Another Suspension setting Question

[Ulshy55]

Ok, so i've searched and read many things on changing the suspension settings on the bike( i have a 2005 katana) What i want to know is what does a softer setting give you verses a harder one? I know preferences vary on the person and you just need to try the settings for yourself, but what do the different settings do ( hard or soft) for say longer or shorter rides, mostly twisties or mostly straight highway driving? I don't do too many twisties and use my bike mostly for highway and town riding. So i guess what i want to know is what are the advantages and disadvantages to the soft versus the firm given different situations. And should you always ajust the rear the same amount as the front, and is it just as easy? Thanks in advance

[steves]

Rebound adjustment (if applicable) is located at the bottom of the shock. Compression adjustment (if applicable) is located on the reservoir. Spring prelude is located at the top of the shock.

Shock: Lack of Rebound

Symptoms:

• The ride will feel soft or vague and as speed increases, the rear end will want to wallow and/or weave over bumpy surfaces and traction suffers.

• Loss of traction will cause rear end to pogo or chatter due to shock returning too fast on exiting a corner.

Solution: Insufficient rebound - Increase rebound until wallowing and weaving disappears and control and traction are optimized.

Shock: Too Much Rebound

Symptoms:

• Ride is harsh, suspension control is limited and traction is lost.

• Rear end will pack in, forcing the bike wide in corners, due to rear squat. It will slow steering because front end is riding high.

• When rear end packs in, tires generally will overheat and will skip over bumps.

• When chopping throttle, rear end will tend to skip or hop on entries.

Solution: Too much rebound. Decrease rebound "gradually" until harsh ride is gone and traction is regained. Decrease rebound to keep rear end from packing.

Shock: Lack of Compression

Symptoms:

• The bike will not turn in entering a turn.

• With bottoming, control and traction are lost.

• With excessive rear end squat, when accelerating out of corners, the bike will tend to steer wide.

Solution: Insufficient compression. Increase compression "gradually until traction and control is optimized and/or excessive rear end squat is gone.

Shock: Too Much Compression

Symptoms:

• Ride is harsh, but not as bad as too much rebound. As speed increases, so does harshness.

• There is very little rear end squat. This will cause loss of traction/sliding. Tire will overheat.

• Rear end will want to kick when going over medium to large bumps.

Solution: Decrease compression until harshness is gone. Decrease compression until sliding stops and traction is regained.

Preload: This adjuster bears down on the shock or fork spring and shortens or extends the spring accordingly. Many people think that changing preload affects spring stiffness, and while you can compensate to a certain extent for a too-soft or too-stiff spring by using preload, the right move in that situation is to change the spring itself. Preload is used to adjust the shock or spring to the correct range of operation within the suspension's travel-more preload will raise the bike up on its suspension, keeping you near the top of its travel. With less preload, the bike sits lower and closer to the bottom of its suspension travel.

PRELOAD
Setting your sag
The first item to address for any good suspension setup is setting preload for static sag. Static sag is the amount your suspension compresses from full extension when you sit on the bike. We've covered how to measure and set sag a number of times (visit www.sportrider.com/0402 or see Ask the Geek, Aug. '03), but a short recap is shown on page 55.

The important measurement for preload is the rear sag setting. For street use, you should aim for 30mm of sag; if you're heading for the track, shoot for 25mm. Choose a value you want for rear sag, and adjust your rear preload accordingly. Write the sag numbers down along with your preload setting.

An actual number for front sag is less important, especially considering that more bikes come from the factory with extra front sag that helps keep the front tire on the ground under acceleration. Knowing that changing preload does not alter spring stiffness, what happens when you turn the adjuster? The starting position of your suspension's travel to a higher or lower point changes. For now, the only reason you will want to change front preload is if your suspension is bottoming-which you can check by wrapping a zip-tie around a fork tube-or if you have too little sag and the fork is topping out-which you will feel as the front end skipping over bumps and losing traction as you exit a turn.

Measure your front sag, and if you have less than 25mm (track) or 30mm (street), adjust your preload to obtain the appropriate value. Otherwise, leave the adjuster as is, or set it to the factory-recommended setting for now. Record all the numbers as well as the preload setting, and we'll come back to it in step four, dialing it in.

http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0402_susp/