Setting up shocks/suspension for the first time.

[Guest Larrakin]

Hi all I was after some advice from all out there who have spent some time setting up their bikes stock suspension. I've never had adjustable suspension before recently buying my 6th gen and I don't want to stuff it up.

I have the bikes manual with the how to guide etc, but as I'm a big guy I don't want to over compensate and wind up the suspension too hard and make the bike feel like riding on concrete. Anyone else out there a bigger fella and know whether I should look to wind it right to hard or ease up gradually?

For reference I'm 6'4" and about 105kg (230 pounds).

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Larrakin ;-)

[spud786]

you'll need the rear suspension near its stiffest setting on preload, turn rear (rebound), clockwise 3/16 of a turn from stock marked setting , thats just less than 1/4 turn by a smidge.

Front suspension , going to require more work, cause the only thing you can do is Increase preload, the whole fork is too soft , but if you up the oil Height 5 mm it will help alot and run about 5.5 turn coumter clockwise from full hard on preload. The quick and easy way, Ill let you know if you want to go that route.

Otherwise you can spend more money on after market springs and valving front and rear.

[Guest]

Being 6'6" and 280 I've adjusted to the stiffest setting on front and rear both and to be honest it's still too soft for aggressive riding. I have racetech 1.1 springs and gold valve on the way for the front forks. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the rear yet, but definitely am going to do that next.

I have decided after reading many posts on here and obvious riding in the twistsies, that the most important performance upgrade will be the suspension first, then power adders. Going fast does no good if you can't hold a turn.

[Guest]

Power adders?

[Bad Boy]

Turn the settings up like spud said then ride and get familiar with the bike. Your riding style is a big factor. Experiment with the settings, increase preload more harsh, decrease more bouncey. For lesurely cruising around soft settings are fine. For spirited riding, passenger, or bumpy road, more preload. It is not a track bike but the stock suspension is quite adequate for most uses.

[Monk]

One of the best on setting up suspension is " Dave Moss "

The 1st link should cover what you need to know on how to adjust it to the best position you can get from the stock equipment(but you'll still need to mod the frt/aft at some point). I'm 250 lbs. + gear.

Just do what Dave says, and adjusting the preload will not change the spring rate(it will make the rear ride higher but not harder). You want roughly to break the rear travel into 3rds, so you can have 2/3rds of the movement on the down side(bottom out), and 1/3rd of the movement on the top side(Top out).

The 2nd link has a lot more of Dave's videos on the page which is also good to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dave+moss+suspension&aq=1&oq=dave+moss

[Guest]

Thanks for all the tips guys. Will be getting it up soon and twisting up the screws to see if that sorts it out a bit. Might consider upgrading suspension after budget allows ( just got some Leo Vince pipes, fender eliminator, k & n filter all to fit) but I will tackle suspension mods next.

Cheers.

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Larrakin ;-)

[spud786]

You can get an oral surenge and inject 5cc in each fork leg, just do one leg at a time while on the bike, removing the top cap , which will still be connected to damper road(there will be just enough gap to shoot it in). NOte: the bike will totally collasp if you remove both caps at the same time. Like a belray 10 or 15 weight. This will change the curve in fork progression . When you rethread the cap, start counter clockwise to ensure the threads seat well, so you dont cross thread. Note : to aide, you'll need a floor jack.

Note: loosen the top tripple clamp before traying to break the cap loose.

5cc will be very notable, never do more than 8 to 10cc max

[Guest]

Power adders?

Things that add power I.E. Exhaust, header, power commander, and such.....

[vfr350]

You can get an oral surenge and inject 5cc in each fork leg, just do one leg at a time while on the bike, removing the top cap , which will still be connected to damper road(there will be just enough gap to shoot it in). NOte: the bike will totally collasp if you remove both caps at the same time. Like a belray 10 or 15 weight. This will change the curve in fork progression . When you rethread the cap, start counter clockwise to ensure the threads seat well, so you dont cross thread. Note : to aide, you'll need a floor jack.

Note: loosen the top tripple clamp before traying to break the cap loose.

5cc will be very notable, never do more than 8 to 10cc max

Does this hold true for 5th gen? l have some 7.5 bicycle fork oil laying around or should I pony up for the real deal?

[JamieDaugherty]

Honestly, you can twist and turn to your heart's content but you won't really get anywhere with the stock suspension. You can make it feel different but there won't be any appreciable gains to be had.

My suggestion is to ride the bike and understand what it is doing. The issues with the VFR's stock suspension are well know, but it would be good for you to come to that conclusion on your own. After going through that process it will help you to better understand what an improved suspension will get you. It will also give you a better understanding of what you bike is doing underneith you, which will pay dividends in the future.

You can get an oral surenge and inject 5cc in each fork leg, just do one leg at a time while on the bike, removing the top cap , which will still be connected to damper road(there will be just enough gap to shoot it in). NOte: the bike will totally collasp if you remove both caps at the same time. Like a belray 10 or 15 weight. This will change the curve in fork progression . When you rethread the cap, start counter clockwise to ensure the threads seat well, so you dont cross thread. Note : to aide, you'll need a floor jack.

Note: loosen the top tripple clamp before traying to break the cap loose.

5cc will be very notable, never do more than 8 to 10cc max

Does this hold true for 5th gen? l have some 7.5 bicycle fork oil laying around or should I pony up for the real deal?

These are very bad ideas. You should never go with heavier fluid as that will only make the bad aspects of the stock suspension worse. In fact, if you want to do anything you can try running some Honda Pro Oils 5w. That won't get you to anywhere near a good setup, but it will make it a tad less horrible.

[vfr350]

Thanks for the info, I know I should stay away from fork fluid anyway. I tried to change fork fluid on my first bike, certainly a science I'd rather not experiment on these fork seals. Just save for some DMr work one day.