Suspension settings on the 06;

[painman]

Just curious as to how many who have the 06 have tried the 2 different settings on the bike to see which one works best. I know that the firm setting should work better in more aggressive riding or with a load or 2 up, but I ride single and making the change in the settings, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Anyone like one over the other? PM. <><

 

[Adomo]

Just curious as to how many who have the 06 have tried the 2 different settings on the bike to see which one works best. I know that the firm setting should work better in more aggressive riding or with a load or 2 up, but I ride single and making the change in the settings, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Anyone like one over the other? PM. <><

I don't notice much of a difference, the manual says ride on the firmer setting for 1 up and on the softer when double. I always leave mine on the firmer setting. I'm 6'3, so the only setting I find makes a real difference is to use the lower seat setting (stock seat :angry: ). My riding style tends to be fairly aggressive and I find this helps me get lower into the turns, and buffets me better also (windscreen is stock as well).

 

[borrec]

I read the article here:

https://www.sportrider.com/tech/suspension/

I tried their recommended settings and it made the bike handle better.

 

[norflyer]

I read the article here:
https://www.sportrider.com/tech/suspension/


I tried their recommended settings and it made the bike handle better.

 


Sir, thanx,


that will solve my little adjustment problem as a "novise" at the racetrack. :huh:


She tends to be akind of soft with the factory settings...


I've tried of my own but did not really hit the "G-point" !

 


Tor

 

[painman]

I read the article here:https://www.sportrider.com/tech/suspension/

I tried their recommended settings and it made the bike handle better.

+1, good article. And thanx for that info. PM. <><

 

[temp357]

+1 on the sport rider settings

 

[JohnB]

I don't notice much of a difference, the manual says ride on the firmer setting for 1 up and on the softer when double.

My manual shows just the opposite. The "B" (soft) setting is for solo and "A" (hard) is for riding with a passenger.

 

[mindtrip]

+1 on the sport rider settings

I must say, I disagree--somewhat. Remember, the 2006 has a stiffer spring rate than the previous years; when I set the suspension to the sport rider settings, I found handling was better, but too harsh. I carefully read and re-read Lee Parks' chapter on suspension settings in Total Control, thought about it a lot, then on each ride paid careful attention to exactly what the front end was doing when it would hit bumps. And remember, there are two kinds of bumps, elevated and depressed, and the suspension should react equally to both, but what you adjust to handle each will be different.

As I rode for the first couple of thousand miles after setting the sport rider settings, I found that I needed to back off on both the compression and rebound damping in the forks a few clicks each to get a ride that held my wheel to the road. The goal is to have your settings such that when you hit a bump (either elevated or depressed), the suspension moves the wheel to just overcome the road hazard, without moving the handlebars. An ideal suspension would keep the mass of the bike at the same height relative to the road, moving the wheels under the bike to adjust for bumps. I found that the sport rider settings had too much compression damping so that when I hit an elevated bump, the front end would 'buck up'. Likewise, when hitting a depression, the front end would 'bob down' into the hole, indicating too much rebound damping.

In the rear, I found the same thing; too much rebound damping was keeping the suspension from soaking up crevaces, so I went a couple of clicks back. Unfortunately, the compression damping can't really be adjusted; I'm not sure if the lever is actually flipping between two compression damping settings, or just adjusting the preload (which only affects static sag), but I generally run it 'hard' for two up. I'm playing around with it on solo rides to determine if there's a big difference, though I do think it helps two up.

Backing off the damping front and rear has made my ride soooooo much smoother. When I tour two up and fully loaded, I do have to adjust the settings at the start of the trip, then move them back when I'm solo again. But figuring out how suspension works and what to adjust for various conditions has really helped. Go figure. So be a scientist, make a single change, pay attention to how the handling is affected, and learn!

 

[caryt]

Great post :clapping: now how about letting us know exactly what your solo and 2 up setting are....please

Cary

 

[bmwhd]

Great post :clapping: now how about letting us know exactly what your solo and 2 up setting are....please
Cary

+1

I'd love to compare. Also, what do you weigh?

I'm still running the "baseline" '06 settings as applied during setup at the dealer but I know at 210 lbs I need to tweak them.

 

[mindtrip]

FYI I'm 5' 11" and weight 185 lbs.

Having gone from the sport rider settings, then making adjustments on the road as I pay attention to the bike's handling, I honestly can't say exactly what settings I'm at now. I'll try to measure them sometime in the next few days and report back; I'm leaving tomorrow morning for the Hooterville ride in Arkansas with smitty and the gang, so this won't be the highest priority tonight, but I'll try to do it soon.

If you haven't, I highly recommend reading the section on suspension in Total Control. This is all just Newtonian physics, but this is a good starting point for reading about the different components of suspension, what they do and how they work together, so you can figure it out for yourself. Then when you go on rides you can pay attention to what is happening as you ride over bumps (ie, is my handlebar popping up or dropping down when I hit a bump? What about the rear end?) to made educated adjustments, and finally decide what settings you like best.

 

[caryt]

Were are about the same size so Ilook forward to you settings post. have a safe trip.

Cary

 

[Mark G]

Were are about the same size so Ilook forward to you settings post. have a safe trip.
Cary

+1 on the settings posting, especially two-up changes...I do the same thing, would simplify things greatly to have starting points for both riding modes.

TIA,

M