Suspension adjustment for two up touring

[CalumL]

Towards the end of next month we will be undertaking our first tour on the bike through France and into Northern Spain.

I have a  2015 VFR800F (as per my picture) with Honda panniers and a Givi top box and we will be touring two up on the bike.

I'm looking for a bit of guidance on how much to adjust the rear suspension by. The manual has stock settings for solo use, but doesn't make any suggestions as to how much these should change for additional load.

Now, I suspect that the answer to this will be "until it feels right". I am also aware that there are ways to set up static sag, but what I am after is a rough starting point to use based on the additional load . E.g. standard one up settings plus X turns to begin with and then fiddle from there.

Thanks

[Grum]

Hi CalumL.

Just for info and maybe just a starting point for you. I've found that two up, which I did a hell of a lot on my 6 gens and only a little on my 8gen, the only adjustment I may have done is to just up the rear preload and that's it. As all the weight you're adding is virtually over the rear wheel it really is about the only thing you will need to adjust if anything IMO. YMMV.

Cheers.

[Alan553]

stock setting is seven clicks in,  most drop that to 3-4 for one up riding so stock setting plus 3 might be a good place to start

[sudolea]

5 hours ago, Alan553 said:

stock setting is seven clicks in,  most drop that to 3-4 for one up riding so stock setting plus 3 might be a good place to start

Not that I ever did this (= ride with 2 AND fully loaded with luggage), but this setting seems far below the adjustment I would be tempted to setup. I myself would set it to one white bar remaining visible, as a starter.

 

As an alternative, you could ride your bike close to a wall (bike should be horizontally level), and mark where your headlight is shining when you're alone on your bike. Then, at the same distance from the same wall, set your preload as higher tensioned as you think it should be, go and sit together on the bike, and I'd consider the preload to be adjusted properly if the headlight shines at the same point (height) on that wall ...

[fink]

6 hours ago, Alan553 said:

stock setting is seven clicks in,  most drop that to 3-4 for one up riding so stock setting plus 3 might be a good place to start

 

Good grief no  I’ve added more than a dozen clicks, even more when 2 up.

 

Set mine up for 2 up using a tape measure and fully loaded bike inc pillion.