A41Billy
Well-known member
Our local riding group was fortunate enough to be graced with a suspension tech day from the legendary Dave Moss from https://www.feelthetrack.com
He spent an hour and a half going over suspension basics and setups. We had 25+ rider show up with their bikes. A new BMW S1000RR, Ducati 1198s, R1's, CBRs, Triumphs, FJRs were all in the mix. One by one we would pull our bikes up to the chock and he would measure sags, rebound, etc. explaining where each bike was off and how to adjust it for each rider. Every bike was no where near to being balanced. There were even track bikes, freshly set from the track by "knowleged individuals" that were way off.
After a few bikes, he was asking the group what was wrong with each bike and how to fix it. Slowly we started absorbing some of his wisdom. He also explained, there are no bad tires made today. People complain of a "bad tire" or this one is far better than that one is BS. It's all about getting the bike setup for that tire.
Prior, I had "dialed in" my suspension with settings from a recommended post on these forums (Haulin Ashe I believe?).
These settings have worked great for me for a year and a half. So I thought.
My turn to pull the FJR up to the stage. Dave took one look at the saggy ass of my FJR and shook his head. Not much can be done here. The rear shock after 30k miles is shot. He also let me know my bike was completely owning me as far as handling was concerned.
After some sag adjustment and rebound changes to the forks, the front end was set.
The first ride after the adjustment revealed two things: First the bike drops into a corner effortlessly compared to prior. Second, the rear suspension is now very noticeably soft.
I was completely acclimated to my bike and the way it handled. Now it's like learning a new bike. The bar pressure needed to lean is much less and it will stay over w/o trying to stand back up.
I am changing the fork oil this weekend and have a new Ohlins YA-707 shock on the way.
I realize I will have to readjust the suspension after I install the new shock. I am really looking forward to getting this done.
He spent an hour and a half going over suspension basics and setups. We had 25+ rider show up with their bikes. A new BMW S1000RR, Ducati 1198s, R1's, CBRs, Triumphs, FJRs were all in the mix. One by one we would pull our bikes up to the chock and he would measure sags, rebound, etc. explaining where each bike was off and how to adjust it for each rider. Every bike was no where near to being balanced. There were even track bikes, freshly set from the track by "knowleged individuals" that were way off.
After a few bikes, he was asking the group what was wrong with each bike and how to fix it. Slowly we started absorbing some of his wisdom. He also explained, there are no bad tires made today. People complain of a "bad tire" or this one is far better than that one is BS. It's all about getting the bike setup for that tire.
Prior, I had "dialed in" my suspension with settings from a recommended post on these forums (Haulin Ashe I believe?).
These settings have worked great for me for a year and a half. So I thought.
My turn to pull the FJR up to the stage. Dave took one look at the saggy ass of my FJR and shook his head. Not much can be done here. The rear shock after 30k miles is shot. He also let me know my bike was completely owning me as far as handling was concerned.
After some sag adjustment and rebound changes to the forks, the front end was set.
The first ride after the adjustment revealed two things: First the bike drops into a corner effortlessly compared to prior. Second, the rear suspension is now very noticeably soft.
I was completely acclimated to my bike and the way it handled. Now it's like learning a new bike. The bar pressure needed to lean is much less and it will stay over w/o trying to stand back up.
I am changing the fork oil this weekend and have a new Ohlins YA-707 shock on the way.
I realize I will have to readjust the suspension after I install the new shock. I am really looking forward to getting this done.