Sport Rider Suggested Suspension Settings

http://www.sportrider.com/bikes/146_susp_settings/#honda

I don't know if anyone has posted this before, but I just found it today from another forum and tested it out on my F4i. Although I felt like the changes made my bike a lot tighter and gave it incredible precision-handling, it was just a little bit too stiff for riding on the street and I felt every bump in the road.

I am not sure why they post these settings. They have been doing it for years and I can remember some of my friends saying that they were trying the magazine settings, like they were some kind of revealed magic numbers.

The suspension settings are totally rider weight dependant. So you would have to know which rider they were set for and adjust according to your weight difference.

Probably better to just have a friend help set your sag and then tweak the other settings according to ride feel.

While a stiffer bike can feel more precise, it is better to go softer and let the suspension work and just get used to the bike moving around.

Once you push it the stiffer bike will over load the tires and slide them sooner than the softer set bike.

I hear ya! I've already set my sag per Doc Wong's Suspension Clinic standards but I didn't really know what the fudge to do with the rebound and compression dampings until I got those numbers. It was all guesswork.

Now I have something to work on, and I know I definitely have to set the bike softer. I'm just going to ride around with those numbers for a couple of days and find a compromise.

Yeah well that makes sense. You have to start somewhere.

I wonder if the magazine uses a rider weight that is average for the springing of the bike. That would make sense or else they could not set sag correctly.

One rule is to just start in the middle for compression and rebound and some people say start a little harder than the middle for compression and a little softer than the middle for rebound.

This is assuming that you have the right springs and were able to correctly set sag.

What you are trying to do is get the suspension to absorb a bump quickly but controlled by adjusting compression and quickly return to normal by adjusting rebound.

You want soft compression, but not so soft that it just sags out and bottoms and you want quick rebound but not so quick that it pogos right back up. Once you get close it can just be personal perference for feel.

I rode around, stopped and adjusted and rode around and stopped and adjusted until I was happy. It took awhile.

Of course changing the front will change the feel of the back and vice versa. So I only change about one or two clicks at a time and try and balance the front and back.

Some of my friends think that I over do it and don't belive that I can tell the difference, but after playing around a lot I think I can feel one click and half a turn on the preload and even if the tank is full or empty.

I set ride height adjustment and then made very minor adjustments to preload to get the front to back that felt right and to get the rake angle that felt right.

Even small ajustments on preload slightly change the angle of the bike and weight distribution and can require adjustments to the compression and rebound.

If you change anything like ride height then you start over.

Of course all of this adjusting was after I have the bike sprung and valved for my weight.

I know a lot of people are aprehensive about fooling with suspension settings but it isn't that hard to get a feel for it. The bike rides so much better.

Just write down you settings when ever it feel okay and then if you screw it up you know where to go back to.

Somebody should make a tool that just measures everything and give you your seeings. I know Racetech has something but I don't know much about it.

Good points above, and don't forget those setting from SR might be track-based and thus too stiff for street.