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My recently purchased 2018 CB1100 EX comes with aluminium wheels and SS spokes. Its has a good set of Pirelli Sport Demons fitted. Personally I dont know these tyres but reviews seem to rank them ok, any feedback / recommendations?
Im 91kg, older (just over 70) ride solo with a rear rack and bag with about say 10kg luggage on board. Roads I ride are mostly non highway / motorway country roads with corners between 45 and 100km hour, sometimes the road is a little dirty (farm vehicles use the roads etc) and at this time of the year often wet. Riding pace is moderate to brisk with guys on 'pretend' adventure style bikes (Suzuki V Strom etc).
So question finally, is pressure, book say 36/42, appreciate any feedback etc.
PS, yet to set up the sag and adjust the preload, from what I read sag should be around 25 - 32mm (1" to 1-1/4"). Comments?
thanks
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You might struggle to get that sag value up front, the spring rate is quite low. The rear should be OK for it, with your weight perhaps an extra notch or possibly two from the stock setting. Front preload (i have personally found) varies depending on the tyre choice. After quickly giving up tying to achieve a ~30% rider sag up front I adjusted the front for optimum handling and take whatever sag I get for it.
After setting the rear it is easy to add max front preload and take it out for a spin. Take a screwdriver and keep turning back off that front preload until you get the handling characteristics you prefer around the bends. The less preload you have the quicker it will turn in. I found the OEM tyres slow to turn in and I didn't have much front preload and got it to handle just great. After fitting Bridgestone T31's I was able to add 2-3 lines of front preload back as the bike was a little too sharp. 36/42 was OK for me, I haven't experimented with different pressures really.
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(07-06-2021, 07:16 AM)Tev62_imp Wrote: You might struggle to get that sag value up front, the spring rate is quite low. The rear should be OK for it, with your weight perhaps an extra notch or possibly two from the stock setting. Front preload (i have personally found) varies depending on the tyre choice. After quickly giving up tying to achieve a ~30% rider sag up front I adjusted the front for optimum handling and take whatever sag I get for it.
After setting the rear it is easy to add max front preload and take it out for a spin. Take a screwdriver and keep turning back off that front preload until you get the handling characteristics you prefer around the bends. The less preload you have the quicker it will turn in. I found the OEM tyres slow to turn in and I didn't have much front preload and got it to handle just great. After fitting Bridgestone T31's I was able to add 2-3 lines of front preload back as the bike was a little too sharp. 36/42 was OK for me, I haven't experimented with different pressures really.
Thanks appreciate your reply on this.
So one question, the 30% sag, assume this is 30% of the total fork movement? and if so do you know what this figure is so I can relate the 30% to it?
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The only value I could consistently get for the forks was 106mm or 4.2" for a 2016MY, I can't think the 2018 is going to be much or any different.