaded up in a turn and I hit almost anything. It was a bit unnerving but I left it that way for about 2 weeks, just to get used to it before the next change and to make sure I was not the cause by being "Unsmooth". The pogo motion was consistent.

The last change I made (a couple days ago) was to ad the MSL front brace, set the front re-bound dampening to the Jeff Ashe (6 clicks off max), ad 2 more clicks to the compression dampening, set the front preload to 2 bars, and ad two clicks to the rear Compression dampening.

PLANTED!! My bike is friggen planted!! I am going to back off the front preload a half a bar today. The dampening adjustments seem to have helped but I think I could be a tad softer in the front without ill effect.

BUT LEMME REPEAT. If you are afraid to play with your suspension, don't be.

My bike feels so planted I have unexplainable urges to water it like a plant. I love this damn bike. I can only imagine what it will be like when I save up and get some cooler suspension parts

Anyway. I encourage everyone to play with the settings. You don't know what you are missing!!

 

[bvail]

Did you have Traxxion or SuperBrace on your GL1800?

 

[Cdogman]

No, I had no brace at all. I did look into the new shock made by,,, ummm I forget but the model I think was either 460 or 490. My GL was a great bike. I simply wanted more power and more ground clearance and the other things that the FJR is better at.

I rode my GL1800 pretty hard and was often referred to as "The Guy on that damn Wing that you cannot shake outta your revierw mirror" riding the twisties with others.

For what it was, properly handeled, the wing did great. I do think a fork brace on the wing would make a big difference tho. I got slow cyclical wobbles at trip digits in turns on the wing. I think the brace would help that alot. Alas, My wing is sold. I did not ride it anymore once I got my FJR

 

[bvail]

No, I had no brace at all. I did look into the new shock made by,,, ummm I forget but the model I think was either 460 or 490. My GL was a great bike. I simply wanted more power and more ground clearance and the other things that the FJR is better at.
I rode my GL1800 pretty hard and was often referred to as "The Guy on that damn Wing that you cannot shake outta your revierw mirror" riding the twisties with others.

For what it was, properly handeled, the wing did great. I do think a fork brace on the wing would make a big difference tho. I got slow cyclical wobbles at trip digits in turns on the wing. I think the brace would help that alot. Alas, My wing is sold. I did not ride it anymore once I got my FJR

I put a Super Brace on the FJR and it made quite a difference. Much steadier in the twisties.

I was quite surprised at the power and handling of the Wing. I only have 7.5k on the Wing right now, but should have around 20k or more by the end of summer.

I like both bikes very much, so I'll probably keep both for now. If I had to chose between the two, the Wing would probably win.

 

[2006FJR]

No, I had no brace at all. I did look into the new shock made by,,, ummm I forget but the model I think was either 460 or 490. My GL was a great bike. I simply wanted more power and more ground clearance and the other things that the FJR is better at.
I rode my GL1800 pretty hard and was often referred to as "The Guy on that damn Wing that you cannot shake outta your revierw mirror" riding the twisties with others.

For what it was, properly handeled, the wing did great. I do think a fork brace on the wing would make a big difference tho. I got slow cyclical wobbles at trip digits in turns on the wing. I think the brace would help that alot. Alas, My wing is sold. I did not ride it anymore once I got my FJR

I put a Super Brace on the FJR and it made quite a difference. Much steadier in the twisties.

I was quite surprised at the power and handling of the Wing. I only have 7.5k on the Wing right now, but should have around 20k or more by the end of summer.

I like both bikes very much, so I'll probably keep both for now. If I had to chose between the two, the Wing would probably win.

How do you use your bike and what do you like better about the wing? I like the Wings and I was just curous...

 

[keithaba]

No, I had no brace at all. I did look into the new shock made by,,, ummm I forget but the model I think was either 460 or 490. My GL was a great bike. I simply wanted more power and more ground clearance and the other things that the FJR is better at.
I rode my GL1800 pretty hard and was often referred to as "The Guy on that damn Wing that you cannot shake outta your revierw mirror" riding the twisties with others.

For what it was, properly handeled, the wing did great. I do think a fork brace on the wing would make a big difference tho. I got slow cyclical wobbles at trip digits in turns on the wing. I think the brace would help that alot. Alas, My wing is sold. I did not ride it anymore once I got my FJR

I like both bikes very much, so I'll probably keep both for now. If I had to chose between the two, the Wing would probably win.

Careful what you say around here, it's almost friday!!!!

J.K.

 

[Constant Mesh]

What type of potting soil did you use?

 

[twowheelnut]

What type of potting soil did you use?

