tell me something you know about bike suspension

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Just chime in with something you've learned and/or find interesting about suspension, or that's happened to your bike's suspension. Tell me what's hard to understand about bike suspension, or difficult to service, or refurb.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[leolion]

its really hard to adjust the rear shock on a mt 07 with out smacking your hands on the frame and it doesnt feel and different to ride when youve completed it anyway

[Fisty]

Ohlins rear shocks have transformed the handling of both my bikes.
Sadly this then shows up the poor front suspension. But a rebuild and setup by RaceTec improved things no end.
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TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret

[Robby]

YSS PD valves are an excellent upgrade for damper-rod forks.

There are no cheap shortcuts to good rear suspension, you need to spend more than is comfortable.

The interrelationship between compression damping, rebound damping and spring rates is complex. Also the relationship between front and rear. A change in one thing in one area will have an impact everywhere.

Hagon mid-range shocks aren't very good.

I'm saving up for uncomfortably expensive rear shocks.

I wish manufacturers would spend a bit less on making more power from the engine and a bit more on decent suspension.

[ThatDippyTwat]

I have learned that mine is still (surprisingly) adequate even well north of 100K.
I've learned that a Maxton rebuild is so far out of the question it's laughable.
I've learned that It'll probably end up with a YSS rear and a fork rebuild.
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'98 VFR800 (touring) - '12 VFR800 Crosrunner (Commuting) - '01 KDX220 (Big Green Antisocial Machine)

[Bhud]

Too much front preload makes slow speed maneuvres more difficult but can improve braking if your tyres are good.

Too much rear preload makes high speed cornering more difficult and causes unexpected sudden slides, but makes a woolly bike feel more responsive.

Insufficiently stiff rear suspension makes a bike feel woolly and vague.

Worn-out rear shocks lose their rebound power first.

A 1980s road bike I own has the most comfortable suspension setup I have ever experienced on a bike.

[Howling Terror]

WP suspension is racist.
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[Ice Burger]

The lifespan of fork seals can surprise you. Sometimes they can last a couple of months, or you can leave them for a decade.

Usually the higher cost ones are really worth it.

[MarJay]

Static sag is really important, but it's useless if the spring rates are too high or low for your weight. Most manufacturers produce bikes that assume an average weight for the rider.

This means that people who are really large or in some ways worse, really lightweight, struggle with setup. Respringing can be one of the best mods you do.

I've done this on my Street Triple, whose front end was too high a spring rate for me, and now is well in the decent range, and on my VFR which I had a Nitron shock made for it. Both now ride very well.

My Buell is already in the correct range for me, and I might even be a bit big for my KR1S!

My trackbike was set up for a guy with my build and height before I bought it...
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[chickenstrip]

The forks on my bike have been treated by K-Tech, but I've no idea what has actually been done to them. The caps fitted apparently give the game away that K-Tech have been at them, they were advertised for sale on eBay as such, and a mate who has ridden many of these bikes with the R1 fork mod reckons they're better than most he has tried.

They are superb, without me having to have twiddled with anything. What I notice most is how they cope with high and low frequency road imperfections. I don't notice any dive on the forks under hard braking either, meaning the bike keeps its composure when being pushed hard into corners.

These modified R1 forks and the R6 rear shock have turned it into a completely different bike - I have never had anything that handled so well, despite it being a sizeable and somewhat dated sport tourer. Definitely the best thing I have ever done to modify a bike.

So what I know about suspension is that manufacturers often sell us short considering what is achievable. I'd go so far as to say it is a safety issue, especially if you do like to wind on the throttle a tad, and many bikes have more than enough performance to tie the standard fare in knots given an enthusiastic rider.

I am pretty clueless about setting up suspension for myself, but lucky that I haven't had to with this bike. I've read various articles on the subject over the years, but none of it seems to stick with me
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[Enduro Numpty]

I've discovered something that renders all my years of compulsive fiddling in search of that elusive suspension sweet spot. My new BMW R1250RT. I press the auto button for preload and if I'm solo it's perfect. The wife climbs on and the correct sag is immediately dialled in as if by magic. I load the luggage and again it increases the preload. No fiddling with compression and rebound damping. 2 settings: road and dynamic. I tend to leave in dynamic and no matter what the surface it sorts everything out. The biggest real advance in bike tech in years. So glad they came up with this before I'm too old to enjoy it.

