dob@ihlpa.UUCP (Daniel M. O'Brien) (10/05/86)
Ok, so the net is sick and tired of my writing about my new 500 'ceptor, but now that I have all those suspension knobs to turn (air pressure in forks and shock, anti-dive on front fork, damping rate in shock) what do I do with 'em. I am not embarrassed to say: HELP! How to I best use all this adjustability? Please keep this discussion to the net (send flames and raspberries to me, of course). I am sure others would like to know about this stuff. I don't remember it being discussed within the last year. How about it all you box-stock racers out there (didn't realize how many until the net.cycle readership survey, congrats and thanks to the author of that one) give us the benefit of your experience. Thanks, -- Daniel M. O'Brien (ihnp4!ihlpa!dob) AT&T Bell Laboratories Room IH 4A-257 Naperville-Wheaton Road, Naperville, IL 60566
marauder@fluke.UUCP (Bill Landsborough) (10/08/86)
In article <1975@ihlpa.UUCP> dob@ihlpa.UUCP writes: >Ok, so the net is sick and tired of my writing about my new 500 'ceptor, but >now that I have all those suspension knobs to turn (air pressure in forks and >shock, anti-dive on front fork, damping rate in shock) what do I do with 'em. > Daniel M. O'Brien (ihnp4!ihlpa!dob) First what you have to do is determine what style of riding you do in order to set up a motorcycle. There are lots of different preferences but typically as I know it and prefer, if you are a fast aggressive rider who does the canyon roads very fast you want the suspension set up generally stiffer and with stronger dampening. Not so stiff that when you hit bumps the front end jars your teeth out but stiff enough that you don't wallow thru the turns or bottom out your suspension. If you are a rider who prefers comfort rather than suspension performance you might want a softer ride with gentle dampening. When I was plagued by a high speed wobble in hard turns (100+) I started attacking my suspension systematically and went out into the country and found a series of turns which I could use as a test. I took an air pump and a gauge and worked with my suspension and tire pressure for quite some time. I got it the best that I could but it still wobbled somewhat. It turned out that the cause was my worn out rear tire! As your tire wears out from level riding it gets "square" on the bottom. Kinda like this: | | | | \ / ----- * As you are going through the turn the pressure from the ground is offset from center line; ie. where the * is, so it makes the wheel/bike pivot off of this point and wobble. If you have a wobble and it has been getting worse, take a look at your rear tire. (How did I get off on this tangent???) Anyway, when you are setting up your suspension, do things systematically. Write down every adjustment where it is now and make subtle adjustments one or two clicks or psi at a time and write them down. Nothing is more frustrating than to totally lose control and have to hire someone to fix what you have ruined. If you write it down, you can always go back to what it is now. Subtleness is the key. On my Kawasaki KX500 dirt bike I was "pushing" the front end in a turn and crashing as a result. After several adjustments (and crashes) I solved the problem by removing only 10 mm of fork oil from each leg! It made a world of difference. Bill Landsborough ---- "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude... Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
marauder@fluke.UUCP (10/09/86)
Sorry about the poor graphics in my tire drawing. It looked fine when I sent it. Something to do with my margin wrap..... Bill Landsborough
ahn@houem.UUCP (Au H. Nguyen) (10/15/86)
- I have a much simpler system. For street riding, where comfort is more important, I set the suspension at the softest setting *WITHOUT* bottoming all the time. For track riding, where control is more important, I set it as stiff as possible without bouncing the bike around every time I hit what passes for a "bump" on a typical road race course. Au ihnp4!houem!ahn