Setting front suspensions sag

bdevries

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hey guys,

I've seen a lot of talk about setting the sag on our bikes but have never done it. unfortunately the search function here doesn't do much and I didn't see anything in the first 3 pages.

How do I go about setting the sag for the front suspension? I already set the back to setting 5 as I'm 210 lbs with gear on.

Thanks!
 

Tahlen

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My understanding is that you don't exactly.

That is to say there is no external adjustment in the front at all. You can change fork oil weight but that won't change sag. The only thing I know of the change sag would be a new spring calculated for your weight and/or spacers inside the tubes. Others can chime in if spacers (with the stock springs) work or are even a smart idea.

There are lots of threads about an r6 front end swap which would solve all of those problems, too much work for me at the moment though. Blah
 

bdevries

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My understanding is that you don't exactly.

That is to say there is no external adjustment in the front at all. You can change fork oil weight but that won't change sag. The only thing I know of the change sag would be a new spring calculated for your weight and/or spacers inside the tubes. Others can chime in if spacers (with the stock springs) work or are even a smart idea.

There are lots of threads about an r6 front end swap which would solve all of those problems, too much work for me at the moment though. Blah

Ok, thanks for your answer.

Ya I was looking around after hearing all this front end sag talk and couldn't think of anyway other than getting inside the forks.. at which point, like you suggested, I would be changing the oil and likely the springs anyways!
 

FinalImpact

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Ok, thanks for your answer.

Ya I was looking around after hearing all this front end sag talk and couldn't think of anyway other than getting inside the forks.. at which point, like you suggested, I would be changing the oil and likely the springs anyways!

If you don't mind tinkering, dump the oil, do the proposed measurements, and make some adjustment to the OEM springs (Add washers or longer/shorter spacer etc).

The main reason I say to go after it is that even the small adjustments can be felt and some will have rewards! Although others can be a learning curve and/or putting it back too! :( So if you spend 2 hours making it better, the next 2 hours you ride you smile more! :thumbup:

As for info, search outside the forum for street bike setup. There's lots of reading out there and videos too. Or to search for content here inside the forum, use your favorite search engine (google etc) and place quotes around the name to find content inside... I also dislike that it can't do 3 letter words.
"600riders.com" setting suspension sag​
Unfortunately not allot comes up then either...
 
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bdevries

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If you don't mind tinkering, dump the oil, do the proposed measurements, and make some adjustment to the OEM springs (Add washers or longer/shorter spacer etc).

The main reason I say to go after it is that even the small adjustments can be felt and some will have rewards! Although others can be a learning curve and/or putting it back too! :( So if you spend 2 hours making it better, the next 2 hours you ride you smile more! :thumbup:

As for info, search outside the forum for street bike setup. There's lots of reading out there and videos too. Or to search for content here inside the forum, use your favorite search engine (google etc) and place quotes around the name to find content inside... I also dislike that it can't do 3 letter words.
"600riders.com" setting suspension sag​
Unfortunately not allot comes up then either...

Thanks for the advice! Maybe I'll wait until next winter to take it all apart and put new oil and springs in it. I suppose I should use this warm weather for riding!

Wait...What warm weather? It was 24 degrees yesterday and snowed this afternoon. Tomorrow morning will feel like -16... At least we know it's not here to stay for long.. I hope!
 

FinalImpact

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Thanks for the advice! Maybe I'll wait until next winter to take it all apart and put new oil and springs in it. I suppose I should use this warm weather for riding!

Wait...What warm weather? It was 24 degrees yesterday and snowed this afternoon. Tomorrow morning will feel like -16... At least we know it's not here to stay for long.. I hope!

Its just a couple of hours and you can play with springs and bearings and calipers! :sinister::sinister:
 

darius

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Dave Moss is your man.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK3flKxf41U"]Motorcycle Suspension - Setting Sag - YouTube[/ame]
 

FinalImpact

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FWIW: to keep an eye on suspension travel, I have a velcro strap on the stanchion tube. It doubles as the SAG check tool. In this case I'm using up a fair amount of travel and came within 1/2" or so of bottoming the forks on this last run. Yes, it was a rough road.

51855d1390719495-crisis-takes-chattering-brakes-img_20140125_174223_700-web-jpg
 

Carlos840

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Here is the thread i posted on my suspension setup after spring changes, there are a few links to articles that are worth checking out on it.

http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-performance-mods-section/51901-suspension-setup.html

With your weight, you should definitely be changing the front springs and the fork oil, it will feel so much better afterwards!

+1 on the Dave Moss videos on youtube, a lot of things to learn from them. He has a series called "two clicks out" which is great.


Also, the velcro strap on the fork tube is worth doing to see what the use of you suspension is. I used a cable tie, with my new springs and correct sag, i also have around 1/2" of travel left before bottoming out.
 
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Nelly

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I would like to know what weight rider the bike is set up for from the factory?

Nelly:thumbup:
 

Carlos840

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I would like to know what weight rider the bike is set up for from the factory?

Nelly:thumbup:

IMO it is just set up all over the place!

The rear spring is actually correct for someone in the 160lbs to 180lbs range, but the front one is so soft it is correct for someone around 140 lbs.

I weight 180 lbs and just changing the front springs makes the bike a lot more balanced.
 

FinalImpact

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If you're reading this, I encourage you to look at this link and then pay close attention to what your bike does during corner entry, apex and exit. Pay attention to when and how much you brake as well as how much throttle you apply and what the bike actually does.

This article starts off long but is a good read to get the rider thinking about what the bike and rider are doing. Motorcycle Suspension Set-up

There is one thing I would change in HOW this person sets up a bike:
IMO - if you have compression & rebound damping control I find it more beneficial to set rebound damping on BOTH ends of the bike before dialing in the compression.
That is, set the compression damping to obtain some damping / ride safely, but don't dial it in to perfection until rebound adjustment is nearly spot on.
IMO compression is more rider preference AND easier to feel likes/dislikes while rebound is very hard to differentiate what the bike is doing when/if compression control is set to firm. Too little rebound and you bounce off the road, too much and the bike packs down. It takes longer to find the optimal "rebound" than it does to find the perfect compression settings.​

One obvious test when both are close to right is to lean forward, stand up and bounce on the pegs. What you want to know is if both ends of the bike behave the same at the same rates & times.
- Does it evenly compress fore and aft
- Does it evenly return fore and aft
- Are both ends at the place at the same time? They should be and when balanced well fore/aft the bike becomes very predictable!

Other considerations are total suspension travel. If you only use 50% of the bikes suspension travel, than your compression damping may be to firm or springs too stiff.

Read and compare how the compression damping affects the front vs rear and rebound front vs rear. Once aware of what the bike is doing and getting during riding it may become evident where it needs the most help.
 

FinalImpact

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I would like to know what weight rider the bike is set up for from the factory?

Nelly:thumbup:

Considering the front is equipped with a non-linear spring rate starting at 0.75kg/mm and rear is linear - I'd guess it was more for cruising with a light rider of ~ 160 lbs total wt w/gear.

Its that initial rate which drops the nose so much and most find to be just too light for DD or sport use. My observation of the typical purchase is most go for something like >0.85 with the average being 0.9kg/mm.

Just my opinion based based threads read!
 
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