Suspension advice

[edromero]

Guys, I just changed the fork oil (10w) and did the pre load mod by replacing the spacer with +.5" PVC. The front end feels very nice now.

Then, I went to adjust the rear and found that for some reason I've been riding around on setting 1 all this time. Now I know why it's felt the way it has.

Anyway, in an effort to match the front and rear, I kept adjusting and testing and ended up with:

Front damping: 2 clicks
Rear damping: setting 2
Rear preload: 6

It feels good, but I have a question- how do I know of its TOO tight? It doesn't feel uncomfortable, but I'm thinking that preload 6 might be too much for me at only 160 pounds. When I backed off the preload, it didn't seem to match the front very well.

If it was your bike, what would you do?

Thanks

[scottynoface]

Remove stock suspension, full rebuild and modify as necessary. My stock suspension on the 636 was woefully inadequate, and it was 100 times better than my katana was...the settings don't really do anything anyway.

[Kreylyn]

Rear preload: 6

It feels good, but I have a question- how do I know of its TOO tight? It doesn't feel uncomfortable, but I'm thinking that preload 6 might be too much for me at only 160 pounds. When I backed off the preload, it didn't seem to match the front very well.

If it was your bike, what would you do?

Thanks

You set preload by checking the sag.

Sag is a specific number you get from measuring.

Lift the bike so the rear wheel has no weight on it/off ground. (center stand if you have it works great, if not... jack on the frame, not the swingarm.)

Measure from axle to a fixed point directly above it on the tail.
Set the bike one the wheels, sit on it (don't bounce, just sit) and measure again.

Subtract the smaller number from the larger number, and you should get around 33-35mm.

If your sag is larger... go up another notch on the preload and check again.

If your sag is smaller... go down a notch and check again.

Krey