*Rim shot*

He's here every night, folks. Please don't forget to tip your waitress!

See? I keep telling peeps to play with their suspenders, but do they listen? Oy.

 

[Cdogman]

How do you use your bike and what do you like better about the wing? I like the Wings and I was just curious...

The wing does several things better than the FJR. But it all depends on the type of riding that you do.

1. The wing is MUCH easier to Farkle. Wiring Harness already includes plugs for a gazillion ad ons / Plug and play

2. The wing has more room for storing crap. I have a E52 and a tank bag. Still no comparison

3. The wing has much better wind protection than the FJR

4. Not that it really matters on the FJR but the wing has Reverse

5. Built in Stereo and Built in Comms

6. Now built in Nav

There are several more things as well. But again it depends on how you ride

The wing, for a 900lb scoot, handles EXTREMELY well if you become friends with it. But nothing like the FJR

The wing walks all over the Classic, and Ultra, and a few others in the same class, many times even with a stage one kit in the HD. But nothing like the FJR

The wing has pretty good ground clearance (for a pure Touring Bike) but nothing like the FJR

I ride more aggressively and like more power. The FJR is the bike for me. The Wing is an unmatched Pure Touring Bike and very nice

 

[Jaycen]

Where can I find the "idiots guide to setting up suspension"? clicks? bars? I guess I fell asleep in class that day :huh:

 

[Wolfhound]

I took a class locally on suspension last week held by Lenny Albin & can say it is nice to know a bit more and now have an even better handling bike !

 

[Cdogman]

Since I dont know **** and figured it out. I will post a series of pictures and call them thingies. I kid you not. I will do this and all the sudden you go.......... Ding.... that is what happened to me........... I will help you grasshopper........ First you must overcomne your fear of playing with the clicky thingies.... Gimme a day or three........

 

[radman]

Where can I find the "idiots guide to setting up suspension"? clicks? bars? I guess I fell asleep in class that day :huh:

A nice start.

Suspension set-up

 

[zorkler]

i had to play with the fjr for some time to come up with the right adjustments

 

[Kevin Daly]

Where can I find the "idiots guide to setting up suspension"? clicks? bars? I guess I fell asleep in class that day :huh:

Try reading Keith Codes book "a twist of the rist" then Lee Parks book "total control" both have some nice comments about suspension. also check out the link that radman provided, i think that is the one i used last year to setup my suspension. just right for my riding style

-kevin

 

[HaulinAshe]

BUT LEMME REPEAT. If you are afraid to play with your suspension, don't be.

You know you're going to grow hair on your forks!

So you are planning to go back to two(2) lines of front preload?

I sorta lost count along the way.

 

[Jaycen]

Since I dont know **** and figured it out. I will post a series of pictures and call them thingies. I kid you not. I will do this and all the sudden you go.......... Ding.... that is what happened to me........... I will help you grasshopper........ First you must overcomne your fear of playing with the clicky thingies.... Gimme a day or three........

Thanks, I'm heading to the dragon on the first of june, and I would like to "Have my bike planted as hell!"

Where can I find the "idiots guide to setting up suspension"? clicks? bars? I guess I fell asleep in class that day :huh:

A nice start.

Suspension set-up

Thanks Radman!

 

[daddysbike]

I had among lots of other bikes a '03 1800 Goldwing then a '05 1800 Goldwing. I rode them each ~25,000 miles in a year. Great (best) bike for 2 up riding.

If you do alot of 2 up riding, you may as well get a wing since all the fun/handling is taken out of any other bike with a passenger. Also you and the passenger will be much more comfortable.

I got rid of both wings becuase I ride solo and like to ride "brisk" in the twisties.

I flipped the rear preload to "hard" and left all other settings as set by Yamaha. This seems to work pretty well for long rides and twisty bits. I had my CBR set up still for twisties but man you fell every little pebble you run over so I don't want to really go that direction and lose comfort.

My ST1300 I set the rear stiff and still scraped pegs all the time in the mtns. I never scrape a peg on the FJR in the mtns. I think thats a combo of better clearance and backing off a bit.

I still may fiddle a bit with the FJR though, I get the urge when reading a post like this!

Thanks,

Steve

 

[uzirider]

Now that i have a few miles on the bike i have started tweaking the suspension. It so easy for me on a dirt bike to set up everything for the big stuff but i still struggle with the small bumps(braking bumps). Good advice on getting out and messin with the settings.

Please dont take me wrong You said "...and ad two clicks to the rear Compression dampening." I thought the rear shock only had Rebound dampening.

Is the manual wrong or are you running an after market shock? I hate the posting police, i should just delete my post but i already typed it. Time for me to get flamed.