Good Suspension Setup

Right-o, so that means that seeing as most people complain about the front as being overly bouncy/soft i.e. compressing too much under bumps or braking (technical terms I know) the common adjustment is to increase the preload to make it a firmer ride....or at least that's how it sounds to me? I hope I avoided angering the suspension gods, I deliberately didn't mention the heretical 'stiff' word Probably got it wrong anyway though, ha!

Will have a gander tomorrow, and get a mate to help me finally set the sag. God I need to scrap some cash together to send myself on a weekend mechanic course or something, at least so I can do the basics with confidence.

[21QUEST]

The standard SV suspension as standard is the easiest thing to setup. My tip...and not being sarcastic...is to set the Sag and just ride the darn thing

Seriously, if you have an SV with Preload adjustment just set the front Bike Sag(Sag without rider) to about 20mm-25mm. Set the bike rear Sag(sga without rider) to 5mm-10mm and that's it done.

I've got a 2000 SV650N and all I've done is change the oil to one with a slightly(and I mean slightly) higher viscosity, set the rear bike sag and that's it.

I haven't even bothered checking the front Sag as haven't got the time for at the moment to cut spacers so pointless checking it. Yes, it's still a bit soft on the low speed damping(read braking) but it retains acceptable high speed(read square bumps) damping.

I adapt my riding to what I've got and can still ride pretty swiftly. You have to be a bit smoother but that's never a bad thing anyways .

What year is your bike?


Ben

Originally Posted by MeridiaNx

Right-o, so that means that seeing as most people complain about the front as being overly bouncy/soft i.e. compressing too much under bumps or braking (technical terms I know) the common adjustment is to increase the preload to make it a firmer ride....

no they don't, they fit firmer/stiffer springs to make it firmer/stiffer

Originally Posted by weazelz

no they don't, they fit firmer/stiffer springs to make it firmer/stiffer

So are you saying that preload is a waste of time weazelz? Because if I set my preload so that the back dips x mm less for a given load then I would say that preloading has given me a firmer suspension. Notice that I did NOT say stiffer.

It's good to argue.

[21QUEST]

Originally Posted by ejohnh

So are you saying that preload is a waste of time weazelz? Because if I set my preload so that the back dips x mm less for a given load then I would say that preloading has given me a firmer suspension. Notice that I did NOT say stiffer.

It's good to argue.

No it hasn't given you a firmer suspension. Spring rate/damping rate is still the same as before

Edit: Setting the preload(read sag) is not a waste of time as you'll be setting the points at which the suspension works but......(compression/extension).



Ben

Originally Posted by 21QUEST

No it hasn't given you a firmer suspension. Spring rate/damping rate is still the same as before

Edit: Setting the preload(read sag) is not a waste of time as you'll be setting the points at which the suspension works but......(compression/extension).



Ben

"spring rate.damping rate" and second paragraph...

What a load of semantic tosh.. If it feels firmer and compresses less under my bodyweight then, by definition, it is firmer.. not stiffer, firmer.

Very good to argue lol!

John

[21QUEST]

Originally Posted by ejohnh

"spring rate.damping rate" and second paragraph...

What a load of semantic tosh.. If it feels firmer and compresses less under my bodyweight then, by definition, it is firmer.. not stiffer, firmer.

Very good to argue lol!

John

Lol

Yeah it may feel firmer but it's not really firmer.....
True that you are probably more likely to shake your fillings out though

Firmer > ...not easyly moved/indicating firmness or resolution
Stiff > not easly bent/lacking in suppleness or flexibility/impeded in movement

synonyms of firm > STIFF, RIGID, INFLEXIBLE





Ben

Originally Posted by 21QUEST

Lol

Yeah it may feel firmer but it's not really firmer.....
True that you are probably more likely to shake your fillings out though

Firmer > ...not easyly moved/indicating firmness or resolution
Stiff > not easly bent/lacking in suppleness or flexibility/impeded in movement

synonyms of firm > STIFF, RIGID, INFLEXIBLE



Ben

mmm just as I suspected Watson - Semantic Pragmatic..

Originally Posted by ejohnh

So are you saying that preload is a waste of time weazelz?

no, it's not useless, it's very useful if used *for its correct use*. which is not adjusting stiffness

Because if I set my preload so that the back dips x mm less for a given load then I would say that preloading has given me a firmer suspension. Notice that I did NOT say stiffer.

if you look closely, you'll see that it dips *the same*. it just starts from higher up

Originally Posted by weazelz

no, it's not useless, it's very useful if used *for its correct use*. which is not adjusting stiffness



if you look closely, you'll see that it dips *the same*. it just starts from higher up

Yawn - so for what is it's correct use pray tell?

Why is everybody so shy about saying what preload is actually for, if not for tightening up the suspension?

The dip is certainly less, end to end..