[ThatDippyTwat]

[Pigeon]

Balance is key. At every point.
Both in terms of geometry (can be effected by preload settings as well as fork/shock height adjustments), stiffness and damping.

Always judge changes after a bike has warmed its suspension oil and parts up. Give it 10 miles / 15 minutes.

Set the sag correctly, but ultimately go on feel. Use it as a starting point, not a goal in itself.

Try setting your bike to extremes on damper settings, to see how the bike feels / behaves.

In the main, I prefer an over sprung and under damped setup to an under sprung and over damped one.

Progressive springs sound good in theory (comfy early on, with stiffness at the end), but for some reason I prefer linear.

ATF (fully synthetic) comes as close to the correct feeling for me in the bikes I've used more expensive synthetic suspension fluid in and having tried 5w, 7.5w, 10w, 15w and 20w on a few bikes with different spring weights.
It's a reasonable allrounder for a bike that requires 5-10w. Not so thin its crashy, not so thick it makes turns noticeably harder. Roughly its about equivalent to 7.5w

Mineral fork oil starts off thick and thins, I won't buy it again.
Fully synthetic has a narrower operating band and feels more consistent.

Remember to undo / crack the tight things on the forks while they are on the bike and clamped by the axle. To make removal (once the forks are out the bike) easier.

Always remember to undo the top yoke pinch bolts before trying to undo the fork cap

[grr666]

MT09 stock suspension is a bit wooly at 100+ which can produce the odd logcutter blink or two mid bend.
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[Howling Terror]

[mentalboy]

I like 'em stiff with plenty of lube...
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Make mine a Corona.

[redeem ouzzer]

I gave brooks suspension the forks on my 1100 and 400 and both came back fucking awesome.
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[barrkel]

Preload affects cornering ground clearance, most noticeable on a scooter or other bike (like a cruiser, I guess) which will grind hard parts sooner.
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Bikes: S1000R, SH350; Exes: Vity 125, PS125, YBR125, ER6f, VFR800, Brutale 920, CB600F, SH300x4
Best road ever ridden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MhNxUEYtQ

[yen_powell]

When your Nitron rear shock goes bang and sprays oil all over your exhaust pipe, not only do you think you are on fire for a few seconds, but trying to ride the bike to a safe place to stop is like riding an angry pogo stick.
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XT1200Z and a DR350 in bits

[chickenstrip]

[temeluchus]

Maxton, whilst expensive, know what they are doing and the service is first rate.
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Some shite cruiser. Now with guns and FREEDOM!

[Andy_Pagin]

When a Fzs600 Fazers' rear shock pisses itself, riding on an undulating road is like being on a trampoline. Changing the shock is like trying to do one of those little metal puzzles you get in a Christmas cracker.
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Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[sickpup]

Hyperpro do a deal on rear shocks and front springs for a lot of bikes for around the £500 mark. You can get interest free credit and good service on this from www.Calsport.co.uk .
Unfortunately if you want a preload adjuster this up's the price by £200 and many bikes need a preload adjuster as you can't get to the rear shock to adjust it.

If you are replacing fork seals always replace the bushes as well.
OEM seals are best but over priced, replace the bushes and pattern seals are usually fine.
Don't bother replacing just seals if the stanchions are corroded, replace the stanchions as well as the seals and bushes.
Fit fork gaitors to protect fork seals and fork legs.

It's no use paying a fortune for uprated suspension or a set up if the headraces/swingarm bearing/wheel bearing/shock bushes/tyre pressures/discs/brakes are screwed/wrong/warped/seized etc.

[stinkwheel]

Upgrading your brakes without first upgrading your suspension is NOT a good plan.

Japanese springs are designed primarily for Japanese people. Most Japanese people do not weigh 17 stone...

Spend 5 minutes beofre each ride checking yout tyre pressures instead of hours fiddling with your suspension.

It is possible to overheat fork oil to the extent you lose almost all damping. Multigrade fork oil is available.

Even very tiny geometry/ride height changes make a huge difference to the handling. More so than twiddling knobs on the suspension. If you're running wide, try dropping the forks through the yokes a few mm instead of pissing with the preload. Vice versa if it's unduly twitchy.
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I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.