No wonder!! (Suspension adjustment related)

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hornetrider · #1 Post by **hornetrider** » Wed May 02, 2007 6:44 pm

Have been a trifle concerned about how harsh the suspension setup was on the bike, and thought maybe its just cos I'm coming from a Hornet that I need to adapt to sportsbike super stiff suspension.

Today was the first day I actually researched the settings on my bike against the settings noted here: http://www.geocities.com/sl_mille/suspension.html

Basically, the compression and rebound adjusters were fully wound in clockwise on the forks, and rear shock rebound was also fully clockwise, plus the spring was wound down LOADS on the rear. I've adjusted all settings back to the factory settings, except I now have 27 threads showing on the rear spring (blue spring) as per the suspension adjustment thread in technical.

I take it fully clockwise in is maximum damping, and when you wind them out you are reducing damping? That right? Not had a chance to ride it this evening, but will be taking her out tomorrow with a screwdriver!

Any tips?

Thanks!

falcomunky · #2 Post by **falcomunky** » Wed May 02, 2007 8:38 pm

Yeah.
I think generally the rule of thumb is;
Screw in/tighten, (erm, clockwise

) = stiffer/harder ride.
Unscrew/loosen, (that would be counter-clockwise then) = softer ride.
I think...

Gio · #3 Post by **Gio** » Wed May 02, 2007 9:10 pm

falcomunky wrote:Yeah.
I think generally the rule of thumb is;
Screw in/tighten, (erm, clockwise ) = stiffer/harder ride.
Unscrew/loosen, (that would be counter-clockwise then) = softer ride.
I think...

How far do you have to unwind it to make it into a pogo stick?

Falcopops · #4 Post by **Falcopops** » Thu May 03, 2007 8:29 am

Gio wrote:How far do you have to unwind it to make it into a pogo stick?

Let all the fluid and gas out of the shock and wind off all the preload, should have the desired effect.

hornetrider · #5 Post by **hornetrider** » Thu May 03, 2007 9:00 am

Well, took her to work this morning and its a huge improvement over how it was, now I can't feel every tiny little bump in the road!! Very pleased!

HowardQ · #6 Post by **HowardQ** » Thu May 03, 2007 12:10 pm

I think in general the stock Aprilia settings are all pretty good for average people. In the Article that Nick Jefferies (brother of David RIP) did a few years ago on the Falco Suspension, (posted up somewhere on the site), I think they played around with the settings before giving him the bike (well hard I think). He set the thing up from scratch and ended up pretty close to standard, other than preload up a bit on the Blue spring shock, (which he suggested should ideally be upgraded!).
So should be a good starting point for you.
When I fitted the White spring shock on mine a few months ago, I set it as standard RSV and just set the Sag, to see how it went, it seems fine to me, so have left it for now.
In general most manufacturers standard settings aint bad, a lot of people play with fully adjustable suspension on bikes and end up makin em worse. Sounds that way with the previous owner of yours.
Then again we all have our own preferences I suppose.

Firestarter · #7 Post by **Firestarter** » Thu May 03, 2007 12:19 pm

HowardQ wrote: In general most manufacturers standard settings aint bad, a lot of people play with fully adjustable suspension on bikes and end up makin em worse. Sounds that way with the previous owner of yours.
.

Or, people do "play" to try and cover up a fault - by the sound of it though, everything's working fine now you've got everything back to stock.

hornetrider · #8 Post by **hornetrider** » Thu May 03, 2007 3:24 pm

Yeah its all good news. I'd hesitate to say transformed but its definitely a huge improvement, the bike seems much more rideable now, more forgiving. I certainly enjoyed my lunchtime blast!!