Temperature Fluctuation & Suspension Performance | GTAMotorcycle.com

Temperature Fluctuation & Suspension Performance

bastak

Well-known member
Hi All,
The stock front forks on the Scrambler were too softly sprung for my liking so I had a cartridge kit installed in late November which certainly sorted the front end out. I played around a bit with the rebound and compression settings until I got to a setup that worked perfectly for me. Note that I had mainly been riding in sub-zero temperatures or thereabouts during this time. Riding home from work this afternoon (in +15 deg) I noticed that it felt a lot more softly sprung than on previous rides with much more front brake dive than I had previously experienced. I'm curious to know if this would be due to warmer temperatures and the viscosity of the oil or would you expect this to have a negligible effect? For those of you who ride year round, do you adjust your suspension settings according to the temperature or find that one setting generally works year round?
Thanks in advance.
 
Neither of my bikes I've owned had adjustable front suspension. I generally noticed they were a bit stiffer in the cold but not enough difference that I ever thought it was a problem.
 
Hi All,
The stock front forks on the Scrambler were too softly sprung for my liking so I had a cartridge kit installed in late November which certainly sorted the front end out. I played around a bit with the rebound and compression settings until I got to a setup that worked perfectly for me. Note that I had mainly been riding in sub-zero temperatures or thereabouts during this time. Riding home from work this afternoon (in +15 deg) I noticed that it felt a lot more softly sprung than on previous rides with much more front brake dive than I had previously experienced. I'm curious to know if this would be due to warmer temperatures and the viscosity of the oil or would you expect this to have a negligible effect? For those of you who ride year round, do you adjust your suspension settings according to the temperature or find that one setting generally works year round?
Thanks in advance.

oil flows more freely as it warms up. adjust suspension to your preference.
 
suspension will always feel stiffer first thing on a cold morning. I havn't felt the need to adjust any of the settings on my street bike since I had it set up.

Put a zip tie on your fork tube to see how far it goes down on cold days vs warm days
 
Last edited:
Hi All,
The stock front forks on the Scrambler were too softly sprung for my liking so I had a cartridge kit installed in late November which certainly sorted the front end out. I played around a bit with the rebound and compression settings until I got to a setup that worked perfectly for me. Note that I had mainly been riding in sub-zero temperatures or thereabouts during this time. Riding home from work this afternoon (in +15 deg) I noticed that it felt a lot more softly sprung than on previous rides with much more front brake dive than I had previously experienced. I'm curious to know if this would be due to warmer temperatures and the viscosity of the oil or would you expect this to have a negligible effect? For those of you who ride year round, do you adjust your suspension settings according to the temperature or find that one setting generally works year round?
Thanks in advance.

How are you liking the GSXS-750? I guess you haven't had much opportunity to break her in yet though.
 
Thanks for the feedback all. I suppose the difference was noticeable enough to make me want to go back and tweak it, but not problematic by any means. Definitely felt stiffer on the cooler morning ride in to work than the ride back home.

Put a zip tie on your fork tube to see how far it goes down on cold days vs warm days

Thanks for the suggestion. Seems like a good way to test it out and confirm.
 
How are you liking the GSXS-750? I guess you haven't had much opportunity to break her in yet though.

Really enjoying the GSX-S750. Even though she's a MY2018, I picked her up last September and spent some time touring in Northern Ontario right after - have about 4k on her now.

The engine is super smooth and really comes to life between 5 to 10k RPM, love the howl, throttle response is very predictable and linear, gearbox is super slick, brake feel is not the best - a good amount of play before you get decent stopping power - I've read that this is quite common on Suzukis, riding position is slightly aggressive but not uncomfortable by any means (I'm 5'10") - the most I've done is a 5 hour ride and while my rear end took a hammering on the hard-ish seat, I was pretty comfortable otherwise, suspension is perfectly adequate for all my riding needs. I prefer the Scrambler for an urban ride, but I think the GSXS makes for an excellent sport-touring bike. You do feel the weight a little bit around town, but I find it also makes it feel more planted on the highway. With a short flyscreen, the wind blast doesn't bother me in the slightest on long rides. So yeah, would definitely recommend!

I had a look at the 765 Street Triple too when shopping around and mentioned to the salesman that I was also considering the GSXS. The response was: "that's like comparing a Hyundai to an Audi". Love Audis, but bought the Hyundai pretty much right after that. :)
 
Would suggest riding for a bit before adjusting your suspension if it's cold out.
 

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