beatle
Junior Member
A couple months ago I installed a Penske 8983. I didn't have a friend around to help me set the sag, so I fiddled with the compression and rebound adjusters and found what I thought was about right, though the bike still threw me off the seat on heavy bumps. I didn't want to keep dialing in more rebound since it already felt pretty stiff. I guess this is just "sporty," right?
I even took the bike to the track. I was riding harder than I did when I went to CSS back in May with stock suspension, but I didn't really feel much faster.
Today I had a buddy of mine come by and help me measure the rear sag. I had to check that I was doing it correctly several times because the static sag was practically nothing! When I sat on it, I found my total sag was only about 8mm! Wrenching the preload adjuster for what felt like forever finally dialed in about 8mm of static sag, and 32mm of total sag. The bike felt so spongy it was ridiculous, and it didn't match the front (R6S forks) at all when I pushed down on it. I turned the little adjusters until it felt about right and then I went for a ride.
I was actively searching out bumps to see if I could upset the bike. I couldn't do it. It still felt pretty planted, but I wondered it if was still too soft. After all, I had been riding with what felt like almost no suspension in the rear for a while! I gave the rear a few more pulls on the adjuster to increase the preload, thinking it would put me in the 30mm range (no way to measure now). I'll tune it more on my rides into work this week, but it really is amazing how much better the bike feels.
I say I shouldn't be surprised at what good suspension can do. I rode around with "ok" suspension on my Miata for years. It was stiff and I thought the car was pretty fast. I finally sprung (no pun intended) for some top shelf stuff with springs 2x as stiff as I was already running, but the car felt so much better over bumps and grip was off the charts. I figured my lack of riding experience was to blame for me not getting the most out of the suspension. That's still true to an extent, but not the extent I thought originally!
I even took the bike to the track. I was riding harder than I did when I went to CSS back in May with stock suspension, but I didn't really feel much faster.
Today I had a buddy of mine come by and help me measure the rear sag. I had to check that I was doing it correctly several times because the static sag was practically nothing! When I sat on it, I found my total sag was only about 8mm! Wrenching the preload adjuster for what felt like forever finally dialed in about 8mm of static sag, and 32mm of total sag. The bike felt so spongy it was ridiculous, and it didn't match the front (R6S forks) at all when I pushed down on it. I turned the little adjusters until it felt about right and then I went for a ride.
I was actively searching out bumps to see if I could upset the bike. I couldn't do it. It still felt pretty planted, but I wondered it if was still too soft. After all, I had been riding with what felt like almost no suspension in the rear for a while! I gave the rear a few more pulls on the adjuster to increase the preload, thinking it would put me in the 30mm range (no way to measure now). I'll tune it more on my rides into work this week, but it really is amazing how much better the bike feels.
I say I shouldn't be surprised at what good suspension can do. I rode around with "ok" suspension on my Miata for years. It was stiff and I thought the car was pretty fast. I finally sprung (no pun intended) for some top shelf stuff with springs 2x as stiff as I was already running, but the car felt so much better over bumps and grip was off the charts. I figured my lack of riding experience was to blame for me not getting the most out of the suspension. That's still true to an extent, but not the extent I thought originally!