ameen
Member
Hi all,
This is my first bike that has a truly adjustable suspension. Before, I could only replace springs, spacers and oil weight. Now that I have a bunch of knobs at my disposal, I'm a little lost.
I have an 2009 FZ1 and weigh about 160-165 without gear and want some input on my settings.
I know what each does and how it should respond in theory, but I am not always sure what I feel and how I need to adjust the settings to respond.
First item: SAG
I have been setting sag by myself on the front using a zip tie around the inner fork tube. I measure the location at full extension and then with me gently leaning the bike off the stand and balancing with my foot on the pegs.
Starting at 5.5 rings showing, I was at about 45mm sag. Currently, I am at 3 rings showing and approximately 37 mm sag. Based on reading other’s settings and didn’t think I should have to go that high on the preload. My target is about 32mm for aggressive street riding.
For my rear, I taped a piece of cardboard to the sing arm and a pencil to the passenger peg. The pencil would then draw a line on the cardboard as it moved (pretty ingenious, right?).
I added one click to the rear preload from what I assume was stock (forget what notch it is on, and I bought it used, so really could be anything).
Second Item: DAMPING
I know that I should have started with the stock settings, but didn’t know them offhand. The previous owner did mess with these, but I seriously doubt he knew what he was doing. The compression dampening (port (left) side fork) was turned all the way in. This was probably in an effort to firm up a ride that had too little preload.
What is a good starting value? Maybe it was because I rode the bike like that for a bit before adjusting it, but I kind of liked it. I am here though to get this right and provide the most traction, not stick to bad habits.
For Rebound damping, I have no idea what to ‘feel’ for. Is there a good staring value you guys can recommend for that also?
For the rear, I added two clicks of damping, to help it match the front based on feel when pushing down on the bike. Again, any recommended setting?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks guys!
-Ameen
*edit* this turned out a lot longer than I planned, sorry
TL;DR: Need some suspension settings for 165 lbs rider. I thought there was a spreadsheet somewhere with sample settings...
This is my first bike that has a truly adjustable suspension. Before, I could only replace springs, spacers and oil weight. Now that I have a bunch of knobs at my disposal, I'm a little lost.
I have an 2009 FZ1 and weigh about 160-165 without gear and want some input on my settings.
I know what each does and how it should respond in theory, but I am not always sure what I feel and how I need to adjust the settings to respond.
First item: SAG
I have been setting sag by myself on the front using a zip tie around the inner fork tube. I measure the location at full extension and then with me gently leaning the bike off the stand and balancing with my foot on the pegs.
Starting at 5.5 rings showing, I was at about 45mm sag. Currently, I am at 3 rings showing and approximately 37 mm sag. Based on reading other’s settings and didn’t think I should have to go that high on the preload. My target is about 32mm for aggressive street riding.
For my rear, I taped a piece of cardboard to the sing arm and a pencil to the passenger peg. The pencil would then draw a line on the cardboard as it moved (pretty ingenious, right?).
I added one click to the rear preload from what I assume was stock (forget what notch it is on, and I bought it used, so really could be anything).
Second Item: DAMPING
I know that I should have started with the stock settings, but didn’t know them offhand. The previous owner did mess with these, but I seriously doubt he knew what he was doing. The compression dampening (port (left) side fork) was turned all the way in. This was probably in an effort to firm up a ride that had too little preload.
What is a good starting value? Maybe it was because I rode the bike like that for a bit before adjusting it, but I kind of liked it. I am here though to get this right and provide the most traction, not stick to bad habits.
For Rebound damping, I have no idea what to ‘feel’ for. Is there a good staring value you guys can recommend for that also?
For the rear, I added two clicks of damping, to help it match the front based on feel when pushing down on the bike. Again, any recommended setting?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks guys!
-Ameen
*edit* this turned out a lot longer than I planned, sorry
TL;DR: Need some suspension settings for 165 lbs rider. I thought there was a spreadsheet somewhere with sample settings...
Last edited:
