Adjusting suspension for comfort and handing (long)

TagZX-7R · 07-07-2006, 02:56 PM

When I bought my 99 7R this February the suspension was setup pretty aggressively. The front spring preload was at around 6.5 marks and the rear was pretty close, within 5 mm or so, to fully loaded. I'm about 6' 1" and 145 lbs for the record, so I don't really have enough weight in my ass to bring the seat down. I ran into that problem with my big dirt bike. I didn't have a problem with the stiffness and the bike handled really well. What I didn't like was the riding angle. The preload caused the front to be low and the rear to be really high, which I'm sure is best to shorten the wheelbase and rake for performance, but it was pretty uncomfortable to ride around town and such. It caused me to be angled far forward and put a lot of weight on the bars. Unless I was down behind the shield the wind would hit me pretty bad as well. My wife is pretty tall for a chick, 5' 10"-11", and the bike was pretty uncomfortable for both of us when we doubled up. Both our weight would be translated to my wrists at stops and she would keep sliding forward on the seat because of the downward slope.

A little over a month ago I adjusted the spring preload on the fronts down to about 4 marks or so and adjusted the rear spring preload to bring the seat down about an inch or so. This greatly improved the riding angle, but softened up the suspension a great deal. The bike is far more comfortable to ride around town and on longer highway trips. I don't get as fatigued and the wind doesn't hit me nearly as badly. However, now the front end will dive more when braking now and the bike doesn't seem quite as responsive. I figure I can probably dial the bound/rebound up to gain some of the stiffness back. I've yet to get the wife back on to see how it rides 2 up.

Basically, what I'm wondering is if I took the right approach to this. I've seen lowering links and that could be an option. I would be able to dial both of the the spring preloads back up but that would in turn lower the bike as a whole and I might run into ground clearance and kickstand issues. Anyone have any suggestions on where I should go from here? Should I just keep adjusting the suspension until I get it where it's comfortable and handles the way I like? Should I face the facts that the 7R is not meant to be comfortable and I should just quit my bitching and ride her like god intended her to be ridden?

I should probably note this is my first big sportbike and I was out of the saddle for 2 years and in very little for the 4 years before that. I've ridden a lot of things since I first started riding at the age of 3, I'm 26 now, and there really isn't another bike that I would rather have right now. So buying a different bike is out of the question!

Here's a gratuitous shot of my toys so someone will actually look at this post

Stonecoldchavez · 07-09-2006, 07:44 PM

I would A) adjust the compression (at the bottom of the fork legs) first. B) Think about lowering the forks up in the triple clamps if they are not already flush with the upper triple clamp.

Conversely, raising the tubes in the triple clamps increasing rake, which increases turn-in, but at the sacrifice of high-speed stability.

PS: I forgot about the part about your wife.....if you are going to ride two-up often, maybe you should consider getting stiffer springs and/or fork oil for the front and a stiffer spring for the rear. For that matter, an aftermarket shock for the rear. $$$$$ though....

Stone

TagZX-7R · 07-09-2006, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stonecoldchavez

I would A) adjust the compression (at the bottom of the fork legs) first. B) Think about lowering the forks up in the triple clamps if they are not already flush with the upper triple clamp.

Conversely, raising the tubes in the triple clamps increasing rake, which increases turn-in, but at the sacrifice of high-speed stability.

PS: I forgot about the part about your wife.....if you are going to ride two-up often, maybe you should consider getting stiffer springs and/or fork oil for the front and a stiffer spring for the rear. For that matter, an aftermarket shock for the rear. $$$$$ though....

Stone

Here is where the front forks are now. Can I go any lower?

I rode 2 up with the wife last night and it was much better than before I adjusted the suspension, but I'd like to stiffen it back up again. If I added lowering links I could tighten the preload back down.

Anyone used these links?
http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/produc...607&mmyId=4837

Stonecoldchavez · 07-13-2006, 08:03 PM

Er, not really. See where the gold part of the tube is? You are almost to the top now.

I would consider the stiffer springs/heavier oil route if I were you.

As for rear, how many clicks for "full stiff" are you in (or out)? What number to you have your rebound set to also?

Stone

TagZX-7R · 07-20-2006, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stonecoldchavez

Er, not really. See where the gold part of the tube is? You are almost to the top now.

I would consider the stiffer springs/heavier oil route if I were you.

As for rear, how many clicks for "full stiff" are you in (or out)? What number to you have your rebound set to also?

Stone

Yeah, that's what I figured. I haven't played with the bound/rebound adjustments yet. I'm going to start tearing into her for the 7500 miles service tomorrow, mid season yuck! Anyway, I hope to have her back together for a ride out to Denver from KC in about 3 weeks. That should give me plenty of miles for test and tune. Thanks!

highside7r · 07-24-2006, 06:38 PM

There was a set up page in an older issue of Superbike mag I think (UK mag). I used that to set mine up. One way i got quicker turn is to raise the tail with the underseat bolt. My forks are about the same as the pic. You can also switch from a 190 to a 180 rear tire, huge difference in "flickablity" for the 7R.