Author Topic: Suspension for the completely stupid  (Read 19018 times)

Offline speed545

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #20 on: August 25, 2013, 11:30:36 AM »
You ain't the only one...

we re now 3

if I mentally condition myself hard enough by thinking my setup is ok, it will be ok.  ;D
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Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #21 on: August 25, 2013, 01:19:38 PM »
 :thumbs:
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Offline ssbraun

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #22 on: August 25, 2013, 01:20:24 PM »
I'm about the same weight as you with gear, and was in the same situation a week ago prior to my 2nd trip of the year (bike was wallowing in the long turns over any bumps).  After a lot of digging, here is what I came up with:
Front:
preload: 8mm (this is the distance from the top of the hex nut you turn to the top of the hex you are turning it into or out of).  There is a pic in the manual.  Sorry, but you'll need to measure this adjustment; make certain that it is equal on both forks.
rebound damping: 3 clicks ccw from full cw.

Rear:
preload: 18 clicks cw from full ccw.
rebound damping:  1 turn ccw from full cw

My bike was stock prior to these adjustments, and was WAY to soft!!  These settings resulted in a significant improvement; the bike felt planted and was far more confidence inspiring to ride.  I'm no race pro, but I like to hustle through the corners.  The bike worked exceedingly well for me considering the mass of the bike plus rider plus luggage!

I know that there are more accurate ways to set up the bike, but this should at least get you closer than stock for a heavier rider.

I hope this helps you!

Cheers   :chugbeer:
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Offline Flienlow

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #23 on: August 26, 2013, 09:12:41 AM »
I'm about the same weight as you with gear, and was in the same situation a week ago prior to my 2nd trip of the year (bike was wallowing in the long turns over any bumps).  After a lot of digging, here is what I came up with:
Front:
preload: 8mm (this is the distance from the top of the hex nut you turn to the top of the hex you are turning it into or out of).  There is a pic in the manual.  Sorry, but you'll need to measure this adjustment; make certain that it is equal on both forks.
rebound damping: 3 clicks ccw from full cw.

Rear:
preload: 18 clicks cw from full ccw.
rebound damping:  1 turn ccw from full cw

My bike was stock prior to these adjustments, and was WAY to soft!!  These settings resulted in a significant improvement; the bike felt planted and was far more confidence inspiring to ride.  I'm no race pro, but I like to hustle through the corners.  The bike worked exceedingly well for me considering the mass of the bike plus rider plus luggage!

I know that there are more accurate ways to set up the bike, but this should at least get you closer than stock for a heavier rider.

I hope this helps you!

Cheers   :chugbeer:


I will give this a go. Thanks!

Offline Flienlow

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #24 on: August 31, 2013, 11:14:13 PM »
This was a great improvement. :)

Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #25 on: August 31, 2013, 11:18:44 PM »
Something to keep in mind as well is the condition of the front fork fluid.  I would think that older/dirtier fluid could change the way the adjustments work.  My bike needs the fluid changed.  It's been in since day one and I have 56k miles on it.  The front is not handling as well....feels a bit stiff no matter where you set the adjustments.  That's another maintenance item on my list to do this fall.
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Offline clogan

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #26 on: September 01, 2013, 09:00:43 AM »
First off, it's DAMPING, not dampening.  This makes me crazy.  Yes, I am slightly OCD.


It's CDO, not OCD!!! I wish people would start saying it correctly!
CDO is the same thing as OCD, except in CDO, the letters are in the correct order - the way they SHOULD be!


;-)
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Offline JJFLASH

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #27 on: September 02, 2013, 06:22:55 AM »
First off, I did read:

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=7802.0
http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=4480.0
http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=2027.0

Secondly, are there any general ("turn this all the way like this, then back out X# of turns ")   type of settings for this bike? If I was Marc Marquez and was sliding this bike at 100mph in a corner, I would probably care about SAG and all the fusing with measuring it up. I would know about preload and damping and what it all did. - But I'm not, and I don't. I'm just a simple man that wants to lope around a 700lb beast in relative comfort, with relative performance for what the machine is.I keep reading "turn this X# of MM" but I am not sure what it is or how to measure it,and prolly dont have the proper tool to measure anyway.
Having said all that, My C14 goes through a corner like a horrendus pile of elephant dung. I did purchase it preowned so for all intents and purposes, it just may be as good as it gets.- I dont know.
Anyhow, I was hoping for a simple fat ass (250lb) easy to do setting that I could try.  I fully realize I can go out there and start twisting ****, which I may do, but figured I would stop here first.
Cheers!

