OK, Front Suspension adjustment/ advice

[jambo]

In the context of this thread the question really was "Is the suspension feeling hard because this person is bottoming out when cornering"

To answer that I'd be using a cable tie on a front fork and not braking too hard and going for a ride. This will tell you if the forks are bottoming out during the ride or not.

Originally Posted by petevtwin650

See, it's interesting, cos I've got the emulators, 20 wt oil and 90 springs and using the brakes uses all my travel, about 120mm, but without using the brakes the travel is around 70mm. Still trying to get mine to handle as well as my previous one did with only hyperpros and oil,

May have something to do with the emulators.
Emulators are overkill on a road bike.


My advice is a set of springs for your weight(including gear) and 15wt oil.
Its better than standard and cheap....what more do you want.
ohlins are about 120euro for springs and the fork oil is about 20euro.
Add new seals and your done.
Its a three hour job for a novice!

Lovely to hear all these opinons. Just to clarify my original problem was not when cornering, especially, just the harshness of the suspension generally on bumpy or rippled tarmac. I haven't had time to do much about it yet, but I am going to up the preload 1 click this weekend and wil report later. I guess I will eventually upgrade the springs, but not until out of warranty.

Cheers.

BTW rain has stopped in Pembs

I've got the Matris cartridge kit, and now have a front end that is very firm.
About 4mm worth of static sag firmness!

Sounds hard, BUT the bike is so much better! Had to add a click of compression to the rear shock, but did about 100 miles in total on Sat and she was so much better than me!!

I would say that the Matris is brilliant when compared to uprated springs and oil, but it does have a track bias to it.

Glad I did it though!

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by ccurts

Lovely to hear all these opinons. Just to clarify my original problem was not when cornering, especially, just the harshness of the suspension generally on bumpy or rippled tarmac. I haven't had time to do much about it yet, but I am going to up the preload 1 click this weekend and wil report later. I guess I will eventually upgrade the springs, but not until out of warranty.

Cheers.

BTW rain has stopped in Pembs

Reading what you described up there, the hyperpro progressives will give you the most compliant ride for that.

Originally Posted by skapegoat

May have something to do with the emulators.
Emulators are overkill on a road

To be honest I beginning to think that. My partner got me the kit as a surprise from PDQ, which was very thoughtful , as we'd been discussing uprating our newer Sv, but I think I'd have gone for the Progressive springs and oil alone. Not very practical having to dismantle the forks every time you need to fine tune the emulators. Think I'll bite the bullet and take it too a suspension guy and get him to set them right.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by skapegoat

May have something to do with the emulators.
Emulators are overkill on a road bike.

Don't agree with that at all, everyone can benefit from better suspension. We don't need it, but then we don't need more than about 15bhp either. But comfort's improved, and confidence can be be improved when they're done right. Safety can be improved too, since it's easier to make full use of the brakes, and sensitivity to road surfaces can be reduced...

Incidentally, there's no need to replace the seals unless they're damaged when replacing springs.

Originally Posted by petevtwin650

To be honest I beginning to think that. My partner got me the kit as a surprise from PDQ, which was very thoughtful , as we'd been discussing uprating our newer Sv, but I think I'd have gone for the Progressive springs and oil alone. Not very practical having to dismantle the forks every time you need to fine tune the emulators. Think I'll bite the bullet and take it too a suspension guy and get him to set them right.

There not that 'fine' and dont need loads of messing with once youve got a feel for it and a base setting.

[johnnyrod]

Agree with Northy and Rob. Emulators don't mean solid front end - that means you've got it wrong - and neither should they make any difference to sag, they're there to fix the (compression) damping.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by northwind

Don't agree with that at all, everyone can benefit from better suspension. We don't need it, but then we don't need more than about 15bhp either. But comfort's improved, and confidence can be be improved when they're done right. Safety can be improved too, since it's easier to make full use of the brakes, and sensitivity to road surfaces can be reduced...

Incidentally, there's no need to replace the seals unless they're damaged when replacing springs.

Originally Posted by Robw#70

There not that 'fine' and dont need loads of messing with once youve got a feel for it and a base setting.

Originally Posted by johnnyrod

Agree with Northy and Rob. Emulators don't mean solid front end - that means you've got it wrong - and neither should they make any difference to sag, they're there to fix the (compression) damping.

Agree.