sv handling

on way bk from gp sunday evening my bike was loaded up at back with side bags, top bag plus tent, there was fair bit of stuff so fairly heavy, my bike felt so much better handling, sounds strange but true,
i plan to sort the front end out anyway with some progressive springs plus some thinker oil, but the back i dunno what to do, ide rather not go doen the gixer shock just yet,

can anyone explain why it felt better with the weight, i can imagian its cause the spring is more compresed making it stiffer but im unsure.

ive not really ever played with bike suspention b4 so any info will be helpfull.

i weigh 13 stone.

cheers

Mic.

n my spelling is terrible!

Does the bike feel to stiff without the luggage?

I found that my bike handled better with a tailpack on it when the rear shock was on its way out. Now the shock is sorted, this 'improvement' when using a tailpack is gone.

the bike has 13000 miles, would the shock be worn out already? think the rear shock is quite stiff b4 all the weight is put on,

think i need some good start points for my weight (13 stone) as i got it second hand.

Im mainly after the best handling i can get from the bike, as im on the edge of selling for sport 600, but i dont wanna see it go

Originally Posted by mic-hull

the bike has 13000 miles, would the shock be worn out already? think the rear shock is quite stiff b4 all the weight is put on,

think i need some good start points for my weight (13 stone) as i got it second hand.

Im mainly after the best handling i can get from the bike, as im on the edge of selling for sport 600, but i dont wanna see it go

This maybe your perfect excuse for gettin down the boozer and then a kebab on a regular basis and please lay off the treadmill

[yorkie_chris]

Is your preload set correctly?

Originally Posted by mic-hull

on way bk from gp sunday evening my bike was loaded up at back with side bags, top bag plus tent, there was fair bit of stuff so fairly heavy, my bike felt so much better handling, sounds strange but true

Not really strange at all. You moved the center of mass for the entire bike closer to the rear of the motorcycle and a lot higher...making the front end carry a smaller percentage of the total load...making the steering feel more nimble than usual. (Yes, you did increase the total load with all your extra gear so the suspension was compressed even more than usual, but the distribution of the load is what changed the feel...kinda like when somone is riding pillion.)

Originally Posted by clm2112

Not really strange at all. You moved the center of mass for the entire bike closer to the rear of the motorcycle and a lot higher...making the front end carry a smaller percentage of the total load...making the steering feel more nimble than usual. (Yes, you did increase the total load with all your extra gear so the suspension was compressed even more than usual, but the distribution of the load is what changed the feel...kinda like when somone is riding pillion.)

When I took a pillion on my old SV I had a different effect actually, I'm not sure what it means in relation to the suspension setup/worn-out-ness though!
When riding with a pillion the front just felt lighter - not sure if it was my imagination but it almost felt that if I turned too quickly it would lose grip and hence not turn (like having the wheel in the air I guess). Wasn't so noticeable unless accelerating, though. Certainly didn't feel more nimble, felt really sluggish in fact!

I don't notice any change in handling when I'm 2 up as Mrs24_7 gets real scared and screams if I accelerate or go to fast!!!