Tuning Suspension | GTAMotorcycle.com

Tuning Suspension

arogal

arogal

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Hi everyone,
I am considering tuning my suspension. I am 5'11 172lbs and ride a 2009 zx6r. Does anyone know what weight the stock zx6r suspension is dialed in for? A good friend of mine got his suspension dialed in on his '08 GSXR and said the bike feels completely different, in a good way, like it should.
Anyone go their suspension dialed in and noticed an improvement in handling?
 
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I am planning on getting Steve from SJ Powersports Woodbridge to do it for me. He worked at Champion for years and opened his own shop. He knows his stuff.
If anyone went to Champion, you would know Steve. He's a great guy!
 
Have you tried setting up your stock suspension first? You might be pleasantly surprised with the results.
If the fork oil hasn't been changed in the last year....do it with the factory recommended amount and weight of fork oil.
I would then start by setting the sag front and rear for your weight. followed by rebound and compression settings as recommended by the bike manufacturer (to start).
EDIT- WAIT !!
If I recall correctly your bike had a lowering kit installed by the previous owner? I would remove that and put it back to stock before doing anything else to the bike !! This alone will certainly change the feel of the bike and get the geometry back to what it was designed for from the factory Then do the sag/damping adjustments..

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your tuning a 10yr old bike, which is not a bad thing, but stuff may just be tired and worn out.
 
boyoboy said:
Have you tried setting up your stock suspension first? You might be pleasantly surprised with the results.
If the fork oil hasn't been changed in the last year....do it with the factory recommended amount and weight of fork oil.
I would then start by setting the sag front and rear for your weight. followed by rebound and compression settings as recommended by the bike manufacturer (to start).
EDIT- WAIT !!
If I recall correctly your bike had a lowering kit installed by the previous owner? I would remove that and put it back to stock before doing anything else to the bike !! This alone will certainly change the feel of the bike and get the geometry back to what it was designed for from the factory Then do the sag/damping adjustments..
Click to expand...
Nope, no lowering kit installed on this bike. I talked to the previous owner (original owner), and he didn't touch the suspension, which brings me to the conclusion it is still at the stock settings. I haven't changed the fork oil in the last 11,000kms....that would actually be a good start. I should ask the previous owner if he has done that also.

crankcall said:
your tuning a 10yr old bike, which is not a bad thing, but stuff may just be tired and worn out.
Click to expand...
The bike just reached 30,000km....I don't think that's too much for a bike that's been well maintained? The suspension just feels extremely stiff on mine in comparison to some other 600s that I've been on.
 
boyoboy said:
Have you tried setting up your stock suspension first? You might be pleasantly surprised with the results.
If the fork oil hasn't been changed in the last year....do it with the factory recommended amount and weight of fork oil.
I would then start by setting the sag front and rear for your weight. followed by rebound and compression settings as recommended by the bike manufacturer (to start).
Click to expand...

+1 on above

I suppose your options are driven by the amount of money you're willing to spend + your comfort level working on the bike.

On a ten year old bike with 30k km on it the rear shock damping is likely toast. If you're going to be moving forward on upgrades dollar for dollar I think your best option might be to purchase a new rear shock or have it rebuilt with the spring rate geared to your weight. On the front dissemble the forks and check bushings and replace the spring with, again, one tied to your weight. Fork oil level + weight as recommended by the spring vendor. Once everything is reassembled and sag is set then I think you'd be very happy with the results.
 
Late model Kawasaki sport bikes have decent suspension as original equipment. My 04 ZX10R with 103,000 km still has the original shock, it hasn't been apart, and it still works well, so I would not jump to the conclusion that a newer bike with less mileage has a blown shock. BUT, basic setup of ride height, preload, etc are worth doing.

Get someone knowledgeable to look at it. Accelerated Technologies is a good choice, as this is their business.
 
I too recommend John at Accelerated. My new to me track bike (2009 ZX-6R as well, though Ohlins front and back) had a bent fork leg (and I know the bike had been at other shops previously). Just checking for that situation needs the forks removed and inspected with an indicator. Started with a bunch of stiction and 0.11" runout from memory. He got it back to 0.004" and much better movement. It might be worth while just to send him the details of the bike and kms etc in an e-mail and he will give you an idea what you are looking at needing. He will most likely be more expensive that other general shops who are just going to swap oil and set sag.

I know nothing of Steve from SJ Powersports, he might even check similar things as John. My bike was tuned by Dan at Champion and gave me a price to service the suspension though I went to John. From my experience guys who primarily/specifically deal with suspension seem to look at things differently than general shops who just set up the numbers.

With the number of km's on your bike you are in need of oil refresh forks and shock. The stock shock looks to be serviceable from quick peek at the one I have in spares bin.

Have you actually documented what your current settings are on the bike? I know for my buddies road bike I followed him last summer and noticed how uncompliant it was. At a stop I asked him about the ride and he wasn't really happy with it but knew nothing different. I checked the settings and all of the adjusters were full in from the previous owner. Some people think if some damping is good then no damping must be better I guess :) I didn't set sag in a random parking lot in Muskoka but some simple bounce tests and adjusting things to use more of the suspension stroke was night and day better. The next weekend we refreshed the fork oil and set sag and it was a new bike (to his feelings).

You say it feels stiff. Could be too heavy springs or too much preload on them? Could be tight compression and the forks don't compress over bumps? But with the old oil that could also be that it just can't control rebound over bumps and is returning so fast you feel that as stiff? With really old oil the 'clickers' won't do much and the shim stack will be full of gunk anyhow.

Jeff
 
An aside, if Buckhorn looks too far away, Fast Company in Waterloo also focuses on suspension setup and service as well as other more general bike work. I know several people who have Scott and gang do their track/race bike suspension work with similar level of detail as John.

Though the roads are nicer IMO up Buckhorn way for riding after the work is done :)

Jeff
 
I like all the service and inspection recommendations! ? would I pay somebody to set up my street bike for track racing?
... I'd probably just let a pro rider test ride it and ask for their opinion first.
Is the bike set up well for street riding now? Because if it's set up great for go fast it's Not going to be wonderful for street riding, it's going to be too stiff in the a**. imho.

I have 1 bike set up for street and 1 set up for go fast, that works and to be honest most of the time I ride the ancient equipped street bike on street,
a go fast bike on the street is just for !@#*s and giggles, would I want to set my old street bike up to go faster :/ Why? it's already able to handle twice the posted limit so I lack the motivation to mess with it, other then regular service.

Testing your rear shocks begins with removing the spring ;) is pretty obvious if it has turned into just a spring holder then.
 
can't do it by yourself
sag is the first thing to get right
you need to be on the bike for that

to get it close I'd do some reading on a forum specific to your bike
see if someone your weight has gone through the sag setup
copy their settings and you should be close on the preload
damping you can play with to suit your riding

but like mentioned
two 10 year old bikes with riders of the same weight
will likely have different settings to get the same end result

to really get it right, I'd pay someone
 
I'd actually start with setting your sag first. No point in messing with damping if your spring rates are all wrong. If the sag can be set properly, you know you have the right springs and you can focus on the damping next, otherwise if you need springs, everything has to come apart anyways and you might as well refresh the oil or change the damping at the same time for little to no additional labour cost.

Sag you can check on your own. I have a Motool Slacker sag scale which makes it easy to get close by yourself using a front wheel chock, but ideally you should still have 2 people to set it properly, especially if there's a lot of stiction.
 
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