On my T9: Front sag was about 28mm (bike+me). I'm measuring by: Bike on rear paddock stand and front hanging from straps from roof. Measure distance from bottom of fork seal to top of fork "foot" = 124mm put cable ties round forks at top touching the fork seals. Bike on front paddock stand and release straps. carefully climb on-board bike holding all my kit and sit in normal ridding position. get off, lift bike back up on ratchet straps and remove front paddock stand. measure distance from top of cable tie to bottom of fork seal. double check by measure top of cable tie to top of fork foot and minus from 124. Does this sound reasonable??? Now, moving on (assuming it does), according to this I need 35mm sag: https://web.archive.org/web/20050824200102/http://www.section8superbike.com:80/749-999suspension.htm but to get 35mm I need to wind the adjusters all the way out to max (or min, depending on your point of view). So, should it be that "if it's max, it's max" and 35mm is the important bit? Do we agree with 35mm for hard road and track use? MCN say 25mm to 30mm but that is bike generic: http://www.motorcyclenews.com/new-r.../november/feb23-05-how-to-set-suspension-sag/ Also been reading: https://web.archive.org/web/20050824061659/http://www.section8superbike.com:80/suspensionsetup.htm side note: Bike used to be 4 rings. I've been running at 6 since having set up at a track. In my head it was better before it was messed with. 6 rings gives me the 28mm sag. 7 1/2 rings gives me 35mm sag.
Right, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks. It is what works for you and if that is 25mm, then 25mm is fine. All the articles are for guidance to get you more or less in the right place. Sag is a difference, bike no pre load, bike with pre load then bike and rider with pre load. You need enough movement in the forks to provide the suspension but not too much to bottom out or for the mudguard to hit the radiator. Anything that works for you that is between rock hard and too soft is fine. There, said it. Andy
Well I went full sag, used the cable ties to measure and after a very spirited 1 1/2 hours had an inch spare on forks still. So maybe can drop compression a click or 2? Rebound I had at 3 clicks less. Was cracking on open road. Tip in on tight corners was less stable, I guess as front end is now 7mm lower.
You had to mess with it didn't you ? Dropping the front by 7mm in isolation has altered the steering geometry and by the sounds of it, into the unstable region. IIRC there is a suspension shop on the Bournemouth Airport commercial complex, sadly can't remember their name or if they are still in business but when I used them a few years ago, they certainly knew what they were doing. Failing that, there is an independant in Southampton who is ex Snells and gets a good write up from forumites. Andy
Can't help but fiddle, its just in my nature. I think it will be fine, just need to recalibrate my head on tip in. TD at Bedford on Monday so I'll have a good play then.
Bear in my it's likely you will have a bump stop in the forks so there is part of the travel you simply can't use until they are removed.
Well, bearing this all in mind, I decided that if I need to get a suspension guy to sort a mess I could get myself in on Monday at Bedford i may as well have the bike set how i want her long term. So i've dropped the forks to 4 rings showing as apparently that's the sweet spot for handling with the 285mm rear rod length. Reset rider sag to 31mm which is about 25% of travel. then set comp and rebound. Roll on Monday.............
http://web.archive.org/web/20050311225127/section8superbike.com/749-999suspension.htm This is what I went by. Bloke seems to know what hes talking about.
On my SS I set the front and rear static sag at 26-28mm front and 10mm rear. That was at the time I was weighing about 12 stone; however even when I dropped to 9.5 stone, it still handled like it was on rails - IE; it went where I wanted it to go. On track it was probably ideal; on the road if the surface was a bit rough it was still alright, but a bit hard.
with you on it or just the bike sat on its own? both are quite firm if its without rider never mind with
I did say 'static' - that means on it's own, no rider. Yep, it was a bit hard, but ideal for a circuit like Snetterton.
Was set by a "pro". Rich at Luigi looked and said was good enough once he'd jacked back up to 285mm on adjuster. Trouble is, i can't measure it on me todski......
He is likely to have set quite firm at a guess, probably why your front being so firm feels right. Even on track, rider sag should be c35mm
