Harsh ride - Rear suspension settings / aftermarket units?

J

John SummerFazer

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Hi Y'All,

Greetings from a moist UK. (Will it ever stop raining here this summer?)

I am running the OE Yamaha rear shock on standard spring and damping settings, but find the ride to be harsh on the decaying roads we have here. Any suggestions on settings?

Also, what is your opinion on aftermarket shocks? What works best? I know Ohlins do a couple for the FZ1. Has anyone fitted a White Power unit?

I guess I am looking for a plush, more comfortable ride, but without sacrificing good handling in the corners/bends.

Thanks.
 
I have a Nitron sport shock on my FZ1. Its a UK made shock with height adjustment and rebound dampening. For the money, its awesome. Its a gas tube monoshock with a seperating piston and as such it won't fade with hard use.
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You didn't give your weight, but if the backend seems too harsh, I'd start by reducing the spring preload a bit or a lot and see how much better that is for you. I'd take advantage of the available settings before you spend on new equipment.
 
I am 165 lbs and I too think the setting is a little harsh some times. Was doing a buck down the highway,hit a bump and the back end come right up off the ground,was kind of surprised by that. Though most of the time it seems ok,maybe needs a slight adjustment to the rebound I think?
 
let me give you some better advice than just knocking a little rebound off or blowing a grand on a new shock.

Get your suspension set up properly FIRST. Chances are, at least given the way you asked about what to do, you dont need a high performance shock as many have advised because you dont have a lot of experience riding (pardon me if I'm wrong I mean no offense). If you are not pushing the suspension you are not likely to notice the added benifit of a new shock unless it has been preset by the manufacturer for your weight and the specific bike.

Do this before you blow a grand:
1) set your sag to 1.5 inches. Sag is the amount of compression that shock (or fork) has from fully extended (e.g. when the wheel is off the ground) to when you are sitting on the bike with full gear. It is set by changing the preload with that funky wrench that is in your tool bag. Too much sag and the bike will bottom out and you will loose compliance. Not enough sag and you'll need disc replacements in your spine :) and it will wear the tires faster as they are forced to comply to the road in leu of a properly functioning shock. Finally you should do the same for the forks (make sure the preload is precisely the same for both forks). To measure rear sag simply measure the difference in length from the back of the swingarm to a fixed point on the rear cowl, from fully extended (wheel of the ground) to you fully weighting the bike (gear on feet on the pegs). It helps to have a friend for this.

2) set compression and rebound. there are a few "philosophies" about how to do this but you should be able to find some excellent discussions about these on this and the other forums.

3) now ride your bike and start making fine adjustments from here.

Absolutely keep notes. the bottom line is your ability to even safely ride a motorcycle is predicated on insuring that you have the suspension set for you and your weight and your riding style.
 
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aRcHeR said:
the stock FZ1 shock is a piece of junk IMO..

best to swap out to any aftermarket piece.. I'm running on Bitubo by the way.. :)
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I remember 25 years ago my bikes had two shocks and all you could adjust was preload... You want to talk "piece of junk"? I dont think you even know what you are talking about.

Are there better shocks out there? You bet. Does the typical rider need it? Will they be able to exploit their new shocks functional potential? Will they even be able to tell the difference between a properly setup stock shock and a $900-1200 upgrad shock? The answer to all of these questions is; not likely. Is an upgrade shock safer? Only if it has been properly setup and many people never even play with their shock and leave it in the stock setting.

If your plan is to go to the track and learn how to drag a knee thats one thing, but my sense of the thread starter is that he is not at that level; not even close. Dont convince him to waste his money.
 
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the stock shock is fine if you are not tearing up the roads and are in the weightclass for what the shock is made for.

I replaced my shock because I am not in that class.

A replacement of the spring would have improved the performance of the shock by about 80% but I decided to replace the entire shock.

So you don't have to do this but you need to figure out what is best for you and have it setup propperly by an expert.

If you then still don't like the setup you can look at what you want and decide to get a new shock or just a spring.
 
Did fit an r1 -08 fork and a Nitron rear shock 2 weeks ago, but have no brakelines so havent tested it yet...
But the Nitron Feels and looks lightyears better than the oem just holding it in your hand..
 
Excellent Evaluation With Facts To Back It Up

Soze said:
But the Nitron Feels and looks lightyears better than the oem just holding it in your hand..
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Unfortunately; price, looks, sex appeal, neat names and presumed exotica seem to take precedence over real world results.

Why the heck do we pay $600 to $1000 for a muffler? Oh yeah, I forgot; it comes from a name brand high performance manufacturer and it looks pretty.
 
Kevin Daly said:
I remember 25 years ago my bikes had two shocks and all you could adjust was preload... You want to talk "piece of junk"? I dont think you even know what you are talking about.
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Hahaha! A bit harsh maybe but I do agree. It is so easy to forget that today's ultimate is tomorrow's junk.

Dave
 
Kevin Daly said:
I remember 25 years ago my bikes had two shocks and all you could adjust was preload... You want to talk "piece of junk"? I dont think you even know what you are talking about.

Are there better shocks out there? You bet. Does the typical rider need it? Will they be able to exploit their new shocks functional potential? Will they even be able to tell the difference between a properly setup stock shock and a $900-1200 upgrad shock? The answer to all of these questions is; not likely. Is an upgrade shock safer? Only if it has been properly setup and many people never even play with their shock and leave it in the stock setting.

If your plan is to go to the track and learn how to drag a knee thats one thing, but my sense of the thread starter is that he is not at that level; not even close. Dont convince him to waste his money.
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well, technologies changes over time, so don't bring along the technologies from 25 years ago. it's time to let the old 'technologies' go..

if the typical rider is concern about his/her safety and handling of the bike, be it on the road or track, i say if got the cash, go for it. you never know when you will need the 'better performance' required from the shock.

who knows, it may even save your life while take a wide turn and your bike is unable to hold the line due to performance failure and causing you to crash into a ravine or barriers.
 
Recon Viper 1 said:
Unfortunately; price, looks, sex appeal, neat names and presumed exotica seem to take precedence over real world results.

Why the heck do we pay $600 to $1000 for a muffler? Oh yeah, I forgot; it comes from a name brand high performance manufacturer and it looks pretty.
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You are right. But thats life.. I´m glad my wife are beautiful even if a ugly one would give me the same "real world results."
 
I'm a fat guy that rides at a brisk pace and the stock shock had my ass eating my seat. After the suspension upgrade all is well. I would agree if you are in Yamaha's spec the stock shock can work. For the rest of us fat bastards the after market is the way to go!
 
Krispy1 said:
I'm a fat guy that rides at a brisk pace and the stock shock had my ass eating my seat. After the suspension upgrade all is well. I would agree if you are in Yamaha's spec the stock shock can work. For the rest of us fat bastards the after market is the way to go!
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even if you are within the Yamaha specs, you still should go for aftermarket shocks for a tighter window of adjustments.
 
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