The Idiots Guide To Suspension Setting (PLEASE)

Good Day

Bought an ADV from these boards recently, the bike is great, however I am totally confused as to how the suspension should be set up, I am a big guy, over 20 stone.

I set the wee knob thingy to the highest setting and although it seems OK it is a wee bit bouncy and very high.

Could someone explain exactly what the various suspension settings on an ADV:

1 do
2 What Effect They Have
3 How to Adjust them
4 How you know when u have it right

Thanks

Andy

Andy....I'm 19 stone and run mine at 3/4 of max.....feels better like that...then when the boss is onboard (she's curvy and voluptuous too ) I whack it up to max........

Don't forget these things are designed to take two up and luggage....so for one up (even for a a big boy like you) the full setting might well be too much.

As for what the tweaks are....fekk knows.....i run standard shocks and apart from the above, I don't play with them......

I dont know if the GSA is the same as the standard GS but check the manual. If you have a little screw on the base of the shock that controls the 'rebound damping' . If you have upped the preload to compensate for your weight then I would suggest you back it off quarter of a turn (anti clockwise). See how it feels, bear in mind that everything is a compromise, and no single set of settings are perfect for every road on every day

check this out -


http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15081&highlight=suspension

Suspension tuning is a bit of a black art, a lot of it is subjective...ask ten different people and probably get ten different answers. So heres my 2p's worth. You've increased the rear spring preload to its maximum setting. What this does is use up the static sag the suspension has when the bike is at rest. Hense the back end of the bike is ridding high. My standard gs has about 30mm static sag with the preload adjuster in the standard position. When I put my 12.5 stone butt on the Saddle I get about 65mm of sag at the rear. In otherwords I've used about 1/3 of the rear suspension travel. This is important as it allows the rear wheel to plop into depressions on the road without the supension topping out i.e the wheel would leave the road. You may find that with the preload whacked up that you've used most of the static sag but the laden sag may well be the same as mine. However, when you hit a bump the suspension will be deflected to a greater extent and may well bottom and will want to spring back. To reduce the amount of deflection would require a stronger spring. The only other adjustment is rebound damping which is achieved by twiddling the screw on the bottom left side of the shock body. Adusting the rebound damping on most shocks also adjusts the compression damping to a certain extent (slowing the rate of compression of the spring) Rebound damping usually being 3 times as strong as compresion damping. The rebound damping stops your spring from pinging you into orbit on the return stroke after its compressed. Standard settings for the damping are one turn out (anticlockwise) from fully in. You say that your bike is bouncy at the back. If this is a wallowy Loose bounce it is likely that you need to increase the rebound damping. Turn the adjuster in half a turn in (clockwise) and take the bike for a spin. If the bouncyness has gone the ride may become choppy. If youv'e added to much rebound damping the suspension will not recover over bumps and will pack down and feel very harsh. If this is the case back it off a quarter of a turn. On the other hand if the Bouncyness you describe is choppy! You could have too much rebound damping already and need to back it off (though I doubt it). You might want to try the damping set at the limits of its adjeustment for comparison purposes. For what its worth I run the bike with one quarter of a turn more rebound than standard for the road. I took it on the track too for a bit of fun instead of my GSXR600 and had to add another quarter turn rebound as the shock heated up to keep it stable.