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Damper adjustments

3K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  dbierman 
#1 ·
When I bought this bike it rode like it had wooden wheels. When I got it home I noticed all the damper adjustments were turn fully to the hard side. To make it ride a little better I ran them to the full soft side. This did make it ride a little smoother. I've noticed a little wobble in the turns lately almost like to asphalt has small woop-t-doos, is this because of the soft settings. I also completely unloaded the preload on the coil over.

I ride to work on this everyday so I'm not looking for high speed turns but I do want it to be a safe ride.

Any suggestions on a good middle ground setting would be appreciated.
 
#2 ·
from my understand your saying that you softened the dampers up and didn't think it would affect handling? well, what you did was allow the shock to follow EVERY GROOVE IN THE ROAD. you need to keep tightening it back up until you find a happy medium. i live in michigan and ride on hard setting because the roads are messed up. if i rode my bike on sof settings i probably would end up in the ditch!
 
#3 ·
I never said that I thought it wouldn't affect the handling. Read my post again.

I raced dirt late model for years and if I didn't know anything about shocks and springs I would have been lost. So I know how a shock works.

I was asking for some help getting it close, I can fine tune it to my liking after that.
 
#7 ·
I set it up just like the table said and it rides a whole lot better. Everything is smooth and predictable. The only problem I noticed is when I was coming to a stop I let up on the handlebars (to let the blood flow through my wrist) and it gave a little wobble like it was going to do the tank slap thing. I did this twice more to see if it might have been something to do with the road and it did exactly the same thing both times.

The preload on the front springs before I made my adjustments was at two lines showing the table says to put it at 4 lines showing. Could this be the problem? It never did this before with the hard or soft settings. How should I set the front preload? Should I turn it fully in so when I bring it back out it's exactly the same? That's the only way I know to make it exactly the same on both sides. Will it bottom out screwing it in?

Thanks
DB
 
#9 ·
what bike is it the 929rr or 954rr these have different forks and possibly different shocks have recently replaced a fork due to inexperience getting to the fork before i bought the bike (stripped and broke everything and then put the leg back together). with m y experience i rang around shops till i found out where they sent their suspension to get done up and rang that bloke. he asked for my height and weight and gave me a good place to start. bearing in mind the springs could have been changed to suit previous rider and the oil level may be to high or low.. i found the best thing was to start from scratch and get the basic settings right first (oil level spring weight ect) or take the front and rear units off and send them for a service. it will be the best money you spend on your bike
 
#10 ·
It's the 929. I went outside earlier and ran the adjusters all the way down then backed them out 6 turns which is three lines showing, now I know they're both adjusted out the same distance. That's half way between where I started and where I adjusted it to when the wobble started. I'll find out tomorrow if it helped.
 
#16 ·
It's the 929. I went outside earlier and ran the adjusters all the way down then backed them out 6 turns which is three lines showing, now I know they're both adjusted out the same distance. That's half way between where I started and where I adjusted it to when the wobble started. I'll find out tomorrow if it helped.
This made all the difference in the world. It handles through the corners like a dream, the ride is somewhat comfortable, the wobble is almost unnoticeable when I let go of the bars. I know I can't push this thing to it's limit anymore.

I'll get the sag set up as soon as I get my stands built.
 
#11 ·
as far as your fork/shock settings you want to set the sag up properly. I forget the numbers you're shooting for but if you do a little searching you'll find them.

after getting that done you can adjust the steering damper. you want it where you'll still have just a tiny bit of wobble. with keeping a tiny bit you'll still be able to feel what the front end is doing.
 
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