initial suspension setup

[carl]

so i took the new bird down to galveston this weekend; it was the first longer ride she's been on.

i've noticed how "bouncy" the ride of the bike is, but this longer ride (and the fact i had a passenger) seemed to just exacerbate the problem.

i feel ashamed because i'm a mechanical engineer, but i'm totally ignorant about how to properly set-up the bike's suspension. i'd get out there and start fooling with the settings, but i don't know that i'd be able to discern what would be considered an improvement.

i'm 6'2"-6'3", ~230 lbs.

can anyone help me out with how to set the bike up? (the more detailed the better)

[jjp]

unfortunately this is a small problem w/ this bike. the front is unadjustable and the rear only has spring preload and rebound damping. check your owners manual for those adjustments and yes it is a little springy.

[Mithrandir]

The bouncy-ness is due to the highly over-damped front end. First it has a hard time compressing the forks when you hit the bump, and then then you get to the other side, the wheel can't return to touch the ground fast enough so the front of the bike drops. Both of these contribute to that really harsh ride you're feeling. The back is almost the same, but it is slightly adjustable. With the rear, turn the adjuster more towards the soft end of the scale.

To fix this, you put in an aftermarket valve kit. I did that last weekend and I'm in the middle of writing up a tutorial on it right now. This is very unfinished right now, but it will give you an idea about what to do:

How to Replace your Fork Valves and Springs

(Note to Swampy and Joe: This is a work in progress, please don't put it in the lock threads. Once I'm complete, I'll start a new thread with the link in it. You cannot yet get to this page by links from other pages)

[TBS]

To improve your suspension I think that you will need to do a few things. The front end can be much improve by changing the springs. I would say that non progressive springs are better but that is a question of taste. Race tech make very decent springs. I would suggest this as a first operation before changing the valves. The second step will be to adjust the springs with the proper size of spacers. Once that is done and you still fell that it is not right you can consider the valves. On my XX I did change the springs and fooled around with spacers and oil for a while and I finally have quite right without changing the valves.

Once the front is done you will notice more how poor the suspension is in the back. The problem with most bike is that the back suspension is more a spring than a shock. Even at soft the back of the XX is bouncing all over the place. To really cure that you do not have much choices. You will need to replace the shock. You will notice that in most cases, you get less spring and much more absortion. Really the idea of the suspension is to keep the bike on the road. Different options are available from either Ohlins, Penske WP, Bituto, Technoflex and on and on. I did put in a Gubellini, made in Italy by FG Special parts, similar quality as Ohlins but a little cheaper since the preload is adjusted wuth rings rather than a know. I must say that for 200 Euros, I did not care much about the know.

How much will you spend depends on how far you want to go.

Springs, more or less 100 $

Shock, from 600 to 1200 $

Valves, I have no idea or you can get crazy and get Ohlins fork, 2000 to 7000 $

http://bitubo.com/

http://www.fournales.fr/

http://www.technoflex.nl/

http://www.wpsuspension.com/

Hope this help.

TBS