How To - Setup Motorcycle Suspension Fork Preload Adjustment / Sag 

No problem KB 👍

+bob cbr glad it helped Bob 👍

helljumper5586 sounds like a good tip without an unwilling helper but would the cable tie not slide down under your weight rather than slide up? Assuming you have USD forks like in the video

@@Knightlore10 he must have conventional forks, thats the only way i the cable tie can slide up

Thanks Gilga glad it helped you :)

Thanks Jon, what bike it is? Some newer bikes have rebound in one fork leg and compression in the other so just check that wasn't what you were adjusting :) let me know how she feels now

Cheers James :)

I know many a bike might have been passing under the bridge... anyway, the guy is correct, if you add preload, rhe spring pushes harder on top, lengthening the fork. Counter-intuitive? Yes. But there you are (or was).

seba alge likely progressive springs, just set it to the static and you’ll be fine on the street, but for track try rider.

Are you sitting in your riding position with full gear on? Did you give the forks a quick bounce before measuring? I'd say rider on sag is more important because when does the bike ever go for a ride by itself?!

@@richardmiddleton7770 thanks for the suggest, turned out my forks where sticking, changed the oil, previous owner never did it in 50'000 km, now it all makes sense again!

You may need softer springs to allow them to move and work when you’re riding as you are a lighter rider

Thanks Frit

Yeah should help out 2Wheels, use the downloaded spreadsheet too! :)

Yes seems good! How much did you have to adjusted it?

Lamb Chop Rides It's a Honda cb1000r. Perhaps a test ride tomorrow.

Do love my 80's classics :)

+john walker Hi John, its quite easy put the tie around the fork stanchion when the fork travels it will push the tie down the stanchion as you brake. If its bottoming out the tie will be right at the bottom of the stanchion normally 5mm from end is all the travel you get. If your tie ends up down there then increase your pre-load slightly. If that doesnt stop it you may need uprated spings in the forks. But normally you don't need that unless your larger than the average bear :)

Lol yep, prefer moving shags but can't have it all :)

Yes try and wind it up, doing the three measurements will get you perfect. Spreadsheet is in the video description there is a direct link to it :)

Too much inmho static no more than 25 and rider around 35 I would sggest

+blkgixxerslvr lol I was thinking that this has to be really bad for the manifold and could collapse the midpipe..

Seems with the bike on a stand, it really isnt putting much weight on the pipe because it has a pivot point. I probably wouldn't use it as a jacking point either though. ...

Its the best place to do it unless you want to remove the exhaust and then you're removing weight from the bike which defeats the object of setting up the suspension for the total weight of bike & rider.

No not really Waffle unless the suspension is very hard.. You would be better off getting lower links and dropping the forks through the yokes a bit. But adjusting the height will effect handling but if you adjust the same amount front and back should be to bad..

Sorry should read shouldn't be to bad

Lamb Chop Rides Thank you very much. I think we'll go that route. To confirm, If I lower the bike from the rear I just want to make sure I drop the forks the same amount, correct?

Yes that's it, if you drop the front more than the rear will sharpen the steering also

Lamb Chop Rides Thank you. I really appreciate it. Sorry for all the questions.. I'm just more interested in learning and doing it myself versus paying someone else to do it for me and learning nothing.

Thanks matey :)

Rebound and comp aren't reducing 'travel', you need adjust preload so that the forks aren't bottoming out when riding on our shit roads, then to smooth out the ride you adjust the other two by similar increments to each other so that the wheel follows the undulations in the road so that basically you end up with a smooth ride for the road conditions. I use two stretches of my favourite roads to set my rebound and comp, both are quite bumpy especially at speed, I'll ride back and forth on these stretches getting off and adjusting as I go, if the bars are juddering on bumpy stretches I'll take out rebound, if the bike is bouncing on the bumps take out comp till the bike glides across those surfaces. You're aiming for a firm smooth ride under all conditions, you neither want the bike bottoming out or topping out and as you get faster with a good sussy setup you'll also feel safer, if you set it up too firm its tiring and like being kicked in the backside on every bump or hollow but you always need to begin with getting the sag set up right and only preload will do that. You also need to do this quite often especially as you get faster and when you're running out of preload adjustment its time for new springs and fresh fork oil.

HAHA thanks I think... :-) Tricky one Dominic, I think you will have to buy new springs or you can stiffen things up with thicker or more fork oil. I would speak to a professional suspension guy for yours sorry buddy.

Thanks for replying , yeah i figured i'll be doing a strip down on the bike next winter so a suspension refresh will be on the cards! Either way the video's helpfull if i ever upgrade to a bike with USD forks and preload adjusters!

Thanks Seb

Yes should have will sort the link

Hi, the link is still down :-(

Link is still down..

Yes

+Markus Carter yeah sorry my Dropbox is full.. will repost when I can

As soon as I saw that, all credibility goes out the window and it's time to move on!

He’s being modest