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Adam Ef · 10-12-18, 02:55 PM

Good test ride today.

Bibio.. your figures are way more plush than a lot of recommendations online. Most don't mention that they're for track setups though. I've got it all set up more in line with your recommendations and it's feeling great. I still need to work on it over time and the forks are still showing up their crudeness, but it's all so much better than it was with everything stock and old oil etc.

I decided I can't afford a rear shock at the moment but did manage to grab a bargain ZX10r shock that I'm hoping will get me by for a while. It's actually really good! The back of the bike is about 1cm higher but that feels good too. I've got the static sag set at approx 15mm and a friend helped me check rider sag today and it's 38mm, so all in the right area but I'm going to tweak it slightly and see how it feels. Also did a few repeated sections of roads today to play with compression and see how it feels. I started with compression and rebound 2/3rds out, then compression full in, then full out, then half way, then dialed it out untl it felt good and confident again. Compression full off was very comfortable, but the back didn't feel planted. The bike didn't feel as balanced front to back either and was seesawing a bit under braking and accelerating. I ended up back with it where I started and it feels great. Again I'll tweak it as I ride to get more of a feel of what it's doing. Rebound seems ok. I need to try more variety of roads and speeds to get more of a feel for it though.

Forks are set with 25mm static sag and I've not checked rider sag yet as I was keeping the cable tie in place for a couple of rides to see how much travel I use. I've not done anything extreme to test it yet (not sure I ever will on purpose!) but at the moment it looks like the cable tie has moved about 80mm up.

Something about the forks still doesn't feel right though. I am trying to hit drains and road imperfections to check the suspension reactions, but the back handling it all really well seems to be showing up what the fork is lacking. I'm still being a bit slammed about and wobbled on the front on bits of road that the back is coping well with. I'm guessing the only way to improve that its to fit some emulators. Maybe when budget permits.

All in all though, definitely a huge step in the right direction. I tried a setup with the stock shock before swapping over and the best I could get was 7mm of static sag with no preload on. Something wasn't right with it. Definitely felt like having a block of wood in there.

10-12-18, 02:55 PM	#5
Adam Ef Member Mega Poster Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Bristol Posts: 1,200	Re: Spring weight for bike weight. Good test ride today. Bibio.. your figures are way more plush than a lot of recommendations online. Most don't mention that they're for track setups though. I've got it all set up more in line with your recommendations and it's feeling great. I still need to work on it over time and the forks are still showing up their crudeness, but it's all so much better than it was with everything stock and old oil etc. I decided I can't afford a rear shock at the moment but did manage to grab a bargain ZX10r shock that I'm hoping will get me by for a while. It's actually really good! The back of the bike is about 1cm higher but that feels good too. I've got the static sag set at approx 15mm and a friend helped me check rider sag today and it's 38mm, so all in the right area but I'm going to tweak it slightly and see how it feels. Also did a few repeated sections of roads today to play with compression and see how it feels. I started with compression and rebound 2/3rds out, then compression full in, then full out, then half way, then dialed it out untl it felt good and confident again. Compression full off was very comfortable, but the back didn't feel planted. The bike didn't feel as balanced front to back either and was seesawing a bit under braking and accelerating. I ended up back with it where I started and it feels great. Again I'll tweak it as I ride to get more of a feel of what it's doing. Rebound seems ok. I need to try more variety of roads and speeds to get more of a feel for it though. Forks are set with 25mm static sag and I've not checked rider sag yet as I was keeping the cable tie in place for a couple of rides to see how much travel I use. I've not done anything extreme to test it yet (not sure I ever will on purpose!) but at the moment it looks like the cable tie has moved about 80mm up. Something about the forks still doesn't feel right though. I am trying to hit drains and road imperfections to check the suspension reactions, but the back handling it all really well seems to be showing up what the fork is lacking. I'm still being a bit slammed about and wobbled on the front on bits of road that the back is coping well with. I'm guessing the only way to improve that its to fit some emulators. Maybe when budget permits. All in all though, definitely a huge step in the right direction. I tried a setup with the stock shock before swapping over and the best I could get was 7mm of static sag with no preload on. Something wasn't right with it. Definitely felt like having a block of wood in there.