Suspension Survey

[emry]

Just a note folks, Scura's came with Ohlins front and rear. Very different construction than the Marz as used on the other models. So setting notes probably won't transfer. But even the OEM set up of the Ohlins was horrible so don't feel like we got anything special.

[guzzler]

G'day mate

Yep I realised after I posted that Chuck's Scura has Ohlins suspenders so not relevant to our set ups.

Funny though his settings aren't far off mine all the same....

Cheers  

[Art]

I've got a lot of twisties ahead of me before understanding my suspension. But I do have 2 questions.

Is there any chance that the basic fork upgrades have NOT been done in the last 23 years?

Is there a simple few clicks up/ down I should do, weighing 20 lbs less than the previous owner?

Thanks

[LaGrasta]

@Art My guess is no upgrades have been done, as many times owners don't spend the time or money. With that said, I'd adjust them to stock settings and start from there. Ride for some miles, then decide if they are too harsh, too soft, etc.

[LowRyter]

I run my Greenie full soft on the front, have rebuilt the rear and stiffer.  This combo handles fine for me and minimizes weave when riding around big trucks on the interstate highways 75+ mph, particularly with big HB Jr bags.  

This bike has wide handlebar conversion, that likely has bearing on it's tendency to weave.   The trade off is quick steering in the twisties.  I've ridden the bikes on several long distance trips, like from Okla to NC Spineframe deal.  Several back and forth to Austin for COTA and Springfield IL Flat Track.  I'm considering retiring the Greenie for roadster duty and taking the bag mounts off.   I've been riding a lot lately and enjoy it as change from the Ducati.

[LaGrasta]

This is all of your faults.

All of the recent activity on this thread has me revising my settings. Today riding to work I've taken my settings of forks: C5 / R12 and am testing C2 / R9. Hoping for softer "hits", with less harsh reaction. I'll report back after a few miles...

[guzzler]

G'day folk's

Well I finally managed to get a ride in and properly try these new settings!

Friday had the day off to take Dad to a meeting so the plan was to ride to Dad's and brother would drive the three of us to the meeting.

The weather forecast for Friday was going to be 7 degrees and a sunny high of 13 but no wind or rain...you beauty!

Of course it was nothing like that come 5.30am Friday, the scenario for Friday is now Saturdays forecast!

Bugger it I've been hanging out to get a ride in for over a week now so sod it and into my wets and off we go.

The rain has eased but roads are soaking (here goes my nice clean bike too!) so gassed up and we hit the twisty bits Drouin to Lang Lang.Bloody hell this feels good.I know I didn't get much of a chance to try the settings as before but having gone with Guzzimoto's suggestion and winding settings all the way in ( closed ) and counting back from there to get a true setting of +3 C and +9 R ( as opposed to counting back from full open ) I reckon it has made a difference!

By this stage we're in the higher part of the road and it's now raining quite hard in bursts and there's a bit of muck from the various farms that face the road, but I notice more FEEL from the front which made light of the conditions! Ha ha I reckon I rode it a bit harder than I would normally do in the wet too.

Interesting and looking forward to the ride home later.

So the sun's out @ 1pm but it's drizzling at times by the coast ( at least no sign of the predicted hail ) and the Lang Lang to Drouin road is damp this time round as opposed to soaking as per ride in. I was going to behave but when fate tempts you with an open and clear road with no traffic on it what's a bloke to do....?

Ha ha this road has a bit of everything open sweepers and some slightly tighter ones on leaving Lang Lang and the coastal flats then it tightens up as you climb into the tail end of the ranges ( about 200-250 metres altitude ) and run along up and down round and round before coming into Drouin.All up about 40 kays of fun but the road is tricky due to conditions in parts ie  Road subsidence /overbanding/ potholes and on one climb, dips which have the bike airborne on two occasions.At the 100k speed limit it's actually fun but anything more and you need to pay attention so it's a VERY GOOD test for your suspension!

I'm impressed at how much more feel I now have from the front end and will leave it at these settings for a while longer and ride more and on other roads to evaluate further. This road throws up some big hits and the old girl never deflected and when landing from airborne never bottomed and landed straight and true so I reckon I'm nearly there.

I may try C4 R12 at some stage just to see how it goes....

But I'm thinking that maybe any further adjustments may have to come via shim stack for high speed compression on next suspension service?Then again this road would please the moto cross fans in the audience so we'll leave it be for a bit.

Really looking forward to my next ride!

Cheers Guzzler.

 

[audiomick]

5 minutes ago, guzzler said:

....with an open and clear road with no traffic on it what's a bloke to do....?

 

Seize the day!

 

 

By the balls with a pair of vice-grips.....

[guzzler]

Ha ha 

I did indeed mate...!

Still got a wee glow on.

Cheers  

[LaGrasta]

I rode about 100 miles or so, stopping often along the way to adjust both C and R. I've intentualy ignored how many clicks I'm selecting and instead am just concentrating on feel. More miles are needed, then I'll count the clicks and share my findings.

[GuzziMoto]

43 minutes ago, LaGrasta said:

I rode about 100 miles or so, stopping often along the way to adjust both C and R. I've intentualy ignored how many clicks I'm selecting and instead am just concentrating on feel. More miles are needed, then I'll count the clicks and share my findings.

Good. The number of clicks doesn't matter, the suspension can't count, how the suspension works is what matters. It is a matter of more or less dampening to get it where it needs to be. Once you are happy, knowing where that happy point is is a good idea. But obsessing over numbers before you know where that happy point is is a waste of time in my opinion.

[LaGrasta]

We'll, I believe I'm finished with my blind-test. After numerous adjustments being tested during repeated 25 mile one-way trips to work, I've arrived at C6/R13 (counter-clockwise). My last ride home, felt better, more stable through turns. I'll leave it here and put repeated trips on the clock to see if results repeat. Having arrived at nearly the same place, I guess this is it, unless I want to spend money. If I were to spend money, I'm not even clear where to spend it. 

[docc]

1 hour ago, LaGrasta said:

 If I were to spend money, I'm not even clear where to spend it. 

Springs

[GuzziMoto]

1 hour ago, docc said:

Springs

It is easy enough to measure your sag. If your sag says you need springs to really get your sag numbers right, springs are a great first step. Odds are, you need springs. But, as mentioned, you can measure your sag and see if you need different springs.

In a nutshell, if you set your sag with you on the bike and that leaves the bike sagging too little without you on the bike your springs are too soft. That means you have to add too much preload to get the sag where you want it, which results in not enough sag under the weight of just the bike. Too much sag with you off the bike is the other way, the spring is too stiff.

[guzzler]

4 hours ago, LaGrasta said:

We'll, I believe I'm finished with my blind-test. After numerous adjustments being tested during repeated 25 mile one-way trips to work, I've arrived at C6/R13 (counter-clockwise). My last ride home, felt better, more stable through turns. I'll leave it here and put repeated trips on the clock to see if results repeat. Having arrived at nearly the same place, I guess this is it, unless I want to spend money. If I were to spend money, I'm not even clear where to spend it. 

G'day mate

I'm now at C4 and R 12 and think Rebound is pretty good.

If anything I may go to C 6 and try that as just feel it needs a wee bit more comp damping....

But I'm bloody close.

Cheers

Ps good advice re springs and also counting clicks back from fully closed!