Adjusting Suspension

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Do you adjust your suspension once you've got it as good as you can, ie; do you have different settings for different situations?

Asking the above because I've come to the conclusion that once I've got suspension about right I never touch it again, especially on road bikes where you get such varied road conditions and speeds you couldn't get it perfect for everything.

Because of the above I've realised I don't need adjustable suspension, I just need to get the initial build of the suspension right, which is pretty easy with forks, but more difficult with rear shocks, so maybe I still need adjustable shocks.

[KungFooBob]

I crank the rear preload up when I take a passenger, but that's about it.

[Supermofo]

My first bike with adjustable suspension back in the early 2000's. I moved it about a bit a realised I didn't have a clue what I was doing. Since then I have never adjusted my suspension at all. I just ride the fucker as is.

Only bike I felt the need to do anything with was the front end of the Firestorm. But by the time I made the decision it needed doing I knew I wanted a different bike so didn't bother.

[Yorick]

Suspension is voodoo. I never had a clue. On trackdays we had free set up. We told the sussy guru what felt wrong and they twiddled things and made it work.
I probably used Colin from 100% the most and we were pals. But when he started to explain, I just heard blah blah blah

Not touched the GSXR. It just feels sublime out of the box.

[Taipan]

On eth rare occasions I've had bikes with adjustable suspension, I normally scour the web for recommended settings, especially for the more, ahem, heavier rider. Some times its worked, but a lot of the time it feels harsher, but then I favour a more compliant ride and often end up with the baseline settings.

[Skub]

I'm fussy and I know what I want.

I want suspension which is compliant,yet not soggy or harsh on real roads.At the same time I don't want vague handling for more faster open roads. This inevitably involves adjustability and some compromise.

Most stock suspension offers little in the way of adjustability,lots of clicks and no discernible difference,maybe so the owner can't fuck up the settings and make a bike dangerous,more likely down to production costs.

Once I find a road setting I'm happy with,that's me done tweaking. If I still bothered with trackdays,I'd need to adjust for that,but I haven't done one in years now,so it's info not required.

I've heard folk get sniffy about spending money on decent bouncy bits,there seems to be the idea you need to be a superfast rider to need such thing and for most riders it's a waste of money. Personally I think they miss the point bigtime.

A bike with decent suspension is a joy to ride at any pace,much the same way as a sweet engine make you want to ride. Why wouldn't you want the two together?

[Taipan]

I'm fussy and I know what I want.

I want suspension which is compliant,yet not soggy or harsh on real roads.At the same time I don't want vague handling for more faster open roads. This inevitably involves adjustability and some compromise.

Most stock suspension offers little in the way of adjustability,lots of clicks and no discernible difference,maybe so the owner can't fuck up the settings and make a bike dangerous,more likely down to production costs.

Once I find a road setting I'm happy with,that's me done tweaking. If I still bothered with trackdays,I'd need to adjust for that,but I haven't done one in years now,so it's info not required.

I've heard folk get sniffy about spending money on decent bouncy bits,there seems to be the idea you need to be a superfast rider to need such thing and for most riders it's a waste of money. Personally I think they miss the point bigtime.

A bike with decent suspension is a joy to ride at any pace,much the same way as a sweet engine make you want to ride. Why wouldn't you want the two together?

It took me until I bought a sportsbike with adjustable suspension to realise that! I bought a streetfighter/trackday zx9 with adjustable suspension that had been set up by one of the firms who do such things. Riding it was a revelation in how it could make minor bumps like tar snakes practically disappear and also hit a bump and higher speeds and absorb it and stay in shape and not bounce about! It made going back to budget bikes without such suspension a nightmare and when I started fitting fork valves and weight adjusted springs to at least try and emulate some of that!

[Demannu]

Once it's dialled in and I have got used to it, I might try 2 clicks either way to see if it can be improved, but usually I just read the tyres to tell me if it's right or not!
On track I'll up compression by a click as you're braking a lot harder than normal so using most of your fork travel but the surface is usually a lot smoother than the road.

[Yorick]

The sussies on the Husky is awesome. If you know what you're doing

There are so many different terrains over here is impossible to get perfect setup.
As I sit down rather than stand, I set it for comfort over performance.
I pratted about till I got somewhere near, then stopped

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

As I sit down rather than stand, I set it for comfort over performance.

You're riding a dirt bike not taking a dump, stand up, it makes it so much easier - if a bit hard on the legs.

[Dickyboy]

Still got a copy of "wobble wallow & weave" that a mate gave me years ago, not sure I fully understand it all but always try to set my bikes up to get the best out of them and then pretty much leave well alone.

[Yorick]

As I sit down rather than stand, I set it for comfort over performance.

You're riding a dirt bike not taking a dump, stand up, it makes it so much easier - if a bit hard on the legs.

My right leg is fucked. I can keep up with the lads no problems. Just find tricky places hard where it's all about balance.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

My right leg is fucked. I can keep up with the lads no problems. Just find tricky places hard where it's all about balance.

For the fast stuff sitting down is okay, and if your leg is fucked you haven't got any choice, I couldn't sit down in technical stuff, I'd fall off, I even stand on a bicycle in technical going - it just feels right to me.

[Yorick]

My right leg is fucked. I can keep up with the lads no problems. Just find tricky places hard where it's all about balance.

For the fast stuff sitting down is okay, and if your leg is fucked you haven't got any choice, I couldn't sit down in technical stuff, I'd fall off, I even stand on a bicycle in technical going - it just feels right to me.

Last month one of the lads got pulled over by a very cute cop on one of the very rare times we need to use tarmac.
She told him to sit down on the road

So now we all sing this