Always late to the party...and the wrong forum to boot.

The 2012 Summer edition of the Concourier magazine has an article written by Fred Harmon that has just the table you are looking for.

In addition to instructions for setting the sag , it includes a front and rear set up for different rider weights.

Good luck

Offline maxtog

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #28 on: September 02, 2013, 06:42:40 AM »
Always late to the party...and the wrong forum to boot.

The 2012 Summer edition of the Concourier magazine has an article written by Fred Harmon that has just the table you are looking for.

Is that postable, or copyrighted material?
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Offline DeansZG

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #29 on: September 02, 2013, 07:49:52 AM »
It's CDO, not OCD!!! I wish people would start saying it correctly! CDO is the same thing as OCD, except in CDO, the letters are in the correct order - the way they SHOULD be!;-)

Thanks for the correction, now I gotta clean off the keyboard from the coffee that sprayed from my nose! :thumbs:
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Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #30 on: September 02, 2013, 08:15:42 AM »
Is that postable, or copyrighted material?

If it was in the magazine, it's protected, I think.  The magazine, from what I recall, is also available to COG members online so it could be postable but would violate something if it were put online.  I would not let it stand here, unfortunately.  What members do outside the forum is outside of our control.  Nuff said.
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Offline gPink

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #31 on: September 02, 2013, 08:31:23 AM »
If it was in the magazine, it's protected, I think.  The magazine, from what I recall, is also available to COG members online so it could be postable but would violate something if it were put online.  I would not let it stand here, unfortunately.  What members do outside the forum is outside of our control.  Nuff said.
Keep believing that.

Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #32 on: September 02, 2013, 09:20:54 AM »
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Offline MAN OF BLUES

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #33 on: September 02, 2013, 12:35:29 PM »
Is that postable, or copyrighted material?

it is copywrited material.
cannot be posted without prior written consent of COG, or unless you are the original writer of the data...
 ;)

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Offline katata1100

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #34 on: September 02, 2013, 08:01:43 PM »
If something is in a magazine, you can paraphrase it.
My wish for the a good sticky would be a chart of suspension settings where for every 10 or 20 lbs of rider weight, there would be suggested settings for two or three goals/
Like, if you weigh 220, there would be settings for soft touring/all around/sport riding
Then, at 230 some slightly different numbers for the three types of riding. It would be much simpler to look up a chart like that than find a dealer to give money to who might or might not get it right.

Offline sdentrem

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #35 on: September 03, 2013, 04:24:46 AM »
I have a related question to this. I have my setup pretty close to what I want it...it's just a tad soft in the faster corners. My problem is, how to i figure out whether the front or the back is too soft? 

Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #36 on: September 03, 2013, 05:11:58 AM »
Knowing the bike as it is, my suspicion would be that the front is too soft..  The rear of the bike generally doesn't have any issues with being too soft.
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Offline PH14

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #37 on: September 05, 2013, 12:37:20 PM »
Have a look at this table of settings, it may be of some help.

http://www.zggtr.org/MGalleryItem.php?id=496

I have been going over this again, and see that the settings for front for preload is given as, "from all the way out." That can't be right based on the manual. The manual shows an adjustment range of 4mm~19mm, and that range is measured as the amount showing, not from all the way out. So, the chart shows the standard setting for a 150 Lb rider as 15 mm from all the way out, so that would then be 4 mm showing based on the adjustment range of 4 mm ~ 19 mm. That makes no sense since the standard setting is 14 mm showing. I guess you must be able to run the adjuster out farther than the acceptable range.

I have been on bikes for over 30 years and I have never seen a value for preload given as all the way out for the type of adjusters we have on the C14, it is always given as lines showing or a measurement of what is showing.

To get a value of 14 mm showing based on 15 mm from all the way out as the chart says, you would have to be able to run the adjuster all the way out to 29 mm showing.

I also see that the poster of the chart shows that he felt it best when set at 14 mm from all the way out and 3 clicks from all the way in. So the fork preload would be softer but it would have more rebound damping. While I can believe that may be the case, I do find it questionable.

Mine is currently set at 12.7 mm showing  I weight in at 160-165 depending on the day, and my wife is all of maybe 115. I was planning on increasing preload a bit today. The bike handles well but is harsh at times over the bumps. I cannot tell if this is because the preload it too high or if I am bottoming out. I will experiment more today.

Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #38 on: September 05, 2013, 06:55:42 PM »
You don't weigh enough...
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Offline PH14

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Re: Suspension for the completely stupid
« Reply #39 on: September 05, 2013, 07:37:29 PM »