Front end adjustment

Reg:

I'm not sure what to tell you. The 97 feels the exact opposite, or I should say it feels more "planted" so when I put in a quick steering imput she snaps over quick without feeling "spongy".

Sorry for the vague descriptions, but suspension talk is hard over the net.

Did you do the work, or did a shop do it?

BZ

 

If you raise the tubes in the triple clamps, that will tend to make it more responsive (decreases rake and trail). Have you checked the sag already? Too little sag will also slow response, all other things being equal, as it raises the bike in front. I'd set the sag first, and adjust the tube height second. Sorry for the brief reply; I'm at my "real" job...

 

Lgn001 is smarter than me! I just assumed sag had been set...I shouldn't assume.

 

Reg, if you increased the front spring rate, the front of the bike will sit higher (that is, the front ride height will be higher). The relationship between sag and the front ride height is due to spring rate. The higher the spring rate, the less the front will sink under the weight of the motorcycle. The preload will influence how much the front of the bike settles even more when you sit on it. A bike that sits higher at the front has more trail, and will feel slower and heavier-steering (this shows how much trail influences handling). I can give you sag figures for the front if you need them.

I don't know what MD means by raising the fork tubes 5mm for each data point, perhaps he can explain. When I talke to Dan about this last week, he said you should raise the forks in small increments, no more than 2mm at a time, until you feel the sweet spot of turn-in relative to stability. Personally, I would err on the side of conservatism and make smaller adjustments at a time. When I installed the .90 springs in my F4i, the front sat higher, and I had to raise the rear shock 5mm to get the front end geometry back to where it was originally.

Also, check the position of your forks after you reinstalled them. The stock position is 41 mm from the top of the fork bridge to the end of the fork tube (not the cap! the fork tube end; the cap adds about 2mm). Use an accurate gauge or micrometer to measure this accurately, millimeters matter!

Give me a call if you want to discuss on the phone 510-703-4727, call me after 7 pm if you want to chat.

 

Yeah, we are... :smile:

 

There ya go Reg Good ole Steven will gets you in the right spot sooner or later.
Yep to what was said above, you should for the stock front fork tube placement is to see like 2mm above the clip-on, as on mine the top of the tube less the cap is set at 40mm above the upper triple clamp, other wise you will need to raise the rear to bring it back un less theres room for the helibars to give or take a few mms. Then again you may have gotten use to an ill handing machine and don't know what to expect. No I'm not picking on you, just know from past experiences what I've seen. but I'm thinking PC has the right stuff to get you through this ok. LOL on another note, now the tires will play into this too