03-21-2021, 07:32 AM
I've always found my RS fighting lean (needing excessive handlebar pressure to turn, from new) so yesterday I decided to tinker with the static sag (suspension position at rest with fully dressed rider on board, feet on the pegs). I aimed for roughly 1/3 of the suspension travel, a bit more at the front and a bit less on the rear. Wheel travel is said to be 107 mm at the front and 114 mm at the rear, so I should be looking for roughly 35 mm of static sag. I measured in two ways at each wheel for each setting - after collapsing as well as after rebounding (to account for stiction). I also took repeated measurements to account for measuring error on my part. The same numbers came up, so it seems that both I and the suspension behaved consistently.
At the front I found that static sag with factory setting (2 rings showing) was 52 mm. This was way too much and more than the preload could ever compensate for. I anyway decided to increase preload to 1 ring showing. This reduced the static sag to 47 mm. Slightly better but stilll off. I turned to the rear, curious to see if I'd get similar wild figures. With the factory setting (2nd position of 5 possible, 5 being hardest) the static sag was 39 mm. Also too much, but not as dramatic as the front. Increasing the preload to 3rd position reduced the static sag to 34 mm. At this point I had raised the bike 5 mm at both ends. Slightly deflated I decided to leave it at that, since I could not get closer to my target numbers anyway.
Not expecting much I then went for a ride as the weather was quite nice. To my surprise I found the bike slightly more neutral, calling for less handlebar pressure. No dramatic change - I still needed to put in some effort - but better. Logic tells me it was all in my head, but maybe not. Repeated runs gave the same feeling, a clearly nicer bike. Maybe someone can chime in here - what have you found? How does the CB1100 chassis work and what settings do you use?
At the front I found that static sag with factory setting (2 rings showing) was 52 mm. This was way too much and more than the preload could ever compensate for. I anyway decided to increase preload to 1 ring showing. This reduced the static sag to 47 mm. Slightly better but stilll off. I turned to the rear, curious to see if I'd get similar wild figures. With the factory setting (2nd position of 5 possible, 5 being hardest) the static sag was 39 mm. Also too much, but not as dramatic as the front. Increasing the preload to 3rd position reduced the static sag to 34 mm. At this point I had raised the bike 5 mm at both ends. Slightly deflated I decided to leave it at that, since I could not get closer to my target numbers anyway.
Not expecting much I then went for a ride as the weather was quite nice. To my surprise I found the bike slightly more neutral, calling for less handlebar pressure. No dramatic change - I still needed to put in some effort - but better. Logic tells me it was all in my head, but maybe not. Repeated runs gave the same feeling, a clearly nicer bike. Maybe someone can chime in here - what have you found? How does the CB1100 chassis work and what settings do you use?