Shocking suspension setting?

[gruntygiggles]

Last night Dan checked the suspension settings on the Kwak.

The rear compression was on 1/20. It's not been returned to the factory standard 9/20 and all other settinggs have been put back to factory standard.

So....before telling you why we looked, what would you expect to be the problems with having the suspension set up like this and why do you think someone might do it?

Total guess, as my suspension knowledge is about as vast as a fly's wing span. But would it be the back wheel coming off the floor when braking? lol

[Sid Squid]

Damping controls the speed at which the suspension moves, setting the compression at a low level would primarily do two things:

1) Make your bike pitch backward more than usual when hard on the throttle at low speed.
2) But be better at taking bumps, so cosset your bum as much as your bike ever could.

However what were the other settings? These may suggest much about how it was set up, for instance if all the settings were similarly relaxed it may have been used by someone who was lighter than average, or perhaps they wanted it comfy. People have always said this about my bikes; they're set soft - I like comfy.

But bear in mind that your suspension may have lots of settings, perhaps 20 clicks or more, but these settings will be within a narrow range such that whatever a hamfisted owner may do with the adjusters the suspension will never actually be set wrong as such, it may not be at its best settings but the changes that can be made with standard suspension are actually quite small, this is particularly common with Japanese suspension.

[Mr Speirs]

If 1/20 meant it was on full stiff I would expect the bike to be susceptable to loss of rear end traction under power.
On the other hand if it were full soft I'd expect it to be unbalanced mid corner and tend to run wide.
Why someone would do it? Lack of knowledge or understanding or he weighed nothing

[gruntygiggles]

Well, you may remember my fish hill thread and it's become clear lately that the bike is too soft. It's incredibly comfortable yes, like riding a cloud as you don't feel anything, but on cornering it doesn't really give the kind of response to rider input that you want. It just kind of glides around. It's odd, because I've not had many handling problems at all...in fact the bike, as I've said a few times handles not far off from the babyblade in that it really does just dip in beautifully. It's always the rear that has felt like it's being left behind a little.

Took it to the bike meet at the Lysley Arms last night and the difference was obvious just going up the driveway. The rear end suddenly feels connected to the bike. It feels like one bike going round the bends, not two halves hinged together with the back turning after the front.

Sid, I have the settings somewhere, I'll see if I can find where Dan put them.

[yorkie_chris]

It's a 1998 bike, chances are the adjusters won't do anything.

When you say 1/20 is that clicks out from hard?

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

It's a 1998 bike, chances are the adjusters won't do anything.

When you say 1/20 is that clicks out from hard?

Yes....20 being hardest, 0 being softest.

[yorkie_chris]

It's convention to count them out from fully hard setting (usually clockwise until the needle bottoms).

I have no idea why someone would set it like that.

[gruntygiggles]

I think it;s just been used as a motorcycle couch, it had a very soft and padded custom seat on it as well. I've changed that for a standard seat now!

Oh oh oh! I know! ner ner ner ner ner!