What benefits w/ adjusting suspension to a riders weight?

I recently had Hare adjust my suspension to my weight. I've never had it done w/ my previous bike but had a lot of recommendations to do so. After about 600 miles of riding, I really haven't felt an advantage over when my suspension was at it's stock settings. If anything, it's a more stiffer ride....and off topic, it's almost impossible to bounce up a 2nd gear wheelie (not that im a stunter). If you ask me, I liked it better stock.

W/ the stock setup, the ride was def. more comfortable...now that all that rebound is almost gone...it's a little harsh. They also knocked my tire pressure up to 34F/36R which I think is a little too high? Is there any reason why I shouldn't put it back to stock?

Well, here are the opinions of one rank amateur:

The idea behind setting up for your weight is to get the suspension in it's ideal travel range during normal riding situations.

First, consider spring rate and preload. The danger of having it set up too soft is that under normal conditions you might have the suspension too far compressed. The side effect of this is that a system that is too far compressed is normally operating outside of its optimal range. It has reduced overall travel, and if it is operating near it's limits, it probably isn't as efficient as it could be. The reason this is undesirable is that a larger than expected bump could (more easily) cause the suspension to bottom, which in turn could cause unstable or dangerous handling.

For the damping settings, there is a lot of variablity in setup, and it generally has less to do with rider wieght than spring rate and preload do. There is no one ideal setting for any rider. In fact, many things play into the ideal setup, such as tires, road conditions, and rider preferences.

For the track (especially the pros), they have different setups for each track. they have the time and resources to find that ideal (or at least try) for each situation. For the street, you want to find that happy medium that gives you good performance for most of the roads and conditions you'll encounter.

It sounds like you probably have preload (and possibly spring weight) set according to your wieght, but may not be happy with damping settings.

You can tinker from here to get what you are after, but... write down what the current settings are so you'll have Hare's setup (and the fatory setup) to use as baselines. Then the best thing to do is make single small adjustments and write down your changes so you can roll them back if you aren't happy with the results.

Also, I would call them and explain the situation to them. Ask them what they think you should adjust to get a little softer ride. I've heard they are really cool, so I'm sure they'll want to help you get the setup you are after.

The sag should be setup first so that your forks and springs are in their optimal range of travel, then you can adjust the compression and rebound.

If, it is now setup correctly, you need to get used to how a correctly setup bike feels, instead of how the wrong setup felt.

If you were bouncing the front suspension up, the preload was probably set to low.

You should get the suspension setup for how you ride, so maybe the stock setting was correct for you.

Your tire pressures are in line with what one would run when trying to get a good compromise between long life and good traction on the street.

As for suspension setups - one thing that really gets me is that people act like it is a science without paying attention to the most important thing - how the rider likes it. Different riders have different preferences and ride on different roads. A setup that would be ideal for the smooth part of 9 from the top to 236 will be different from the setup that is ideal for running Page Mill and Alpine.

So in theory although a setup may be "better", what is in the end more important is that the rider like it and that setup work well for that rider the way he or she rides.

You should experiment and work at finding a setting that works best for you.

If your spring rates front and rear are too light for your weight, cranking the preload to get good sag numbers will leave you with a harsh initial movement & poor performance thru the remainder of travel. Preload cannot compensate for incorrect spring rates.

Before tuning your suspension, be sure to start with correct spring rates front and rear, otherwise you'll be chasing your tail! Japanese sport motorcycles are notorious for having very light spring rates fitted as OEM.

Good luck! -Matt

You may simply not be riding it as hard as it's setup. It may be setup more for the track than the street. Track settings tend to be stiffer (less sag). Since I became self employed and had a kid I ride a lot less now and I experience this on my bike which is setup for when I used to commute 100 miles a day over 17 or 9. At the time I rode so much that I liked it stiff so that the geometry was right when I got on the binders hard in corners or really wicked it up in the twisties. Nowadays I go for a ride and it feels too stiff until I get some miles down and get more comfortable and ride more aggressively. I suggest leaving it be for a bit to get a feel for it under all kinds of riding. One day when you get a wild hair and ride aggressively through the twisties think about how it feels then. If it's still too stiff then set it for street sag (I suspect you have race sag settings now.) Do you know the sag it's set to now?

Thanks for the replies....good info here.

JimE....no, I'm not fimiliar w/ the settings seeing I've never done this w/ any of my bikes before. Is there any way I can tell by eye? Yes, the overall comfort of the bike has really went down, but on the other hand I can feel more potential for the twisties.

you'll get used to it.. everytime I get on a bike with plush suspension (especially my stock SV) I feel like the damn things are pogo sticks

I think this is a really well written article on the subject:
http://www.racetech.com/articles/SuspensionAndSprings.htm

Get two friends, one to hold you and the bike and another to measure, and then follow the instructions. Wear full gear and sit in riding position. Adjust the preload as necessary to get the right sag (remember that there is no "magic" number as the author points out). If you are still not satisfied then consider different springs. One way to check this is put a zip tie on the fork leg so you can measure travel and how much you are using......

There's a lot to it but starting with sag is a very good thing. Attend a suspension clinic, talk to Aftershocks or Lindemann, other riders, etc... Best of luck and happy riding!

JimE said:

I think this is a really well written article on the subject:
http://www.racetech.com/articles/SuspensionAndSprings.htm

Get two friends, one to hold you and the bike and another to measure, and then follow the instructions. Wear full gear and sit in riding position. Adjust the preload as necessary to get the right sag (remember that there is no "magic" number as the author points out). If you are still not satisfied then consider different springs. One way to check this is put a zip tie on the fork leg so you can measure travel and how much you are using......

There's a lot to it but starting with sag is a very good thing. Attend a suspension clinic, talk to Aftershocks or Lindemann, other riders, etc... Best of luck and happy riding!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, I'll be sure to bookmark that. Hare actually did the exact sequence w/ me on the bike and then the zip tie on the fork. I assume they're going by the exact same method as the write up. Good reading, at least now I know what was goin on while they were doing their thing. Thanks