Real World Suspension Tuning

[Mel]

Hey guys,

This is a thread I put up on a bay area motorcycle forum. I'm hoping it might be of interest to some of you here on SSA. I would like to note that the roads I mention are in the bay area and I'm talking about guys that have ridden with me back there. Here ya go:

"I posted this in General because it is not a suspension thread per se such as how to tune your suspension. This is really more of a question about why so many sportbike riders don't bother to set up their suspension properly for the street. I know there are some sportbike riders that just like to ride at a leisurely pace up in the mountains, but I'm talking about the ones that like to ride at a somewhat spirited pace. I wish I had a dollar for everytime over the years that I've heard guys say that they didn't like going down Tunitas, Alpine, Stage, or any other bumpy type road because their suspension was set up too stiff, and then I look at their modern sportbike with fully adjustable suspension front and rear, and just have to shake my head. A lot of those guys have had one of the suspension experts set their bike up for trackdays and racetrack use and just keep that setting even when riding on the street. They maybe ride 3 or 4 trackdays a year at the most, yet put on hundreds and hundreds of miles on the street up in the mountains. The sad part is that with their fully adjustable suspension, they could change settings in about 10 minutes at the most, and have a bike that could handle any road at a spirited pace without beating them to death on the goat roads or wallowing in the fast smooth stuff. Obviously, the solution is to find the perfect street setup, so when coming off a trackday and back in the real world, it is just a few clicks and turns away. My FZ6 doesn't have fully adjustable forks, so it is not quite as easy to quickly change the settings, but I don't do trackdays so I can run one setup for my suspension that works well on all types of mountain roads from the bumpiest goat roads to the fast smooth roads, but it took some work to find the perfect compromise for my suspension and chassis setup. The FZ6 will never match the handling and suspension of the modern, state of the art sportbikes, but some of you that have ridden with me can attest that my FZ6 handles pretty well on just about any type road. Just imagine how well those state of the art sportbikes would work with the suspension dialed in for the real world up in the mountains. I guess what I'm really trying to say in this thread is don't be afraid to tinker with your suspension yourself to find the setup that works for your riding style. A suspension expert can get you in the ballpark, but they have no idea how you ride or what pace you run. You are the only one that really knows how the bike feels when dialing in those clicks and turns to find that optimum setting. Now get out and do it so you can enjoy any type of road up in the mountains!"

Mel

[GreenMachine]

 
Was thinking that one of these times I'd take the other bike out to the track to have it professionally setup by that former pro AMA racer.  He only charges $20 to do it too.  Don't know how that even covers gas to get out there.  Maybe he does it for the shear enjoyment of helping out fellow riders.

[Mel]

Thanks for posting up GM! A properly set up suspension definately makes a difference for a track bike or street bike, and just makes the ride more enjoyable.

Guys, here is a link to probably the best book available on suspension and chassis setup. I consider it to be the bible of suspension tuning.

http://www.amazon.com/Sportbike-Suspension-Tuning-Andrew-Trevitt/dp/1893618455

Mel

[Tahoebrian5]

That "guy" is Dave moss and if you saw the line he generates at the track to have him spend 3 minutes tinkering with your bike for $20... I'm pretty sure he's covering gas.

Anyway here is my $.02, when I first started riding I tried to educate myself by reading books, forums, YouTube videos, etc on suspension setup and I dove right in and tinkered with clickers until I felt I had achieved a better set up. 4 years later I finally make it to mr. moss at a track day and decide to pay the 20 to have him check it out. When he gave some experimental pushes to my bike he just looked at me and shook his head. Actual words "how long has this thing been beating you up"?  I guess I had the rebound so stiff he said it was nearly locked up. Do I think back to a couple close calls I had with my rear tire drifting on me and wonder if I almost went down because my suspension was all f'd up. Anyway I'm now a firm believer in having an expert set up my bike, whether its street or track I'm sure to screw it up.

[GreenMachine]

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