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Help with suspension adjustments

2K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  roland5color 
#1 ·
Well I've got the bike together and been riding it every time it stops raining around here. got almost 500 miles on it now (350 in the last few days) and want to make it more suited to my riding habits/style.

I realize its a street bike and therefore isn't the most comfy riding bike but I think I'm too heavy for the way the dealer set it up. I'm not a racer, so how well it leans isn't as important to me as how long I can ride it for before my back gives out. I use the bike more like a cruiser than what it was really meant for. :smilebig:

I have a friend (about 265 lbs. Big guy) with an 07 R1 and his bike feels like it handles the various bumps and grooves in the road much better than my bike with the way his bike was set up for him.

I weigh about 225 lbs (102 kilos-ish I think for you people across the sea) and about 6'3'' if that helps any. I searched but couldn't find much. Any advice or any good threads with pointers?

Thanks guys.
 
#2 ·
You're right where I'm at for height and weight. I'll save you the trouble now. You need to look into upgrading your fork internals with stiffer springs. Revalving would be good but not needed.

As for the rear you might get away maxing the rear shock to it's hardest setting but it's not gonna be ideal. Lots of aftermarket shocks for fairly cheap.

Check out race tech for your fork internals.

Good luck
 
#5 ·
I'm 6'3" and 215lbs now ... I was 225llbs. I maxed everything the stock stuff had it just wasnt enough.

Once I did the race tech internals the front felt amazing but the rear was complete crap untill I changed it out for the Ohlins.
 
#7 ·
Trust me, after you get your suspension set up, you'll not care if it's for the track or the street. the bike feels and reacts ALOT better than it does with the standard setting. They have adjustments on the suspension for a reason, to make it YOUR suspension.

i'm with Mr. Speed in upgrading the internals for your forks. I'll be purchasing new fork springs for the front and hopefully a triple clicker for the rear.

For reference, i do ride only at the track on my blade, BUT, can see the huge benefit of having the suspension set up.
 
#9 ·
Do you think I should do this even though I don't really plan to ride it on a track or even very aggressively on the street?

I changed it a bit the other day. turned the pre load up a bit stiffer and backed out the rebound a tiny bit. seemed to help. Ill mess with it some more when I have time. Can't ride too often in the winter months around here.

I don't think they will be doing track days anywhere around here for a few months when the weather gets a little nicer.
 
#14 ·
If you do set your suspension up in those temps you will probably have to tune it again when it warms up outside. The fluid in the forks and shock flow a lot slower in the cold. Another thing that I didn't metion was to make sure you make small adjustments and keep the front and the back of the bike even. When you push down on the seat of the bike the forks and shock should compress and rebound evenly. If you get the bike uneven it will be like riding a seesaw.
 
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