Shocking

[Southwend]

My new cb has the shocks as the dealer set them, second notch on rear, third notch barely showing on the front. I am about 185lbs. I took my son, 120lbs, out for a ride the other day. Granted it wasn't very long but the suspension felt better to me with the additional weight.
But what could this mean Obie Wan? I am just a big sissy softy now or would I get a similar effect by going backwards on my adjustments? I imagine the trade off is handling?
The set up just felt like it was soaking up more road with the additional weight on board. this is the first bike I have owned with adjustable options on front and rear I know I can just experiment and will, if I set the rears on the first notch that would be a move to softer and then I would do what to the front, turn to expose fewer notches? And yes I do find the current setting to be a bit of a punch in the butt over bumps at hi way speed. An improvement over the Thruxton and way better than the old Sportster cafe racer no doubt, but is this just part of the non-mono shock ride I should expect?

 

[the Ferret]

We are about the same weight and I have adjusted mine all over. I prefer softer ride at the expense of razor sharp handling. I was running 3 rings showing in front and second notch on rear. The other day I set it on 4 rings showing on front and 1st notch on rear and since I ride solo 38 pounds in rear tire ( all of these adj are softer than stock set up). After I ride it awhile over all kinds of roads I will decide if I want to leave it that way or adjust it stiffer on one end or the other.

Btw here is an interesting experiment I did with the suspension you might try. See post 14

Front suspension?

 

[Southwend]

Thanks, neat idea. So the softness on the front increases as the adjustment is backed out to reveal more of the rings. I will try the first notch rear four ring front setting and see how she feels. I am of the same thought though I am happy with a bit less mandling for a softer ride. It's more a matter of the sharp rebound at speed over various bumps, I do not want to stand up on the pegs to say my butt. Of course when I get a nice Corbin seat in place this could change everything.

 

[the Ferret]

Interestingly Honda claims 4.2 inches of travel front. Look at the pictures in my suspension post. At full soft I am recording less than 3" of travel. I can't imagine the scenario would you could get over 4" of travel out of the forks. Maybe a true panic stop loaded 2 up?

Oh yea we are supposed to have 4.5" of travel out back. Uh, I don't think so lol

They must take their measurements with and without springs.

 

[dave]

Adjusting your pre-load on your suspension will NOT make your bike ride any softer or harder. Adjusting the pre-load will alter the ride height of the bike, effectively altering the available suspension travel. To carry a greater weight you add pre-load to the spring, which will make the rear of the bike ride higher. The end result will be the suspension will require a greater force to reach its full travel, meaning the bike can carry a heavier load before the suspension will bottom. The amount of force required to compress the spring per linear inch is not changed by adding pre-load.

 

[BestStandard_imp]

Good article on adjusting sag that includes calculating stiction:

http://www.ntnoa.org/suspension_preload.htm

 

[Southwend]

Wow, you guys are awesome. Terrific description of the concept Dave. Makes perfect sense. Physics is hard to escape.

 

[sanoke_imp]

Adjusting your pre-load on your suspension will NOT make your bike ride any softer or harder. Adjusting the pre-load will alter the ride height of the bike, effectively altering the available suspension travel. To carry a greater weight you add pre-load to the spring, which will make the rear of the bike ride higher. The end result will be the suspension will require a greater force to reach its full travel, meaning the bike can carry a heavier load before the suspension will bottom. The amount of force required to compress the spring per linear inch is not changed by adding pre-load.

Yes, but altering the ride height on the rear shifts the center of gravity. Less preload on just the rear puts more weight on the rear which makes for a softer ride.

 

[the Ferret]

When I set my suspension for less preload I get more suspension travel as demonstrated by the photos in my post above. The more rings showing on the front, the more travel. To me that says the suspension is working better which relates to a softer ride. I know when I set everything to the high ends of the adjustment it rides stiff as a board and bounces over every bump.

 

[Novice_imp]

When I set my suspension for less preload I get more suspension travel as demonstrated by the photos in my post above. The more rings showing on the front, the more travel. To me that says the suspension is working better which relates to a softer ride. I know when I set everything to the high ends of the adjustment it rides stiff as a board and bounces over every bump.

Interesting. I've often read criticisms about a bikes suspension being too soft. I'm certain it depends on what you're doing, such as track or touring, but there seems to be a not so subtle leaning towards stiffer is better. However, in my limited experience, it seems if you go too stiff on the street, the bike gets unsettled going over bumps, which would obviously be a concern while cornering.

 

[the Ferret]

Novice fine line between too soft and too hard when cornering. Too soft and she will wallow on long sweepers, too hard and she stays steady in the sweepers but anything you hit makes the bike jittery. Thats the purpose of 5 adjustments on the rear, and 4 on the front, so that you can find a setting that suits you and your riding style. I have never done the sag adjustment thing, I just ride and feel. I can feel when a bike is softly sprung, and when it's stiffly sprung.

I'm not an expert racer or an engineer so take what I just said with a grain of salt.

 

[Novice_imp]

Thanks, So far I've been happy with the factory settings so I'll leave them alone for now.