v11 sport suspension

[scre103]

whats the best way to firm up the rear suspension on my 2001 v11. i've got side bags and when fully loaded up the back end needs to be firmed up. thanks

[jrt]

New shock, or minimum new spring. Sorry.

 

What do you carry? Lead? Uranium?

(factoid: uranium is the most dense naturally-ocurring element)

 

Cheers,

Jason

[scre103]

:finger: thanks for the lame answer moron. i would expect an answer like this from someone who rides a harley. now anyone else out there that can give me a serious response other than flooder. going to a rally soon and would like to stiffen the rear shock a bit. do i dial up both the shock and preload? thanks

[docc]

Sure you can crank up the preload and even the damping but Jason's right :the spring is probably still too soft unless you're a real flyweight.

 

Which shock is fitted to your sport?

[Mike Stewart]

It is a pain to increase rear spring preload. The most easy way that works for me is to buy a Progressive spring adjusting wrench (get the one that is made with a 3/8 opening for a ratchet) that allows a long 3/8 extention inserted into it so you can adjust the spring collars from the rear of the bike (you may have to remove the rear hugger). This is the only way I was able to adjust the rear spring. It is still a slow process and is a pain, but you asked. If you think that is hard, wait till you try to replace the rear spring!

 

Mike

[Martenni]

Hi

In the book that came with my Tenni it says the spring preload range is between 8-14mm,i suggest setting the preload to 14mm and you may find that works better without luggage to so you wont have to reset it after.I did this on my centauro[cos i weigh 15 stone] and was well pleased never changed the spring or shock.

Regards

Martin

[RichMaund]

Adjusting the spring IS a PITA. I'm a heavy guy and dialed in some extra preload myself. But I did it when the tank was off the bike! Yeesh. That is the one complaint I have about it. I weigh 250 lbs geared up and it carries me and my luggage fine. I like it firm for solo riding. When my son or wife ride with me, it softens the rear a bit. makes it feel like a touring bike. But since I ride much more gently when precious cargo is aboard this works out fine for two up.

Getting to the spring adjustment is a pain. But worth doing. I doubt you need a new spring. just an adjustment to the old one.

[dlaing]

Good answer Jason!

But I think you were too close to his secret that he was carryin plutonium around on his guzzi!

Damn Terrorist!

Here is a short answer:

The best way to firm up the rear end is to remove the shock and turn the bike into a hard tail.

If you are not harleyesque of a man to ride a hard tail, than the next best thing is to buy an Ohlins rear shock and while you are at it Ohlins forks, but buy it from someone who can fit the right springs. There are some other threads on the list describing Mike Stewart's and Lex's experiences with new springs that is worth reading. But that is not the best way, just a heck of a lot cheaper. If your pockets are empty, bust a wrench and firm up the preload on the rear. I used a drift and a hammer to get my preload ring to move.

There are some great articles on http://www.guzzitech.com on suspension setup and sag adjustment. They don't cover the concept of luggage preload, but you can figure it out....

[Guest Brian Robson]

You know scre, I hope you didn't slip on the dummy you spat out, but you weren't exactly forthcoming with details to help you out.

Like how much you weigh, how much you carry and what type of riding you do. You may have got a better reply from someone if you had given more information and had a little more tolerance.

[jrt]

Man, somebody had too much coffee or something. It wasn't my intention to piss you off, Scre, so relax. Really. What I wrote is my opinion on the subject. If you really want to dial in your suspension for a heavier load, then you'll probably need a new shock. You can adjust preload- that'll get you some benefits, but there are costs also to that approach. It's been discussed extensively, so I'll let you look it up- other's have posted links in this thread.

 

Good Luck,

Jason

(I've never owned a Harley...)

[al_roethlisberger]

...hey, Harley's rock!! ...we all know we'd ride them instead if we were only so worthy

 

And, I take personal offense at the "flooder" term being used so perjoratively since it was coined for my own initial verbosity... hrmm...ok, no I don't really

 

 

All kidding aside, depending on your weight and riding style, we've found that adjusting the preload on the OEM springs will only get you so far. For some people, that's "far enough," but for others a new shock/springs is the only answer.

 

As some others have pointed out, let us know some more details of your fully loaded weight you expect to carry for this trip, expectations, etc... and maybe some folks can offer more specific advice based on their experience.

 

al

[scre103]

ok jason, i,m sorry i dissed you so bad the other day, my sense of humor must have been way off. forget about that harley thing too. i put a post up and expected some instant results. i took a trip up to the dells last year with the side bags all loaded up, and driving on back roads all the way up . i weigh about 185, and the back end seemed like it could use some firmin up. all i wanted to know was how to adjust the spring and preload. the factory default has them set up in position 1 and 3 . i want to know if i can change these settings and in what combination to acheive this. thanks

.

[jrt]

No big deal, and no hard feelings. I do hope you get your suspension worked out to your satisfaction, but I really doubt there's an instant results method. So many people have written in on adjusting their shocks, and universally they put in a couple of weeks of experiments. Maybe I'm lazy, or maybe I'm lucky, but I'm pretty happy about the way mine rides. I'm certainly not pushing the bikes' limits- that's for certain- but it seems mine handles pretty well.

Sounds like we're about the same size- I'll record the settings on my shock and get back to this thread.

 

cheers,

Jason

[Guest Darth Maul]

ha,ha,ha... u two are so funny.

if only the world can make peace like this.

 

its so sweet.

 

[jrt]

I need a hug, man....

 

J