New To Me '99 - Adjustments

[Guest HCorn]

Hi everybody. I recently picked up a '99 VFR and have been really enjoying it. It's taking some getting used as my previous experience has been dual sports and standards. I've been trying to fine tune the suspension a bit more to my liking and am hoping I don't need to make any wholesale replacement of parts.

Based upon what the PO told me and what I can see, it has .95 springs and a 929 shock rebuilt by Jamie Daugherty. It has a blue spring, but I have no idea what rate the spring is. I weigh about 175 nekkid and the bike has Givi side cases and a top box. The PO was probably a bit bigger than me (maybe 200 tops, but I could be way off) and said he set it up for his weight and along with a bit extra for carrying a laptop. I'd guess he probably set it up for a bit more aggressive riding. He said he set sag before adjusting. He was pretty squared away and I believe he probably had it set up pretty good for himself. But it really wasn't working for me. Not sure what he set for fork preload, but there is maybe 1/4" showing. For the rear he had preload set 4 clicks up and rebound was a full 4 turns out from H. I haven't messed with compression yet to even determine where that is set.

It was too bouncy for me. I haven't made a good rear sag measurement, but there was very little. I bumped it down to 3 clicks, but still not sure I'm even close to 30mm just eyeballing it. Moving the rebound to 1/2 turn out from full damping really helped, comfort wise/less bouncey. However, the rear seemed a bit loose. It has almost new PR3s, but they let loose a bit in a turn I am very familiar with - controlled, but broke loose nonetheless. It was wet and it could have been some oil or gravel, but it just seemed like it let loose too early (I'm not that aggressive). Between that and other riding, it just doesn't seem as planted as it should. I backed off the rebound damping another 1/2 turn, but it still doesn't feel as planted as it should. It handles well, but certainly feels like it could be better.

I'm open to any suggestions and if anybody has any idea if the spring setup needs to be changed.

[Baileyrock]

Hi and welcome to VFRD First!!!

Sounds like the bike is sprung to stiff for your weight IMO!

But you need to try to see just what Sag numbers you can achieve with what's there first, Rider and free Sag #'s.

As far as breaking loose, I would have to guess it was some debris in the road vs suspension issue.

I suggest you back off the Comp & rebound to full soft on the rear shock then back off preload on both ends as far as they'll go and check your Free & Rider sag numbers geared up. If there are ok then work on dialing everything in, if not you'll need light springs front & rear.

I would guess .85's or .90's would be max #'s on front for your weight and 18-19kg rear would be closer to your needs.

Might be several members willing to trade for your stiffer springs.

Good luck and post up.

BR

[Switchblade]

WELCOME and pictures would be nice ...

[Guest]

Thanks guys. The PO only had the bike for about 1500 miles and he posted here. Can I just use his pics?

I used .90 springs on my DL1000 and they seemed pretty good. Not sure if there is a direct correlation between bikes. The front seems a bit harsh, but seeing as my previous street bikes were a K75 and the DL1000, it is hard to know what to expect from the VFR. It is certainly more aggressive than either of those.

Is there a way to tell what size spring is on the 929 shock? Maybe I can give Jamie the PO's name and he has it in his records. I haven't had a helper around, so that's why I had to just eyeball the static sag on the rear.

[VFR4Lee]

Maybe I can give Jamie the PO's name and he has it in his records

Worth a try.

Post a link to the PO's pics.

Almost left out the apostrophe, but that changes the meaning of things completely.

[Guest]

I can't seem to figure out to to hotlink his pics, but there's lots of pics here: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/71017-new-to-me/page-6

Maybe I just don't have enough posts to put up pictures?

[vfrcapn]

Copy the picture URL...around it use the IMG tags like this:

[img]http://SomeURLpicture.jpg[/img]

Or use the IMG button in the bar above the reply box for vfrd pics and paste the vfrd URL in the pop up box.

Nice looking bike!

[joneill]

As others have said check you sag first.

I am 180 (nekid) and .95 in the front and 1100 in the back seem to be just about right for me. Both front and rear are valved for those spring rates.

[Guest]

Thanks guys. I'll try to get a clean sag measurement and go from there. If the springs are off, it seems they can't be off too far given the roughly similar weights of the PO and myself. At least not so far that I shouldn't be able to get a decent adjustment out of it for my unsophisticated suspension tastes. Even as is, it's pretty good and comfortable but it just seems like it can be better.

[VFR4Lee]

Nice Rack!

You know, luggage.

[JamieDaugherty]

Yep, shoot me the previous owner's info and I will let you know how I set it up. Probably best to email it to me at jamie@daughertymotorsports.com

[whodat90]

From an earlier post,

"Got a 929 shock with 1150lb/in spring and a set of .95kg/mm fork springs from Jamie. (in keeping with my earlier request, that's 20.536kg/mm shock spring and 53.1lb/in fork springs)"

I sprung it for my (not inconsiderable) weight plus some stuff in the bags, but leaned also towards overly sprung since I also regularly took my son with me.

[Guest]

Thanks Gary. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to just ask you directly!

You must be taller than I remember, because I wouldn't think our weights are that far apart. But I thought you might have sprung it pretty aggresively given what I saw of you riding (away from me!). I guess I really will have to get a better sag measurement - it sounds like I may be backing off the preload quite a bit.